The fate of water within Earth and super-Earths and implications for plate tectonics

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The Earth is likely to have acquired most of its water during accretion. Internal heat of planetesimals by short-lived radioisotopes would have caused some water loss, but impacts into planetesimals were insufficiently energetic to produce further drying. Water is thought to be critical for the development of plate tectonics, because it lowers viscosities in the asthenosphere, enabling subduction. The following issue persists: if water is necessary for plate tectonics, but subduction itself hydrates the upper mantle, how is the upper mantle initially hydrated? The giant impacts of late accretion created magma lakes and oceans, which degassed during solidification to produce a heavy atmosphere. However, some water would have remained in the mantle, trapped within crystallographic defects in nominally anhydrous minerals. In this paper, we present models demonstrating that processes associated with magma ocean solidification and overturn may segregate sufficient quantities of water within the upper mantle to induce partial melting and produce a damp asthenosphere, thereby facilitating plate tectonics and, in turn, the habitability of Earth-like extrasolar planets. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The origin, history and role of water in the evolution of the inner Solar System’. PMID:28416729

The fate of water within Earth and super-Earths and implications for plate tectonics.

PubMed

Tikoo, Sonia M; Elkins-Tanton, Linda T

2017-05-28

The Earth is likely to have acquired most of its water during accretion. Internal heat of planetesimals by short-lived radioisotopes would have caused some water loss, but impacts into planetesimals were insufficiently energetic to produce further drying. Water is thought to be critical for the development of plate tectonics, because it lowers viscosities in the asthenosphere, enabling subduction. The following issue persists: if water is necessary for plate tectonics, but subduction itself hydrates the upper mantle, how is the upper mantle initially hydrated? The giant impacts of late accretion created magma lakes and oceans, which degassed during solidification to produce a heavy atmosphere. However, some water would have remained in the mantle, trapped within crystallographic defects in nominally anhydrous minerals. In this paper, we present models demonstrating that processes associated with magma ocean solidification and overturn may segregate sufficient quantities of water within the upper mantle to induce partial melting and produce a damp asthenosphere, thereby facilitating plate tectonics and, in turn, the habitability of Earth-like extrasolar planets.This article is part of the themed issue 'The origin, history and role of water in the evolution of the inner Solar System'. © 2017 The Authors.

Magma-assisted rifting in Ethiopia.

PubMed

Kendall, J-M; Stuart, G W; Ebinger, C J; Bastow, I D; Keir, D

2005-01-13

The rifting of continents and evolution of ocean basins is a fundamental component of plate tectonics, yet the process of continental break-up remains controversial. Plate driving forces have been estimated to be as much as an order of magnitude smaller than those required to rupture thick continental lithosphere. However, Buck has proposed that lithospheric heating by mantle upwelling and related magma production could promote lithospheric rupture at much lower stresses. Such models of mechanical versus magma-assisted extension can be tested, because they predict different temporal and spatial patterns of crustal and upper-mantle structure. Changes in plate deformation produce strain-enhanced crystal alignment and increased melt production within the upper mantle, both of which can cause seismic anisotropy. The Northern Ethiopian Rift is an ideal place to test break-up models because it formed in cratonic lithosphere with minor far-field plate stresses. Here we present evidence of seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle of this rift zone using observations of shear-wave splitting. Our observations, together with recent geological data, indicate a strong component of melt-induced anisotropy with only minor crustal stretching, supporting the magma-assisted rifting model in this area of initially cold, thick continental lithosphere.

Present-day stress field in subduction zones: Insights from 3D viscoelastic models and data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petricca, Patrizio; Carminati, Eugenio

2016-01-01

3D viscoelastic FE models were performed to investigate the impact of geometry and kinematics on the lithospheric stress in convergent margins. Generic geometries were designed in order to resemble natural subduction. Our model predictions mirror the results of previous 2D models concerning the effects of lithosphere-mantle relative flow on stress regimes, and allow a better understanding of the lateral variability of the stress field. In particular, in both upper and lower plates, stress axes orientations depend on the adopted geometry and axes rotations occur following the trench shape. Generally stress axes are oriented perpendicular or parallel to the trench, with the exception of the slab lateral tips where rotations occur. Overall compression results in the upper plate when convergence rate is faster than mantle flow rate, suggesting a major role for convergence. In the slab, along-strike tension occurs at intermediate and deeper depths (> 100 km) in case of mantle flow sustaining the sinking lithosphere and slab convex geometry facing mantle flow or in case of opposing mantle flow and slab concave geometry facing mantle flow. Along-strike compression is predicted in case of sustaining mantle flow and concave slabs or in case of opposing mantle flow and convex slabs. The slab stress field is thus controlled by the direction of impact of mantle flow onto the slab and by slab longitudinal curvature. Slab pull produces not only tension in the bending region of subducted plate but also compression where upper and lower plates are coupled. A qualitative comparison between results and data in selected subductions indicates good match for South America, Mariana and Tonga-Kermadec subductions. Discrepancies, as for Sumatra-Java, emerge due to missing geometric (e.g., occurrence of fault systems and local changes in the orientation of plate boundaries) and rheological (e.g., plasticity associated with slab bending, anisotropy) complexities in the models.

Thermal and chemical convection in planetary mantles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dupeyrat, L.; Sotin, C.; Parmentier, E. M.

1995-01-01

Melting of the upper mantle and extraction of melt result in the formation of a less dense depleted mantle. This paper describes series of two-dimensional models that investigate the effects of chemical buoyancy induced by these density variations. A tracer particles method has been set up to follow as closely as possible the chemical state of the mantle and to model the chemical buoyant force at each grid point. Each series of models provides the evolution with time of magma production, crustal thickness, surface heat flux, and thermal and chemical state of the mantle. First, models that do not take into account the displacement of plates at the surface of Earth demonstrate that chemical buoyancy has an important effect on the geometry of convection. Then models include horizontal motion of plates 5000 km wide. Recycling of crust is taken into account. For a sufficiently high plate velocity which depends on the thermal Rayleigh number, the cell's size is strongly coupled with the plate's size. Plate motion forces chemically buoyant material to sink into the mantle. Then the positive chemical buoyancy yields upwelling as depleted mantle reaches the interface between the upper and the lower mantle. This process is very efficient in mixing the depleted and undepleted mantle at the scale of the grid spacing since these zones of upwelling disrupt the large convective flow. At low spreading rates, zones of upwelling develop quickly, melting occurs, and the model predicts intraplate volcanism by melting of subducted crust. At fast spreading rates, depleted mantle also favors the formation of these zones of upwelling, but they are not strong enough to yield partial melting. Their rapid displacement toward the ridge contributes to faster large-scale homogenization.

Constraints on mantle viscosity from convection models with plate motion history

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, W.; Zhong, S.

2017-12-01

The Earth's long-wavelength geoid and dynamic topography are mainly controlled by the mantle buoyancy and viscosity structure. Previous dynamical models for the geoid provide constraints on the 1-D mantle viscosity, using mantle buoyancy derived from seismic topography models. However, it is a challenge in these studies on how to convert seismic velocity to density anomalies and mantle buoyancy. Furthermore, these studies provide constraints only on relative viscosity variations but not on absolute magnitude of viscosity. In this study, we formulate time-dependent 3-D spherical mantle convection models with imposed plate motion history and seek constraints on mantle viscosity structure for both its radial relative variations and its absolute magnitude (i.e., Rayleigh number), using the geoid from the convection models. We found that the geoid at intermediate wavelengths of degrees 4-9 is mainly controlled by the subducted slabs in the upper mantle and the upper part of lower mantle that result from subduction from the last 50 Myr or the Cenozoic. To fit the degrees 4-9 geoid, we need viscosity contrast β defined as the ratio of the lower mantle viscosity and the asthenospheric viscosity to be larger than 2000 and Ra to be 1e8 (defined by the Earth's radius). The best fit model leads to 57% variance reduction and 76% correlation between the model and the observations. However, the long-wavelength geoid at degrees 2-3 is controlled by the lower mantle structure which requires much longer time scale to develop, as seen from our modeling. The preferred viscosity structure and Rayleigh number as constrained by the Cenozoic plate motion and the degrees 4-9 geoid no longer provide adequate fit to the geoid in models with the plate motion history for the last 450 Myr. The degrees 4-9 geoid amplitude is smaller for the models with longer plate motion history and a smaller Ra is required to fit the observation. In order to satisfy the relative amplitude between degrees 2-3 and degrees 4-9 geoid, either a gradually increase of viscosity in the upper part of lower mantle or larger thermal expansivity in the lower mantle is needed. We also consider thermo-chemical models to examine the effects of the African and Pacific thermochemical piles (i.e., LLSVPSs) on the geoid and the inferred mantle viscosity and Ra.

Mapping the subducted Nazca plate in the lower mantle beneath South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Contenti, S. M.; Gu, Y. J.; Okeler, A.

2009-12-01

Recent improvements in data coverage have enabled high-resolution imaging of the morphology of subduction zones and mantle plumes. In this study, we migrate the SS precursors from over 5000 seismograms to obtain a detailed map of mid- and upper-mantle reflectors beneath the northern portion of the South American subduction zone, where the oceanic Nazca plate is descending below the South American plate. In addition to an elevated 410 and depressed 660 (as expected for a subduction zone), strong mid-mantle reflectors at 800-1100 km depth are also apparent. The amplitudes of these steeply dipping reflectors are comparable to that of the 660-kilometer discontinuity. This anomaly outlines a high-velocity (therefore presumably cold) region present in recent finite-frequency based mantle velocity models, suggesting the extension of slab material into the lower mantle. The strength of the reflection is interpreted to be caused by a relatively sharp velocity change, likely due to a strong temperature gradient in combination with mineral phase transitions, the presence of water, or other chemical heterogeneities. Significant mass and heat exchange is therefore expected between the upper- and lower-mantle beneath the study region.

Divergent plate motion drives rapid exhumation of (ultra)high pressure rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Jie; Malusà, Marco G.; Zhao, Liang; Baldwin, Suzanne L.; Fitzgerald, Paul G.; Gerya, Taras

2018-06-01

Exhumation of (ultra)high pressure [(U)HP] rocks by upper-plate divergent motion above an unbroken slab, first proposed in the Western Alps, has never been tested by numerical methods. We present 2D thermo-mechanical models incorporating subduction of a thinned continental margin beneath either a continental or oceanic upper plate, followed by upper-plate divergent motion away from the lower plate. Results demonstrate how divergent plate motion may trigger rapid exhumation of large volumes of (U)HP rocks directly to the Earth's surface, without the need for significant overburden removal by erosion. Model exhumation paths are fully consistent with natural examples for a wide range of upper-plate divergence rates. Exhumation rates are systematically higher than the divergent rate imposed to the upper plate, and the modeled size of exhumed (U)HP domes is invariant for different rates of upper-plate divergence. Major variations are instead predicted at depth for differing model scenarios, as larger amounts of divergent motion may allow mantle-wedge exhumation to shallow depth under the exhuming domes. The transient temperature increase, due to ascent of mantle-wedge material in the subduction channel, has a limited effect on exhumed continental (U)HP rocks already at the surface. We test two examples, the Cenozoic (U)HP terranes of the Western Alps (continental upper plate) and eastern Papua New Guinea (oceanic upper plate). The good fit between model predictions and the geologic record in these terranes encourages the application of these models globally to pre-Cenozoic (U)HP terranes where the geologic record of exhumation is only partly preserved.

Free and forced convection in Earth's upper mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Paul S.

Convective motion within Earth's upper mantle occurs as a combination of two primary modes: (1) buoyant upwelling due to the formation of gravitational instabilities at thermochemical boundary layers, and (2) passive flow associated with the divergence of lithospheric plates at mid-ocean ridges and their re-entry into the mantle at subduction zones. The first mode is driven by variations in density and is therefore classified as 'free' convection. Examples of free convection within the Earth include the diapiric flow of hydrous and/or partially molten mantle at subduction zones and mantle plumes. The second mode, while ultimately driven by density on a global scale, can be treated kinematically on the scale of the upper mantle. This type of flow is designated 'forced' convection. On the scale of individual buoyant upwellings in the upper mantle, the forced convection associated with plate tectonics acts to modify the morphology of the flow associated with free convection. Regions in which such interactions occur are typically associated with transfer of significant quantities of both mass and energy (i.e., heat) between the deep interior and the surface of the Earth and thus afford a window into the dynamics of the Earth's interior. The dynamics and the consequences of the interaction between these two modes of convection is the focus of this dissertation. I have employed both laboratory and numerical modeling techniques to investigate the interaction between free and forced convection in this study. Each of these approaches has its own inherent strengths and weaknesses. These approaches are therefore complementary, and their use in combination is particularly powerful. I have focused on two examples interaction between free and forced convection in the upper mantle in this study. Chapter I considers the interaction between ascending diapirs of hydrous and/or partially molten mantle and flow in the mantle wedge at subduction zones using laboratory models. Chapter II and Chapter III consider the interaction between an ascending mantle plume and the large scale shear flow associated with the divergence of plates at a nearby ridge axis.

Inverse models of plate coupling and mantle rheology: Towards a direct link between large-scale mantle flow and mega thrust earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurnis, M.; Ratnaswamy, V.; Stadler, G.; Rudi, J.; Liu, X.; Ghattas, O.

2017-12-01

We are developing high-resolution inverse models for plate motions and mantle flow to recover the degree of mechanical coupling between plates and the non-linear and plastic parameters governing viscous flow within the lithosphere and mantle. We have developed adjoint versions of the Stokes equations with fully non-linear viscosity with a cost function that measures the fit with plate motions and with regional constrains on effective upper mantle viscosity (from post-glacial rebound and post seismic relaxation). In our earlier work, we demonstrate that when the temperature field is known, the strength of plate boundaries, the yield stress and strain rate exponent in the upper mantle are recoverable. As the plate boundary coupling drops below a threshold, the uncertainty of the inferred parameters increases due to insensitivity of plate motion to plate coupling. Comparing the trade-offs between inferred rheological parameters found from a Gaussian approximation of the parameter distribution and from MCMC sampling, we found that the Gaussian approximation—which is significantly cheaper to compute—is often a good approximation. We have extended our earlier method such that we can recover normal and shear stresses within the zones determining the interface between subducting and over-riding plates determined through seismic constraints (using the Slab1.0 model). We find that those subduction zones with low seismic coupling correspond with low inferred values of mechanical coupling. By fitting plate motion data in the optimization scheme, we find that Tonga and the Marianas have the lowest values of mechanical coupling while Chile and Sumatra the highest, among the subduction zones we have studies. Moreover, because of the nature of the high-resolution adjoint models, the subduction zones with the lowest coupling have back-arc extension. Globally we find that the non-linear stress-strain exponent, n, is about 3.0 +/- 0.25 (in the upper mantle and lithosphere) and a pressure-independent yield stress is 150 +/- 25 MPa. The stress in the shear zones is just tens of MPa, and in preliminary models, we find that both the shear and the normal stresses are elevated in the coupled compared to the uncoupled subduction zones.

Mantle dynamics in the Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faccenna, Claudio; Becker, Thorsten W.; Auer, Ludwig; Billi, Andrea; Boschi, Lapo; Brun, Jean Pierre; Capitanio, Fabio A.; Funiciello, Francesca; Horvåth, Ferenc; Jolivet, Laurent; Piromallo, Claudia; Royden, Leigh; Rossetti, Federico; Serpelloni, Enrico

2014-09-01

The Mediterranean offers a unique opportunity to study the driving forces of tectonic deformation within a complex mobile belt. Lithospheric dynamics are affected by slab rollback and collision of two large, slowly moving plates, forcing fragments of continental and oceanic lithosphere to interact. This paper reviews the rich and growing set of constraints from geological reconstructions, geodetic data, and crustal and upper mantle heterogeneity imaged by structural seismology. We proceed to discuss a conceptual and quantitative framework for the causes of surface deformation. Exploring existing and newly developed tectonic and numerical geodynamic models, we illustrate the role of mantle convection on surface geology. A coherent picture emerges which can be outlined by two, almost symmetric, upper mantle convection cells. The downwellings are found in the center of the Mediterranean and are associated with the descent of the Tyrrhenian and the Hellenic slabs. During plate convergence, these slabs migrated backward with respect to the Eurasian upper plate, inducing a return flow of the asthenosphere from the back-arc regions toward the subduction zones. This flow can be found at large distance from the subduction zones and is at present expressed in two upwellings beneath Anatolia and eastern Iberia. This convection system provides an explanation for the general pattern of seismic anisotropy in the Mediterranean, first-order Anatolia, and Adria microplate kinematics and may contribute to the high elevation of scarcely deformed areas such as Anatolia and eastern Iberia. More generally, the Mediterranean is an illustration of how upper mantle, small-scale convection leads to intraplate deformation and complex plate boundary reconfiguration at the westernmost terminus of the Tethyan collision.

Lateral variations in upper-mantle seismic anisotropy in the Pacific from inversion of a surface-wave dispersion dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eddy, C. L.; Ekstrom, G.; Nettles, M.; Gaherty, J. B.

2017-12-01

We present a three-dimensional model of the anisotropic velocity structure of the Pacific lithosphere and asthenosphere. The presence of seismic anisotropy in the oceanic upper mantle provides information about the geometry of flow in the mantle, the nature of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, and the possible presence of partial melt in the asthenosphere. Our dataset consists of fundamental-mode dispersion for Rayleigh and Love waves measured between 25-250 s with paths crossing the Pacific Ocean. We invert the phase anomaly measurements directly for three-dimensional anisotropic velocity structure. Our models are radially anisotropic and include the full set of elastic parameters that describe azimuthal variations in velocity (e.g. Gc, Gs). We investigate the age dependence of seismic velocity and radial anisotropy and find that there are significant deviations from the velocities predicted by a simple oceanic plate cooling model. We observe strong radial anisotropy with vsh > vsv in the asthenosphere of the central Pacific. We investigate the radial anisotropy in the shallow lithosphere, where previous models have reported conflicting results. There is a contrast in both upper-mantle isotropic velocities and radial anisotropy between the Pacific and Nazca plates, across the East Pacific Rise. We also investigate lateral variations in azimuthal anisotropy throughout the Pacific upper mantle and find that there are large areas over which the anisotropy fast axis does not align with absolute plate motion, suggesting the presence of small-scale convection or pressure-driven flow beneath the base of the oceanic plate.

Mantle convection pattern and subcrustal stress field under South America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, H.-S.

1980-01-01

The tectonic, igneous and metallogenic features of South America are discussed in terms of the crustal deformation associated with stresses due to mantle convection as inferred from the high degree harmonics in the geopotential field. The application of Runcorn's model for the laminar viscous flows in the upper mantle to satellite and gravity data results in a convection pattern which reveals the ascending flows between the descending Nazca plate and the overlying South American plate as well as segments of the descending Nazca plate beneath South America. The arc volcanism in South America is shown apparently to be related to the upwelling of high-temperature material induced by the subduction of the Nazca plate, with the South American basin systems associated with downwelling mantle flows. The resulting tensional stress fields are shown to be regions of structural kinship characterized by major concentrations of ore deposits and related to the cordillera, shield and igneous systems and the upward Andean movements. It is suggested that the upwelling convection flows in the upper mantle, coupled with crustal tension, have provided an uplift mechanism which has forced the hydrothermal systems in the basement rocks to the surface.

Evolution and hydration of the Juan de Fuca crust and uppermost mantle: a plate-scale seismic investigation from ridge to trench

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbotte, S. M.; Canales, J.; Carton, H. D.; Nedimovic, M. R.; Han, S.; Marjanovic, M.; Gibson, J. C.; Janiszewski, H. A.; Horning, G.; Delescluse, M.; Watremez, L.; Farkas, A.; Biescas Gorriz, B.; Bornstein, G.; Childress, L. B.; Parker, B.

2012-12-01

The evolution of oceanic lithosphere involves incorporation of water into the physical and chemical structure of the crust and shallow mantle through fluid circulation, which initiates at the mid-ocean ridge and continues on the ridge flanks long after crustal formation. At subduction zones, water stored and transported with the descending plate is gradually released at depth, strongly influencing subduction zone processes. Cascadia is a young-lithosphere end member of the global subduction system where relatively little hydration of the downgoing Juan de Fuca (JdF) plate is expected due to its young age and presumed warm thermal state. However, numerous observations support the abundant presence of water within the subduction zone, suggesting that the JdF plate is significantly hydrated prior to subduction. Knowledge of the state of hydration of the JdF plate is limited, with few constraints on crustal and upper mantle structure. During the Cascadia Ridge-to-Trench experiment conducted in June-July 2012 over 4000 km of active source seismic data were acquired as part of a study of the evolution and state of hydration of the crust and shallow mantle of the JdF plate prior to subduction at the Cascadia margin. Coincident long-streamer (8 km) multi-channel seismic (MCS) and wide-angle ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) data were acquired in a two-ship program with the R/V Langseth (MGL1211), and R/V Oceanus (OC1206A). Our survey included two ridge-perpendicular transects across the full width of the JdF plate, a long trench-parallel line ~10 km seaward of the Cascadia deformation front, as well as three fan lines to study mantle anisotropy. The plate transects were chosen to provide reference sections of JdF plate evolution over the maximum range of JdF plate ages (8-9 Ma), offshore two contrasting regions of the Cascadia Subduction zone, and provide the first continuous ridge-to-trench images acquired at any oceanic plate. The trench-parallel line was designed to characterize variations in plate structure and hydration linked to JdF plate segmentation for over 450 km along the margin. Shipboard brute stacks of the MCS data reveal evidence for reactivation of abyssal hill faulting in the plate interior far from the trench. Ridgeward-dipping lower crustal reflectors are observed, similar to those observed in mature Pacific crust elsewhere, as well as conjugate reflectivity near the deformation front along the Oregon transect. Bright intracrustal reflectivity is also observed along the trench-parallel transect with marked changes in reflectivity along the Oregon and Washington margins. Initial inspection of the OBS record sections indicate good quality data with the expected oceanic crustal and upper mantle P-wave arrivals: Ps and Pg refractions through sedimentary and igneous layers, respectively, PmP wide-angle reflections from the crust-mantle transition zone, and Pn upper mantle refractions. The Pg-PmP-Pn triplication is typically observed at 40-50 km source-receiver offsets. Pn characteristics show evidence for upper mantle azimuthal anisotropic propagation: along the plate transects Pn is typically weaker and difficult to observe beyond ~80 km offsets, while along the trench-parallel transect Pn arrivals have higher amplitude and are easily observed up to source-receiver offsets of 160-180 km. An overview on the Cascadia Ridge to Trench data acquisition program and preliminary results will be presented.

Crustal and uppermost mantle structure and deformation in east-central China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, H.; Yang, X.; Ouyang, L.; Li, J.

2017-12-01

We conduct a non-linear joint inversion of receiver functions and Rayleigh wave dispersions to obtain the crustal and upper mantle velocity structure in east-central China. In the meanwhile, the lithosphere and upper mantle deformation beneath east-central China is also evaluated with teleseismic shear wave splitting measurements. The resulting velocity model reveals that to the east of the North-South Gravity Lineament, the crust and the lithosphere are significantly thinned. Furthermore, three extensive crustal/lithospheric thinning sub-regions are clearly identified within the study area. This indicates that the modification of the crust and lithosphere in central-eastern China is non-uniform due to the heterogeneity of the lithospheric strength. Extensive crustal and lithospheric thinning could occur in some weak zones such as the basin-range junction belts and large faults. The structure beneath the Dabie orogenic belt is complex due to the collision between the North and South China Blocks during the Late Paleozoic-Triassic. The Dabie orogenic belt is generally delineated by a thick crust with a mid-crust low-velocity zone and a two-directional convergence in the lithospheric scale. Obvious velocity contrast exhibits in the crust and upper mantle at both sides of the Tanlu fault, which suggests the deep penetration of this lithospheric-scale fault. Most of our splitting measurements show nearly E-W trending fast polarization direction which is slightly deviating from the direction of plate motion. The similar present-day lithosphere structure and upper mantle deformation may imply that the eastern NCC and the eastern SCB were dominated by a common dynamic process after late Mesozoic, i.e., the westward subduction of Pacific plate and the retreat of the subduction plate. The westward subduction of the Philippine plate and the long-range effects of the collision between the Indian plate and Eurasia plate during Cenozoic may have also contributed to the present velocity structure and stress environment of eastern China.

Cratonic roots under North America are shifted by basal drag: new evidence from gravity and geodynamic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaban, M. K.; Petrunin, A.; Mooney, W. D.

2013-12-01

The impact of basal drag on the long-lived cratonic roots has been debated since the discovering of plate tectonics. Previously, evidence for a shifted mantle structure under North America was postulated from a comparison of the surface expression of the Great Meteor hotspot track versus its location at 200 km depth as inferred from seismic tomography (Eaton and Frederiksen, 2007). We present new results that are based on the integrative modeling of gravity and seismic data. The starting point is the residual gravity anomaly and residual topography, which are computed by removing of the crustal effect and of the effect of temperature variations in the upper mantle from the observed fields (Mooney and Kaban, 2010). After the temperature correction both residual fields chiefly reflect compositional density heterogeneity of the upper mantle. The residual gravity and topography are jointly inverted to determine the 3D density structure of the upper mantle. The inversion technique accounts for the fact that although these parameters are controlled by the same factors, the effect depends on depth and wavelength. Therefore, we can resolve the vertical distribution of density more reliable than by interpreting only one parameter. We found a strong negative anomaly under the North American craton, as expected for a depleted mantle. However, starting from a depth of about 200 km the depleted root is shifted west-southwest. The maximal shift reaches about 1000 km at a depth of 300 km. The direction agrees with the North American plate movement and with the anisotropy pattern in the upper mantle (e.g. Bokelmann, 2002). The results of the gravity modeling are confirmed by geodynamic modeling. The mantle flow is estimated from the density and temperature distribution derived from seismic tomography models. A 3D viscosity model is supplemented with weak boundaries based on an integrated model of plate boundary deformations. The calculated plate velocities are in a good agreement with the GPS-based models. We found a vertical gradient of the horizontal mantle flow velocity under the North American craton that relates to shear stresses deforming the cratonic root. The lateral velocity within the lowermost part of the lithosphere is about 2 mm/y faster than the overlying plate velocity. If we extrapolate this value to the past, the observed shift of the cratonic root could be achieved in about 500 Ma. Bokelmann GHR, (2002) Convection-driven motion of the North American craton: Evidence from P-wave anisotropy, Geoph. J. Int., 148, 278-287. Eaton DW and Frederiksen A, (2007) Seismic evidence for convection-driven motion of the North American plate, Nature 446, 428-431. Mooney WD, Kaban, MK., (2010). The North American Upper Mantle: Density, Composition, and Evolution, J. Geophys. Res., 115, B12424.

Tectonic evolution and mantle structure of the Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Benthem, Steven; Govers, Rob; Spakman, Wim; Wortel, Rinus

2013-06-01

investigate whether predictions of mantle structure from tectonic reconstructions are in agreement with a detailed tomographic image of seismic P wave velocity structure under the Caribbean region. In the upper mantle, positive seismic anomalies are imaged under the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. These anomalies are interpreted as remnants of Atlantic lithosphere subduction and confirm tectonic reconstructions that suggest at least 1100 km of convergence at the Lesser Antilles island arc during the past 45 Myr. The imaged Lesser Antilles slab consists of a northern and southern anomaly, separated by a low-velocity anomaly across most of the upper mantle, which we interpret as the subducted North America-South America plate boundary. The southern edge of the imaged Lesser Antilles slab agrees with vertical tearing of South America lithosphere. The northern Lesser Antilles slab is continuous with the Puerto Rico slab along the northeastern plate boundary. This results in an amphitheater-shaped slab, and it is interpreted as westward subducting North America lithosphere that remained attached to the surface along the northeastern boundary of the Caribbean plate. At the Muertos Trough, however, material is imaged until a depth of only 100 km, suggesting a small amount of subduction. The location and length of the imaged South Caribbean slab agrees with proposed subduction of Caribbean lithosphere under the northern South America plate. An anomaly related to proposed Oligocene subduction at the Nicaragua rise is absent in the tomographic model. Beneath Panama, a subduction window exists across the upper mantle, which is related to the cessation of subduction of the Nazca plate under Panama since 9.5 Ma and possibly the preceding subduction of the extinct Cocos-Nazca spreading center. In the lower mantle, two large anomaly patterns are imaged. The westernmost anomaly agrees with the subduction of Farallon lithosphere. The second lower mantle anomaly is found east of the Farallon anomaly and is interpreted as a remnant of the late Mesozoic subduction of North and South America oceanic lithosphere at the Greater Antilles, Aves ridge, and Leeward Antilles. The imaged mantle structure does not allow us to discriminate between an "Intra-Americas origin" and a "Pacific origin" of the Caribbean plate.

Tectonic evolution and mantle structure of the Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benthem, Steven; Govers, Rob; Spakman, Wim; Wortel, Rinus

2013-06-01

investigate whether predictions of mantle structure from tectonic reconstructions are in agreement with a detailed tomographic image of seismic P wave velocity structure under the Caribbean region. In the upper mantle, positive seismic anomalies are imaged under the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. These anomalies are interpreted as remnants of Atlantic lithosphere subduction and confirm tectonic reconstructions that suggest at least 1100 km of convergence at the Lesser Antilles island arc during the past ~45 Myr. The imaged Lesser Antilles slab consists of a northern and southern anomaly, separated by a low-velocity anomaly across most of the upper mantle, which we interpret as the subducted North America-South America plate boundary. The southern edge of the imaged Lesser Antilles slab agrees with vertical tearing of South America lithosphere. The northern Lesser Antilles slab is continuous with the Puerto Rico slab along the northeastern plate boundary. This results in an amphitheater-shaped slab, and it is interpreted as westward subducting North America lithosphere that remained attached to the surface along the northeastern boundary of the Caribbean plate. At the Muertos Trough, however, material is imaged until a depth of only 100 km, suggesting a small amount of subduction. The location and length of the imaged South Caribbean slab agrees with proposed subduction of Caribbean lithosphere under the northern South America plate. An anomaly related to proposed Oligocene subduction at the Nicaragua rise is absent in the tomographic model. Beneath Panama, a subduction window exists across the upper mantle, which is related to the cessation of subduction of the Nazca plate under Panama since 9.5 Ma and possibly the preceding subduction of the extinct Cocos-Nazca spreading center. In the lower mantle, two large anomaly patterns are imaged. The westernmost anomaly agrees with the subduction of Farallon lithosphere. The second lower mantle anomaly is found east of the Farallon anomaly and is interpreted as a remnant of the late Mesozoic subduction of North and South America oceanic lithosphere at the Greater Antilles, Aves ridge, and Leeward Antilles. The imaged mantle structure does not allow us to discriminate between an "Intra-Americas origin" and a "Pacific origin" of the Caribbean plate.

Mantle thermal history during supercontinent assembly and breakup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudolph, M. L.; Zhong, S.

2013-12-01

We use mantle convection simulations driven by plate motion boundary conditions to investigate changes in mantle temperature through time. It has been suggested that circum-Pangean subduction prevented convective thermal mixing between sub-continental and sub-oceanic regions. We performed thermo-chemical simulations of mantle convection with velocity boundary conditions based on plate motions for the past 450 Myr using Earth-like Rayleigh number and ~60% internal heating using three different plate motion models for the last 200 Myr [Lithgow-Bertelloni and Richards 1998; Gurnis et al. 2012; Seton et al. 2012; Zhang et al. 2010]. We quantified changes in upper-mantle temperature between 200-1000 km depth beneath continents (defined as the oldest 30% of Earth's surface) and beneath oceans. Sub-continental upper mantle temperature was relatively stable and high between 330 and 220 Ma, coincident with the existence of the supercontinent Pangea. The average sub-continental temperature during this period was, however, only ~10 K greater than during the preceding 100 Myr. In the ~200 Myr since the breakup of Pangea, sub-continental temperatures have decreased only ~15 K in excess of the 0.02 K/Myr secular cooling present in our models. Sub-oceanic upper mantle temperatures did not vary more than 5 K between 400 and 200 Ma and the cooling trend following Pangea breakup is less pronounced. Recent geochemical observations imply rapid upper mantle cooling of O(10^2) K during continental breakup; our models do not produce warming of this magnitude beneath Pangea or cooling of similar magnitude associated with the breakup of Pangea. Our models differ from those that produce strong sub-continental heating in that the circum-Pangean subduction curtain does not completely inhibit mixing between the sub-continental and sub-oceanic regions and we include significant internal heating, which limits the rate of temperature increase. Heat transport in our simulations is controlled to first order by plate motions. Most of the temporal variability in surface heat flow is driven by variations in seafloor spreading rate and the accompanying changes in slab velocities dominate variations in buoyancy flux at all mantle depths. Variations in plume buoyancy flux are small but are correlated with the slab buoyancy flux variations.

Control of the Lithospheric Mantle on intracontinental Deformation: Revival of Eastern U.S. Tectonism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biryol, C. B.; Wagner, L. S.; Fischer, K. M.; Hawman, R. B.

2016-12-01

The present tectonic configuration of the southeastern United States is a product of earlier episodes of arc accretion, continental collision and breakup. This region is located in the interior of the North American Plate, some 1500 km away from closest active plate margin. However, there is ongoing tectonism across the area with multiple zones of seismicity, rejuvenation of the Appalachians of North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and Cenozoic intraplate volcanism. The mechanisms controlling this activity and the modern-day state of stress remain enigmatic. Two factors often regarded as major contributors are plate strength and preexisting inherited structures. Recent improvements in broadband seismic data coverage in the region associated with the South Eastern Suture of the Appalachian Margin Experiment (SESAME) and EarthScope Transportable Array make it possible to obtain detailed information on the structure of the lithosphere in the region. Here we present new tomographic images of the upper mantle beneath the Southeastern United States, revealing large-scale structural variations in the upper mantle. Our results indicate fast seismic velocity patterns that can be interpreted as ongoing lithospheric foundering. We observe an agreement between the locations of these upper mantle anomalies and the location of major zones of tectonism, volcanism and seismicity, providing a viable explanation for modern-day activity in this plate interior setting long after it became a passive margin. Based on distinct variations in the geometry and thickness of the lithospheric mantle and foundered lithosphere, we propose that piecemeal delamination has occurred beneath the region throughout the Cenozoic, removing a significant amount of reworked/deformed mantle lithosphere. Ongoing lithospheric foundering beneath the eastern margin of stable North America explains significant variations in thickness of lithospheric mantle across the former Grenville deformation front.

Thermo-compositional and strength variability of the Australian plate: clues of intraplate deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tesauro, M.; Kaban, M. K.; Aitken, A.

2017-12-01

The Australian plate has a long and complex tectonic history and its crust and upper mantle have been deeply investigated in the last two decades using a variety of geophysical methods. To discern temperature and compositional variations of the Australian upper mantle, we apply an iterative technique, which jointly interprets seismic tomography and gravity data. This technique consists in removing the effect of the crust from the observed gravity field and topography. In the second step, the residual mantle gravity field and residual topography are inverted to obtain a 3-D density model of the upper mantle. The inversion technique accounts for the notion that these fields are controlled by the same factors but in a different way (e.g., depending on depth and horizontal dimension of the heterogeneity.) This enables us to locate the position of principal density anomalies in the upper mantle. Afterwards, the thermal contribution to the density structure is estimated by inverting the seismic tomography model AusREM (http://rses.anu.edu.au/seismology/AuSREM/index.php). In this way, we improve the initial thermal and compositional models iteratively. The final thermal model compared to the initial one shows temperatures higher by 100-150 °C in the Archean and Proterozoic upper mantle. Furthermore, we observe larger iron depletion in the Western Australian craton than in the Proterozoic terranes. At the depths larger than 150 km, the depletion becomes negligible beneath the Proterozoic regions, while persists in the Western Australian craton also below the depth of the lithosphere. We interpret this feature as a result of the leakage of the depleted mantle, possibly caused by the erosion of the thermal boundary layer, which was thicker before than in present-days. Using the final thermo-compositional model, we estimated the strength and effective elastic distribution within the Australian lithosphere. For this purpose, we assumed a stiff rheology, on account of the mafic composition of the Australian crust. The results show large variability of the rigidity of the plate within the cratonic areas, reflecting the long tectonic history of the Australian plate. On the other hand, the younger eastern terranes are uniformly weak, due to the higher temperatures.

Bending-related faulting and mantle serpentinization at the Middle America trench.

PubMed

Ranero, C R; Morgan, J Phipps; McIntosh, K; Reichert, C

2003-09-25

The dehydration of subducting oceanic crust and upper mantle has been inferred both to promote the partial melting leading to arc magmatism and to induce intraslab intermediate-depth earthquakes, at depths of 50-300 km. Yet there is still no consensus about how slab hydration occurs or where and how much chemically bound water is stored within the crust and mantle of the incoming plate. Here we document that bending-related faulting of the incoming plate at the Middle America trench creates a pervasive tectonic fabric that cuts across the crust, penetrating deep into the mantle. Faulting is active across the entire ocean trench slope, promoting hydration of the cold crust and upper mantle surrounding these deep active faults. The along-strike length and depth of penetration of these faults are also similar to the dimensions of the rupture area of intermediate-depth earthquakes.

Impact of slab pull and incipient mantle delamination on active tectonics and crustal thickening in the Betic-Alboran-Rif system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzotti, Stephane; Baratin, Laura-May; Chéry, Jean; Vernant, Philippe; Gueydan, Frédéric; Tahayt, Abdelilah; Mourabit, Taoufik

2017-04-01

In Western Mediterranean, the Betic-Alboran-Rif orocline accommodates the WNW-ESE convergence between the Nubia and Eurasia plates. Recent geodetic data show that present-day tectonics in northern Morocco and southernmost Spain are not compatible with this simple two-plate-convergence model: GPS observations indicate significant (2-4 mm/a) deviations from the expected plate motion, and gravity data define two major negative Bouguer anomalies beneath the Betic and south of the Rif, interpreted as a thickened crust in a state of non-isostatic equilibrium. These anomalous geodetic patterns are likely related to the recent impact of the sub-vertical Alboran slab on crustal tectonics. Using 2-D finite-element models, we study the first-order behavior of a lithosphere affected by a downward normal traction, representing the pull of a high-density body in the upper mantle (slab pull or mantle delamination). We show that a specific range of lower crust and upper mantle viscosities allow a strong coupling between the mantle and the base of the brittle crust, thus enabling (1) the efficient conversion of vertical movement (resulting from the downward traction) to horizontal movement and (2) shortening and thickening on the brittle upper crust. Our results show that incipient delamination of the Nubian continental lithosphere, linked to the Alboran slab pull, can explain the present-day abnormal tectonics and non-isostatic equilibrium in northern Morocco. Similar processes may be at play in the whole Betic-Alboran-Rif region, although the fast temporal evolution of the slab - upper plate interactions needs to be taken into account to better understand this complex system.

Tectonic evolution and mantle structure of the Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Benthem, Steven; Govers, Rob; Spakman, Wim; Wortel, Rinus

2013-04-01

In the broad context of investigating the relationship between deep structure & processes and surface expressions, we study the Caribbean plate and underlying mantle. We investigate whether predictions of mantle structure from tectonic reconstructions are in agreement with a detailed tomographic image of seismic P-wave velocity structure under the Caribbean region. In the upper mantle, positive seismic anomalies are imaged under the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. These anomalies are interpreted as remnants of Atlantic lithosphere subduction and confirm tectonic reconstructions that suggest at least 1100 km of convergence at the Lesser Antilles island arc during the past ~45 Myr. The imaged Lesser-Antilles slab consists of a northern and southern anomaly, separated by a low velocity anomaly across most of the upper mantle, which we interpret as the subducted North-South America plate boundary. The southern edge of the imaged Lesser Antilles slab agrees with vertical tearing of South America lithosphere. The northern Lesser Antilles slab is continuous with the Puerto Rico slab along the northeastern plate boundary. This results in an amphitheater-shaped slab and it is interpreted as westward subducting North America lithosphere that remained attached to the surface along the northern boundary. At the Muertos Trough, however, material is imaged until a depth of only 100 km, suggesting a small amount of subduction. The location and length of the imaged South Caribbean slab agrees with proposed subduction of Caribbean lithosphere under the northern South America plate. An anomaly related to proposed Oligocene subduction at the Nicaragua rise is absent in the tomographic model. Beneath Panama, a subduction window exists across the upper mantle, which is related to the cessation of subduction of the Nazca plate under Panama since 9.5 Ma and possibly the preceding subduction of the extinct Cocos-Nazca spreading center. In the lower mantle two large anomaly patterns are imaged. The westernmost anomaly agrees with the subduction of Farallon lithosphere. The second lower mantle anomaly is found east of the Farallon anomaly and is interpreted as a remnant of the late Mesozoic subduction of North and South America oceanic lithosphere at the Greater Antilles, Aves ridge and Leeward Antilles. The imaged mantle structure does not allow us to discriminate between an 'Intra-Americas' origin and a 'Pacific origin' of the Caribbean plate.

Reconstructing mantle heterogeneity with data assimilation based on the back-and-forth nudging method: Implications for mantle-dynamic fitting of past plate motions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glišović, Petar; Forte, Alessandro

2016-04-01

The paleo-distribution of density variations throughout the mantle is unknown. To address this question, we reconstruct 3-D mantle structure over the Cenozoic era using a data assimilation method that implements a new back-and-forth nudging algorithm. For this purpose, we employ convection models for a compressible and self-gravitating mantle that employ 3-D mantle structure derived from joint seismic-geodynamic tomography as a starting condition. These convection models are then integrated backwards in time and are required to match geologic estimates of past plate motions derived from marine magnetic data. Our implementation of the nudging algorithm limits the difference between a reconstruction (backward-in-time solution) and a prediction (forward-in-time solution) on over a sequence of 5-million-year time windows that span the Cenozoic. We find that forward integration of reconstructed mantle heterogeneity that is constrained to match past plate motions delivers relatively poor fits to the seismic-tomographic inference of present-day mantle heterogeneity in the upper mantle. We suggest that uncertainties in the past plate motions, related for example to plate reorganization episodes, could partly contribute to the poor match between predicted and observed present-day heterogeneity. We propose that convection models that allow tectonic plates to evolve freely in accord with the buoyancy forces and rheological structure in the mantle could provide additional constraints on geologic estimates of paleo-configurations of the major tectonic plates.

Mid-ocean ridges produced thicker crust in the Jurassic than in Recent times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Avendonk, H. J.; Harding, J.; Davis, J. K.; Lawver, L. A.

2016-12-01

We present a compilation of published marine seismic refraction data to show that oceanic crust was 1.7 km thicker on average in the mid-Jurassic (170 Ma) than along the present-day mid-ocean ridge system. Plate reconstructions in a fixed hotspot framework show that the thickness of oceanic crust does not correlate with proximity to mantle hotspots, so it is likely that mid-plate volcanism is not the cause of this global trend. We propose that more melt was extracted from the upper mantle beneath mid-ocean ridges in the Jurassic than in recent times. Numerical studies show that temperature increase of 1 degree C in the mantle can lead to approximately 50-70 m thicker crust, so the upper mantle may have cooled 15-20 degrees C/100 Myr since 170 Ma. This average temperature decrease is larger than the secular cooling rate of the Earth's mantle, which is roughly 10 degrees C/100 Myr since the Archean. Apparently, the present-day configuration and dynamics of continental and oceanic plates removes heat more efficiently from the Earth's mantle than in its earlier history. The increase of ocean crustal thickness with plate age is also stronger in the Indian and Atlantic oceans than in the Pacific Ocean basin. This confirms that thermal insulation by the supercontinent Pangaea raised the temperature of the underlying asthenospheric mantle, which in turn led to more magmatic output at the Jurassic mid-ocean ridges of the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Dry Juan de Fuca slab revealed by quantification of water entering Cascadia subduction zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canales, J. P.; Carbotte, S. M.; Nedimović, M. R.; Carton, H.

2017-11-01

Water is carried by subducting slabs as a pore fluid and in structurally bound minerals, yet no comprehensive quantification of water content and how it is stored and distributed at depth within incoming plates exists for any segment of the global subduction system. Here we use seismic data to quantify the amount of pore and structurally bound water in the Juan de Fuca plate entering the Cascadia subduction zone. Specifically, we analyse these water reservoirs in the sediments, crust and lithospheric mantle, and their variations along the central Cascadia margin. We find that the Juan de Fuca lower crust and mantle are drier than at any other subducting plate, with most of the water stored in the sediments and upper crust. Variable but limited bend faulting along the margin limits slab access to water, and a warm thermal structure resulting from a thick sediment cover and young plate age prevents significant serpentinization of the mantle. The dryness of the lower crust and mantle indicates that fluids that facilitate episodic tremor and slip must be sourced from the subducted upper crust, and that decompression rather than hydrous melting must dominate arc magmatism in central Cascadia. Additionally, dry subducted lower crust and mantle can explain the low levels of intermediate-depth seismicity in the Juan de Fuca slab.

Detachments of the subducted Indian continental lithosphere based on 3D finite-frequency tomographic images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, X.; Tian, X.; Wang, M.

2017-12-01

Indian plate collided with Eurasian plate at 60 Ma and there are about 3000 km crustal shortening since the continental-continental collision. At least one third of the total amount of crustal shortening between Indian and Eurasian plates could not be accounted by thickened Tibetan crust and surface erosion. It will need a combination of possible transfer of lower crust to the mantle by eclogitization and lateral extrusion. Based on the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary images beneath the Tibetan plateau, there is also at least the same amount deficit for lithospheric mantle subducted into upper/lower mantle or lateral extrusion with the crust. We have to recover a detailed Indian continental lithosphere image beneath the plateau in order to explain this deficit of mass budget. Combining the new teleseismic body waves recorded by SANDWICH passive seismic array with waveforms from several previous temporary seismic arrays, we carried out finite-frequency tomographic inversions to image three-dimensional velocity structures beneath southern and central Tibetan plateau to examine the possible image of subducted Indian lithosphere in the Tibetan upper mantle. We have recovered a continuous high velocity body in upper mantle and piece-wised high velocity anomalies in the mantle transition zone. Based on their geometry and relative locations, we interpreted these high velocity anomalies as the subducted and detached Indian lithosphere at different episodes of the plateau evolution. Detachments of the subducted Indian lithosphere should have a crucial impact on the volcanism activities and uplift history of the plateau.

The Evolution of Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis of Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, S.; Wu, T.; Li, M.; Zhang, Y.; Hua, Y.; Zhang, B.

2017-12-01

Indian plate has been colliding with Eurasian plate since 50Ma years ago, resulting in the Tethys extinction, crust shortening and Tibetan plateau uplift. But it is still a debate how the Tibetan Plateau material escaped. This study tries to invert the distributions of dispersion phase velocity and anisotropy in Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) based on the seismic data. We focused on the seven sub-blocks around EHS region. Sub-block "EHS" represents EHS corner with high velocity anomalies, significantly compressed in the axle and strike directions. Sub-blocks "LSD", "QTB" and "SP-GZB" are located at its northern areas with compressions also, and connected with low-velocity anomalies in both crustal and upper mantle rocks. Sub-block "ICB" is located at its southern area with low velocity anomaly, and connected with Tengchong volcano. Sub-blocks "SYDB" and "YZB" are located at its eastern areas with high velocity anomalies in both crustal and upper mantle rocks. Our results demonstrated that significant azimuthal anisotropy of crust (t£30s) and upper mantle (30s£t£60s). Crustal anisotropy indicates the orogenic belt matched well with the direction of fast propagation, and upper mantle anisotropy represents the lattic-preferred orientation (LPO) of mantle minerals (e.g. olivine and basalt), indicating the features of subducting Indian plate. Besides, Red River fault is a dextral strike fault, controlling the crustal and mantle migration. There is a narrow zone to be the channel flow of Tibetan crustal materials escaping toward Yunnan area. The evolution of EHS seems constrained by gravity isostatic mechanism. Keywords: Tibetan Plateau; Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis; Red River fault; crustal flow; surface wave; anisotropy

Thermal and mechanical structure of the upper mantle: A comparison between continental and oceanic models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Froidevaux, C.; Schubert, G.; Yuen, D. A.

1976-01-01

Temperature, velocity, and viscosity profiles for coupled thermal and mechanical models of the upper mantle beneath continental shields and old ocean basins show that under the continents, both tectonic plates and the asthenosphere, are thicker than they are beneath the oceans. The minimum value of viscosity in the continental asthenosphere is about an order of magnitude larger than in the shear zone beneath oceans. The shear stress or drag underneath continental plates is also approximately an order of magnitude larger than the drag on oceanic plates. Effects of shear heating may account for flattening of ocean floor topography and heat flux in old ocean basins.

Initiation of the Andean orogeny by lower mantle subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faccenna, Claudio; Oncken, Onno; Holt, Adam F.; Becker, Thorsten W.

2017-04-01

The Cordillera of the Andes is a double-vergent orogenic belt built up by thickening of South American plate crust. Several models provide plausible explanations for the evolution of the Andes, but the reason why shortening started at ∼50 Ma is still unclear. We explore the evolution of the subduction zone through time by restoring the position of the Nazca trench in an absolute reference frame, comparing its position with seismic tomography models and balancing the evolution of the subducting slab. Reconstructions show that the slab enters into the lower mantle at ∼ 50 ± 10 Ma, and then progressed, moving horizontally at shallow lower mantle depth while thickening and folding in the transition zone. We test this evolutionary scenario by numerical models, which illustrate that compression in the upper plate intensifies once the slab is anchored in the lower mantle. We conclude that onset of significant shortening and crustal thickening in the Andes and its sustained action over tens of million years is related to the penetration of the slab into the lower mantle, producing a slowdown of lateral slab migration, and dragging the upper plate against the subduction zone by large-scale return flow.

Initiation of the Andean orogeny by lower mantle subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faccenna, Claudio; Oncken, Onno; Holt, Adam; Becker, Thorsten

2017-04-01

The Cordillera of the Andes is a double-vergent orogenic belt built up by thickening of South American plate crust. Several models provide plausible explanations for the evolution of the Andes, but the reason why shortening started at 50 Ma is still unclear. We explore the evolution of the subduction zone through time by restoring the position of the Nazca trench in an absolute reference frame, comparing its position with seismic tomography models and balancing the evolution of the subducting slab. Reconstructions show that the slab enters into the lower mantle at 50+10 Ma, and then progressed, moving horizontally at shallow lower mantle depth while thickening and folding in the transition zone. We test this evolutionary scenario by numerical models, which illustrate that compression in the upper plate emerges once the slab is anchored in the lower mantle. We conclude that onset of significant shortening and crustal thickening in the Andes and its sustained action over tens of million years is related to the penetration of the slab into the lower mantle, producing a slowdown of lateral slab migration, and dragging the upper plate against the subduction zone by large-scale return flow.

Initiation of the Andean orogeny by lower mantle subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faccenna, C.; Oncken, O.; Holt, A.; Becker, T. W.

2017-12-01

The Cordillera of the Andes is a double-vergent orogenic belt built up by thickening of South American plate crust. Several models provide plausible explanations for the evolution of the Andes, but the reason why shortening started at 50 Ma is still unclear. We explore the evolution of the subduction zone through time by restoring the position of the Nazca trench in an absolute reference frame, comparing its position with seismic tomography models and balancing the evolution of the subducting slab. Reconstructions show that the slab enters into the lower mantle at 50+10 Ma, and then progressed, moving horizontally at shallow lower mantle depth while thickening and folding in the transition zone. We test this evolutionary scenario by numerical models, which illustrate that compression in the upper plate emerges once the slab is anchored in the lower mantle. We conclude that onset of significant shortening and crustal thickening in the Andes and its sustained action over tens of million years is related to the penetration of the slab into the lower mantle, producing a slowdown of lateral slab migration, and dragging the upper plate against the subduction zone by large-scale return flow.

Surface wave tomography applied to the North American upper mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Lee, Suzan; Frederiksen, Andrew

Tomographic techniques that invert seismic surface waves for 3-D Earth structure differ in their definitions of data and the forward problem as well as in the parameterization of the tomographic model. However, all such techniques have in common that the tomographic inverse problem involves solving a large and mixed-determined set of linear equations. Consequently these inverse problems have multiple solutions and inherently undefinable accuracy. Smoother and rougher tomographic models are found with rougher (confined to great circle path) and smoother (finite-width) sensitivity kernels, respectively. A powerful, well-tested method of surface wave tomography (Partitioned Waveform Inversion) is based on inverting the waveforms of wave trains comprising regional S and surface waves from at least hundreds of seismograms for 3-D variations in S wave velocity. We apply this method to nearly 1400 seismograms recorded by digital broadband seismic stations in North America. The new 3-D S-velocity model, NA04, is consistent with previous findings that are based on separate, overlapping data sets. The merging of US and Canadian data sets, adding Canadian recordings of Mexican earthquakes, and combining fundamental-mode with higher-mode waveforms provides superior resolution, in particular in the US-Canada border region and the deep upper mantle. NA04 shows that 1) the Atlantic upper mantle is seismically faster than the Pacific upper mantle, 2) the uppermost mantle beneath Precambrian North America could be one and a half times as rigid as the upper mantle beneath Meso- and Cenozoic North America, with the upper mantle beneath Paleozoic North America being intermediate in seismic rigidity, 3) upper-mantle structure varies laterally within these geologic-age domains, and 4) the distribution of high-velocity anomalies in the deep upper mantle aligns with lower mantle images of the subducted Farallon and Kula plates and indicate that trailing fragments of these subducted oceanic plates still reside in the transition zone. The thickness of the high-velocity layer beneath Precambrian North America is estimated to be 250±70 km thick. On a smaller scale NA04 shows 1) high-velocities associated with subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Aleutian arc, 2) the absence of expected high velocities in the upper mantle beneath the Wyoming craton, 3) a V-shaped dent below 150 km in the high-velocity cratonic lithosphere beneath New England, 4) the cratonic lithosphere beneath Precambrian North America being confined southwest of Baffin Bay, west of the Appalachians, north of the Ouachitas, east of the Rocky Mountains, and south of the Arctic Ocean, 5) the cratonic lithosphere beneath the Canadian shield having higher S-velocities than that beneath Precambrian basement that is covered with Phanerozoic sediments, 6) the lowest S velocities are concentrated beneath the Gulf of California, northern Mexico, and the Basin and Range Province.

Birch's Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, D. L.

2002-12-01

Francis Birch's 1952 paper started the sciences of mineral physics and physics of the Earth's interior. Birch stressed the importance of pressure, compressive strain and volume in mantle physics. Although this may seem to be an obvious lesson many modern paradoxes in the internal constitution of the Earth and mantle dynamics can be traced to a lack of appreciation for the role of compression. The effect of pressure on thermal properties such as expansivity can gravitational stratify the Earth irreversibly during accretion and can keep it chemically stratified. The widespread use of the Boussinesq approximation in mantle geodynamics is the antithesis of Birchian physics. Birch pointed out that eclogite was likely to be an important component of the upper mantle. Plate tectonic recycling and the bouyancy of oceanic crust at midmantle depths gives credence to this suggestion. Although peridotite dominates the upper mantle, variations in eclogite-content may be responsible for melting- or fertility-spots. Birch called attention to the Repetti Discontinuity near 900 km depth as an important geodynamic boundary. This may be the chemical interface between the upper and lower mantles. Recent work in geodynamics and seismology has confirmed the importance of this region of the mantle as a possible barrier. Birch regarded the transition region (TR ; 400 to 1000 km ) as the key to many problems in Earth sciences. The TR contains two major discontinuities ( near 410 and 650 km ) and their depths are a good mantle thermometer which is now being exploited to suggest that much of plate tectonics is confined to the upper mantle ( in Birch's terminology, the mantle above 1000 km depth ). The lower mantle is homogeneous and different from the upper mantle. Density and seismic velocity are very insensitive to temperature there, consistent with tomography. A final key to the operation of the mantle is Birch's suggestion that radioactivities were stripped out of the deeper parts of Earth and placed in the crust and upper mantle. This resolves the lower mantle overheating paradox but the stratified mantle slows down the cooling of the Earth. A completely thermodynamically self-consistent treatment of mantle dynamics, with volume and temperature-dependent parameters has not yet been attempted but the essence of this approach is contained in the 1952 paper, which is must reading for all students of Earth's interior. One implication of this paper is that lower mantle structures should be gigantic and long-lived, a prediction spectacularly confirmed by modern seismic tomography.

Deep mantle cycling of oceanic crust: evidence from diamonds and their mineral inclusions.

PubMed

Walter, M J; Kohn, S C; Araujo, D; Bulanova, G P; Smith, C B; Gaillou, E; Wang, J; Steele, A; Shirey, S B

2011-10-07

A primary consequence of plate tectonics is that basaltic oceanic crust subducts with lithospheric slabs into the mantle. Seismological studies extend this process to the lower mantle, and geochemical observations indicate return of oceanic crust to the upper mantle in plumes. There has been no direct petrologic evidence, however, of the return of subducted oceanic crustal components from the lower mantle. We analyzed superdeep diamonds from Juina-5 kimberlite, Brazil, which host inclusions with compositions comprising the entire phase assemblage expected to crystallize from basalt under lower-mantle conditions. The inclusion mineralogies require exhumation from the lower to upper mantle. Because the diamond hosts have carbon isotope signatures consistent with surface-derived carbon, we conclude that the deep carbon cycle extends into the lower mantle.

The Importance of Lower Mantle Structure to Plate Stresses and Plate Motions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holt, W. E.; Wang, X.; Ghosh, A.

2016-12-01

Plate motions and plate stresses are widely assumed as the surface expression of mantle convection. The generation of plate tectonics from mantle convection has been studied for many years. Lithospheric thickening (or ridge push) and slab pull forces are commonly accepted as the major driving forces for the plate motions. However, the importance of the lower mantle to plate stresses and plate motions remains less clear. Here, we use the joint modeling of lithosphere and mantle dynamics approach of Wang et al. (2015) to compute the tractions originating from deeper mantle convection and follow the method of Ghosh et al. (2013) to calculate gravitational potential energy per unit area (GPE) based on Crust 1.0 (Laske et al., 2013). Absolute values of deviatoric stresses are determined by the body force distributions (GPE gradients and traction magnitudes applied at the base of the lithosphere). We use the same relative viscosity model that Ghosh et al. (2013) used, and we solve for one single adjustable scaling factor that multiplies the entire relative viscosity field to provide absolute values of viscosity throughout the lithosphere. This distribution of absolute values of lithosphere viscosities defines the magnitudes of surface motions. In this procedure, the dynamic model first satisfies the internal constraint of no-net-rotation of motions. The model viscosity field is then scaled by the single factor until we achieve a root mean square (RMS) minimum between computed surface motions and the kinematic no-net-rotation (NNR) model of Kreemer et al. (2006). We compute plate stresses and plate motions from recently published global tomography models (over 70 based on Wang et al., 2015). We find that RMS misfits are significantly reduced when details of lower mantle structure from the latest tomography models are added to models that contain only upper and mid-mantle density distributions. One of the key reasons is that active upwelling from the Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs) in the lower mantle in Pacific (Frost and Rost, 2014) provides important components of mantle flow affecting plate stresses and motions. We demonstrate in this paper how lower mantle density heterogeneity has a marked influence on plate stresses and plate motions.

Observations of Quasi-Love Waves in Tibet Indicates Coherent Deformation of the Crust and Upper Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, X.; Park, J. J.

2012-12-01

The high uplift of the Tibet area is caused by the continental collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. The style of deformation along with the collision is still being debated, particularly whether the deformation is vertically coherent or not, i.e., whether the upper mantle deforms coherently with the crust. In this work, we have used quasi-Love (QL) waves to constrain the anisotropy pattern around the Tibet region. The existence of anisotropy gradients has been identified with the observations of QL waves, which is a converted Rayleigh-wave motion that follows the arrival of the Love wave. Further, the locations of the anisotropy gradients have been pinned with the delay time between the Love wave and the QL wave, which is determined from cross-correlation. Our results show that the frequency content of Tibetan QL wave is centered around 10 mHz, indicating the depth range of anisotropy should be in the asthenosphere. Most of the scatterers of QL wave that we can detect lie outside the Tibet Plateau. Their distribution correlates well with the boundary of the Persia-Tibet- Burma orogeny, which has been identified from surface geologic data. This correlation, between surface geology and upper mantle anisotropy inferred from QL observations at the orogenic boundary, suggests that the crust and upper mantle of the orogeny are deforming coherently. Other scatterers that are off the Persia-Tibet-Burma orogenic boundary mostly cluster in two locations, the Tarim Basin, and the Bangong-Nujiang Suture, where there could exist contrasting anisotropy patterns in the upper mantle. The deformation in the Tibet region is complicated, yet our research suggests a vertically coherent deformation style of the upper mantle in Tibet.

Seismic evidence for rotating mantle flow around subducting slab edge associated with oceanic microplate capture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mosher, Stephen G.; Audet, Pascal; L'Heureux, Ivan

2014-07-01

Tectonic plate reorganization at a subduction zone edge is a fundamental process that controls oceanic plate fragmentation and capture. However, the various factors responsible for these processes remain elusive. We characterize seismic anisotropy of the upper mantle in the Explorer region at the northern limit of the Cascadia subduction zone from teleseismic shear wave splitting measurements. Our results show that the mantle flow field beneath the Explorer slab is rotating anticlockwise from the convergence-parallel motion between the Juan de Fuca and the North America plates, re-aligning itself with the transcurrent motion between the Pacific and North America plates. We propose that oceanic microplate fragmentation is driven by slab stretching, thus reorganizing the mantle flow around the slab edge and further contributing to slab weakening and increase in buoyancy, eventually leading to cessation of subduction and microplate capture.

Mantle dynamics in the Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faccenna, Claudio; Becker, Thorsten W.

2016-04-01

The Mediterranean offers a unique avenue to study the driving forces of tectonic deformation within a complex mobile belt. Lithospheric dynamics are affected by slab rollback and collision of two large, slowly moving plates, forcing fragments of continental and oceanic lithosphere to interact. Here, we review the rich and growing set of constraints from geological reconstructions, geodetic data, and crustal and upper mantle heterogeneity imaged by structural seismology. We discuss a conceptual and quantitative framework for the causes of surface deformations. Exploring existing and newly developed tectonic and numerical geodynamic models, we illustrate the role of mantle convection on surface geology. A coherent picture emerges which can be outlined by two, almost symmetric, upper mantle convection cells. The down-wellings are found in the centre of the Mediterranean, and are associated with the descent of the Tyrrhenian and the Hellenic slabs. During plate convergence, these slabs migrated, driving return flow of the asthenosphere from the backarc regions. These currents can be found at large distance from the subduction zones, and are at present expressed in two upwellings beneath Anatolia and eastern Iberia. This convection system provides an explanation for the general pattern of seismic anisotropy in the Mediterranean, the first-order Anatolia and Adria microplate kinematics, and the positive dynamic topography of Anatolia and Eastern Iberia. More generally, it is an illustration of upper mantle, small-scale convection leading to intraplate deformation and complex plate boundary reconfiguration at the westernmost terminus of the Tethyan collision.

Miocene tectonics of the Western Alboran domain: from mantle extensional exhumation to westward thrusting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gueydan, F.; Frasca, G.; Brun, J. P.

2015-12-01

In the frame of the Africa-Europe convergence, the Mediterranean tectonic system presents a complex interaction between subduction rollback and upper-plate deformation during the Tertiary. The western Mediterranean is characterized by the exhumation of the largest subcontinental mantle massif worldwide (the Ronda Peridotite) and a narrow arcuate geometryacross the Gibraltar arc within the Betic-Rif belt (the internal part being called the Alboran domain), where the relationship between slab dynamics and surface tectonics is not well understood. New structural and geochronological data are used to argue for 1/ hyperstrechting of the continental lithosphere allowing extensional mantle exhumation to shallow depths, followed by 2/ lower miocene thrusting. Two Lower Miocene E-W-trending strike-slip corridors played a major role in the deformation pattern of the Alboran Domain, in which E-W dextral strike-slip faults, N60°-trending thrusts and N140°-trending normal faults developed simultaneously during dextral strike-slip simple shear. The inferred continuous westward translation of the Alboran Domain is accommodated by a major E-W-trending lateral ramp (strike-slip) and a N60°-trending frontal thrust. At lithosphere-scale, we interpret the observed deformation pattern as the upper-plate expression of a lateral slab tear and of its westward propagation since Lower Miocene. The crustal emplacement of the Ronda Peridotites occurred at the onset of this westward motion.The Miocene tectonics of the western Alboran is therefore marked by the inversion of a continental rift, triggered by shortening of the upper continental plate and accommodated by E-W dextral strike-slip corridors. During thrusting and westward displacement of the Alboran domain with respect to Iberia, the hot upper plate, which involved the previously exhumed sub-continental mantle, underwent fast cooling.

Seismic structure and activity of the north-central Lesser Antilles subduction zone from an integrated approach: Similarities with the Tohoku forearc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laigle, M.; Hirn, A.; Sapin, M.; Bécel, A.; Charvis, P.; Flueh, E.; Diaz, J.; Lebrun, J.-F.; Gesret, A.; Raffaele, R.; Galvé, A.; Evain, M.; Ruiz, M.; Kopp, H.; Bayrakci, G.; Weinzierl, W.; Hello, Y.; Lépine, J.-C.; Viodé, J.-P.; Sachpazi, M.; Gallart, J.; Kissling, E.; Nicolich, R.

2013-09-01

The 300-km-long north-central segment of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, including Martinique and Guadeloupe islands has been the target of a specific approach to the seismic structure and activity by a cluster of active and passive offshore-onshore seismic experiments. The top of the subducting plate can be followed under the wide accretionary wedge by multichannel reflection seismics. This reveals the hidden updip limit of the contact of the upper plate crustal backstop onto the slab. Two OBS refraction seismic profiles from the volcanic arc throughout the forearc domain constrain a 26-km-large crustal thickness all along. In the common assumption that the upper plate Moho contact on the slab is a proxy of its downdip limit these new observations imply a three times larger width of the potential interplate seismogenic zone under the marine domain of the Caribbean plate with respect to a regular intra-oceanic subduction zone. Towards larger depth under the mantle corner, the top of the slab imaged from the conversions of teleseismic body-waves and the locations of earthquakes appears with kinks which increase the dip to 10-20° under the forearc domain, and then to 60° from 70 km depth. At 145 km depth under the volcanic arc just north of Martinique, the 2007 M 7.4 earthquake, largest for half a century in the region, allows to document a deep slab deformation consistent with segmentation into slab panels. In relation with this occurrence, an increased seismic activity over the whole depth range provides a new focussed image thanks to the OBS and land deployments. A double-planed dipping slab seismicity is thus now resolved, as originally discovered in Tohoku (NE Japan) and since in other subduction zones. Two other types of seismic activity uniquely observed in Tohoku, are now resolved here: "supraslab" earthquakes with normal-faulting focal mechanisms reliably located in the mantle corner and "deep flat-thrust" earthquakes at 45 km depth on the interplate fault under the Caribbean plate forearc mantle. None such types of seismicity should occur under the paradigm of a regular peridotitic mantle of the upper plate which is expected to be serpentinized by the fluids provided from the dehydrating slab beneath. This process is commonly considered as limiting the downward extent of the interplate coupling. Interpretations are not readily available either for the large crustal thickness of this shallow water marine upper plate, except when remarking its likeness to oceanic plateaus formed above hotspots. The Caribbean Oceanic Plateau of the upper plate has been formed earlier by the material advection from a mantle plume. It could then be underlain by a correspondingly modified, heterogeneous mantle, which may include pyroxenitic material among peridotites. Such heterogeneity in the mantle corner of the present subduction zone may account for the notable peculiarities in seismic structure and activity and impose regions of stick-slip behavior on the interplate among stable-gliding areas.

Analog Modeling of the Interplay between Subduction and Lateral Extrusion in the European Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Gelder, I. E.; Willingshofer, E.; Sokoutis, D.

2014-12-01

In the European Alps lateral extrusion is traditionally viewed as a lithospheric scale process that is related to northward indentation of a weak orogenic wedge (the eastern Alps) by a rigid indenter in upper plate position (the Adriatic plate). Critical for the efficiency of the extrusion process is the presence of a 'free boundary' at high angle to the indentation direction. The 'free boundary' in the eastern Alps is the result of the eastward extending Pannonian realm synchronous to indentation. However, indentation has become debatable as recent high-resolution tomography suggests that the Adriatic mantle lithosphere subducted under the extruding Alps. These findings raise first order questions related to: (a) the partitioning of deformation between lateral extrusion of the upper plate and coeval subduction of Adria, (b) the rheology of the lower and upper plates, and (c) the rheology of the plate contact controlling the amount of extrusion on the upper plate vs. accretion on the lower plate.In this analog modeling study, we couple for the first time lateral extrusion tectonics to subduction of the lower plate; thus, extrusion taking place in the upper plate. Within the lithospheric scale models, the lithospheres of the two plates are weakly coupled along an inclined boundary and have contrasting mantle lithosphere strength (stronger in the subducting plate). The interplay of extrusion vs subduction is inferred by varying the mechanical boundary conditions, e.g. the degree of resistance at the 'unconstrained' margin, the strength contrast between the upper and the lower plates and the width of the indented region.The experimental results emphasize that extrusion in the eastern Alps is compatible with coeval subduction of the Adriatic plate. The first experimental series suggests that the following mechanical conditions play a key role in the interplay between extrusion and subduction: (a) the extruding plate is weaker than the subducting plate, (b) the plate contact is weak in order to trigger the subduction of the lower plate, and (c) the eastern boundary is weak and thus allows for accommodating the extruding upper plate.

Continental lithosphere of the Arabian Plate: A geologic, petrologic, and geophysical synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stern, Robert J.; Johnson, Peter

2010-07-01

The Arabian Plate originated ˜ 25 Ma ago by rifting of NE Africa to form the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. It is one of the smaller and younger of the Earth's lithospheric plates. The upper part of its crust consists of crystalline Precambrian basement, Phanerozoic sedimentary cover as much as 10 km thick, and Cenozoic flood basalt (harrat). The distribution of these rocks and variations in elevation across the Plate cause a pronounced geologic and topographic asymmetry, with extensive basement exposures (the Arabian Shield) and elevations of as much as 3000 m in the west, and a Phanerozoic succession (Arabian Platform) that thickens, and a surface that descends to sea level, eastward between the Shield and the northeastern margin of the Plate. This tilt in the Plate is partly the result of marginal uplift during rifting in the south and west, and loading during collision with, and subduction beneath, the Eurasian Plate in the northeast. But a variety of evidence suggests that the asymmetry also reflects a fundamental crustal and mantle heterogeneity in the Plate that dates from Neoproterozoic time when the crust formed. The bulk of the Plate's upper crystalline crust is Neoproterozoic in age (1000-540 Ma) reflecting, in the west, a 300-million year process of continental crustal growth between ˜ 850 and 550 Ma represented by amalgamated juvenile magmatic arcs, post-amalgamation sedimentary and volcanic basins, and granitoid intrusions that make up as much as 50% of the Shield's surface. Locally, Archean and Paleoproterozoic rocks are structurally intercalated with the juvenile Neoproterozoic rocks in the southern and eastern parts of the Shield. The geologic dataset for the age, composition, and origin of the upper crust of the Plate in the east is smaller than the database for the Shield, and conclusions made about the crust in the east are correspondingly less definitive. In the absence of exposures, furthermore, nothing is known by direct observation about the composition of the crust north of the Shield. Nonetheless, available data indicate a geologic history for eastern Arabian crust different to that in the west. The Neoproterozic crust (˜ 815-785 Ma) is somewhat older than in the bulk of the Arabian Shield, and igneous and metamorphic activity was largely finished by 750 Ma. Thereafter, the eastern part of the Plate became the site of virtually continuous sedimentation from 725 Ma on and into the Phanerozoic. This implies that a relatively strong lithosphere was in place beneath eastern Arabia by 700 Ma in contrast to a lithospheric instability that persisted to ˜ 550 Ma in the west. Lithospheric differentiation is further indicated by the Phanerozoic depositional history with steady subsidence and accumulation of a sedimentary succession 5-14 km thick in the east and a consistent high-stand and thin to no Phanerozoic accumulation over the Shield. Geophysical data likewise indicate east-west lithospheric differentiation. Overall, the crustal thickness of the Plate (depth to the Moho) is ˜ 40 km, but there is a tendency for the crust to thicken eastward by as much as 10% from 35-40 km beneath the Shield to 40-45 km beneath eastern Arabia. The crust also becomes structurally more complex with as many as 5 seismically recognized layers in the east compared to 3 layers in the west. A coincident increase in velocity is noted in the upper-crust layers. Complementary changes are evidenced in some models of the Arabian Plate continental upper mantle, indicating eastward thickening of the lithospheric mantle from ˜ 80 km beneath the Shield to ˜ 120 km beneath the Platform, which corresponds to an overall lithospheric thickening (crust and upper mantle) from ˜ 120 km to ˜ 160 km eastward. The locus of these changes coincides with a prominent magnetic anomaly (Central Arabian Magnetic Anomaly, CAMA) in the extreme eastern part of the Arabian Shield that extends north across the north-central part of the Arabian Plate. The CAMA also coincides with a major structural boundary separating a region of northerly and northwesterly basement trends in the west from a region of northerly and northeasterly trends in the northeastern part of the Plate, and with the transition from high-stand buoyant Shield to subsided Platform. Its coincidence with geophysically indicated changes in the lower crust and mantle structure suggests that a fundamental lithospheric boundary is present in the central part of the Arabian Plate. The ages and isotopic characteristics of xenoliths brought to the surface in Cenozoic basalt eruptions indicate that the lower crust and upper mantle are largely juvenile Neoproterozoic additions, meaning that the lower crust and upper mantle formed about the same time as the upper crust. This implies that the lithospheric boundary in the central part of the Arabian Plate dates from Neoproterozoic time. We conclude that lithospheric differentiation across the Arabian Plate is long lived and has controlled much of the Phanerozoic sedimentary history of the Plate.

Subduction Drive of Plate Tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, W. B.

2003-12-01

Don Anderson emphasizes that plate tectonics is self-organizing and is driven by subduction, which rights the density inversion generated as oceanic lithosphere forms by cooling of asthenosphere from the top. The following synthesis owes much to many discussions with him. Hinge rollback is the key to kinematics, and, like the rest of actual plate behavior, is incompatible with bottom-up convection drive. Subduction hinges (which are under, not in front of, thin leading parts of arcs and overriding plates) roll back into subducting plates. The Pacific shrinks because bounding hinges roll back into it. Colliding arcs, increasing arc curvatures, back-arc spreading, and advance of small arcs into large plates also require rollback. Forearcs of overriding plates commonly bear basins which preclude shortening of thin plate fronts throughout periods recorded by basin strata (100 Ma for Cretaceous and Paleogene California). This requires subequal rates of advance and rollback, and control of both by subduction. Convergence rate is equal to rates of rollback and advance in many systems but is greater in others. Plate-related circulation probably is closed above 650 km. Despite the popularity of concepts of plumes from, and subduction into, lower mantle, there is no convincing evidence for, and much evidence against, penetration of the 650 in either direction. That barrier not only has a crossing-inhibiting negative Clapeyron slope but also is a compositional boundary between fractionated (not "primitive"), sluggish lower mantle and fertile, mobile upper mantle. Slabs sink more steeply than they dip. Slabs older than about 60 Ma when their subduction began sink to, and lie down on and depress, the 650-km discontinuity, and are overpassed, whereas younger slabs become neutrally buoyant in mid-upper mantle, into which they are mixed as they too are overpassed. Broadside-sinking old slabs push all upper mantle, from base of oceanic lithosphere down to the 650, back under shrinking oceans, forcing rapid Pacific spreading. Slabs suck forward overriding arcs and continental lithosphere, plus most subjacent mantle above the transition zone. Changes in sizes of oceans result primarily from transfer of oceanic lithosphere, so backarcs and expanding oceans spread only slowly. Lithosphere parked in, or displaced from, the transition zone, or mixed into mid-upper mantle, is ultimately recycled, and regional variations in age of that submerged lithosphere may account for some regional contrasts in MORB. Plate motions make no kinematic sense in either the "hotspot" reference frame (HS; the notion of fixed plumes is easily disproved) or the no-net-rotation frame (NNR) In both, for example, many hinges roll forward, impossible with gravity drive. Subduction-drive predictions are fulfilled, and paleomagnetic data are satisfied (as they are not in HS and NNR), in the alternative framework of propulsionless Antarctica fixed relative to sluggish lower mantle. Passive ridges migrate away from Antarctica on all sides, and migration of these and other ridges permits tapping fresh asthenosphere. (HS and NNR tend to fix ridges). Ridge migration and spreading rates accord with subduction drive. All trenches roll back when allowance is made for back-arc spreading and intracontinental deformation. Africa rotates slowly toward subduction systems in the NE, instead of moving rapidly E as in HS and NNR. Stable NW Eurasia is nearly stationary, instead of also moving rapidly, and S and E Eurasian deformation relates to subduction and rollback. The Americas move Pacificward at almost the full spreading rates of passive ridges behind them. Lithosphere has a slow net westward drift. Reference: W.B. Hamilton, An alternative Earth, GSA Today, in press.

Decrease in oceanic crustal thickness since the breakup of Pangaea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Avendonk, Harm J. A.; Davis, Joshua K.; Harding, Jennifer L.; Lawver, Lawrence A.

2017-01-01

Earth's mantle has cooled by 6-11 °C every 100 million years since the Archaean, 2.5 billion years ago. In more recent times, the surface heat loss that led to this temperature drop may have been enhanced by plate-tectonic processes, such as continental breakup, the continuous creation of oceanic lithosphere at mid-ocean ridges and subduction at deep-sea trenches. Here we use a compilation of marine seismic refraction data from ocean basins globally to analyse changes in the thickness of oceanic crust over time. We find that oceanic crust formed in the mid-Jurassic, about 170 million years ago, is 1.7 km thicker on average than crust produced along the present-day mid-ocean ridge system. If a higher mantle temperature is the cause of thicker Jurassic ocean crust, the upper mantle may have cooled by 15-20 °C per 100 million years over this time period. The difference between this and the long-term mantle cooling rate indeed suggests that modern plate tectonics coincide with greater mantle heat loss. We also find that the increase of ocean crustal thickness with plate age is stronger in the Indian and Atlantic oceans compared with the Pacific Ocean. This observation supports the idea that upper mantle temperature in the Jurassic was higher in the wake of the fragmented supercontinent Pangaea due to the effect of continental insulation.

Isostatic Model and Isostatic Gravity Anomalies of the Arabian Plate and Surroundings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaban, Mikhail K.; El Khrepy, Sami; Al-Arifi, Nassir

2016-04-01

The isostatic modeling represents one of the most useful "geological" reduction methods of the gravity field. With the isostatic correction, it is possible to remove a significant part of the effect of deep density heterogeneity, which dominates in the Bouguer gravity anomalies. Although there exist several isostatic compensation schemes, it is usually supposed that a choice of the model is not an important factor to first order, since the total weight of compensating masses remains the same. We compare two alternative models for the Arabian plate and surrounding area. The Airy model gives very significant regional isostatic anomalies, which cannot be explained by the upper crust structure or disturbances of the isostatic equilibrium. Also, the predicted "isostatic" Moho is very different from existing seismic observations. The second isostatic model includes the Moho, which is based on seismic determinations. Additional compensation is provided by density variations within the lithosphere (chiefly in the upper mantle). According to this model, the upper mantle under the Arabian Shield is less dense than under the Platform. In the Arabian platform, the maximum density coincides with the Rub' al Khali, one of the richest oil basin in the world. This finding agrees with previous studies, showing that such basins are often underlain by dense mantle, possibly related to an eclogite layer that has caused their subsidence. The mantle density variations might be also a result of variations of the lithosphere thickness. With the combined isostatic model, it is possible to minimize regional anomalies over the Arabian plate. The residual local anomalies correspond well to tectonic structure of the plate. Still very significant anomalies, showing isostatic disturbances of the lithosphere, are associated with the Zagros fold belt, the collision zone of the Arabian and Eurasian plates.

Why and Where do Large Shallow Slab Earthquakes Occur?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seno, T.; Yoshida, M.

2001-12-01

Within a shallow portion (20-60 km depth) of subducting slabs, it has been believed that large earthquakes seldom occur because the differential stress is generally expected to be low between bending at the trench-outer rise and unbending at the intermediate-depth. However, there are several regions in which large ( M>=7.0 ) earthquakes, including three events early in this year, have occurred in this portion. Searching such events from published individual studies and Harvard University centroid moment tensor catalogue, we find nineteen events in eastern Hokkaido, Kyushu-SW Japan, Mariana, Manila, Sumatra, Vanuatu, Chile, Peru, El Salvador, Mexico, and Cascadia. Slab stresses revealed from the mechanism solutions of those large events and smaller events are tensional in a slab dip direction. However, ages of the subducting oceanic plates are generally young, which denies a possibility that the slab pull works as a cause. Except for Manila and Sumatra, the stresses in the overriding plates are characterized by the change in {σ }Hmax direction from arc-parallel in the back-arc to arc-perpendicular in the fore-arc, which implies that a horizontal stress gradient exists in the across-arc direction. Peru and Chile, where the back-arc is compressional, can be categorized into this type, because a horizontal stress gradient exists over the continent from tension in east to compression in the west. In these regions, it is expected that mantle drag forces are operating beneath the upper plates, which drive the upper plates to the trenchward overriding the subducting oceanic plates. Assuming that the mantle drag forces beneath the upper plates originate from the mantle convection currents or upwelling plumes, we infer that the upper plates driven by the convection suck the oceanic plates, making the shallow portion of the slabs in extra-tension, thus resulting in the large shallow slab earthquakes in this tectonic regime.

The crustal and mantle velocity structure in central Asia from 3D traveltime tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Y.; Martin, R. V.; Toksoz, M. N.; Pei, S.

2010-12-01

The lithospheric structure in central Asia features large blocks such as the Indian plate, the Afghan block, the Turan plate, and the Tarim block. This geologically and tectonically complicated area is also one of the most seismically active regions in the world. We developed P- and S- wave velocity structures of the central Asia in the crust using the traveltime data from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbek. We chose the events and stations between 32N65E and 45N85E and focused on the areas of Pamir and western Tianshan. In this data set, there are more than 6000 P and S arrivals received at 80 stations from about 300 events. The double difference tomography is applied to relocate events and to invert for seismic structures simultaneously. Our results provide accurate locations of earthquakes and high resolution crustal structure in this region. To extend the model deeper into the mantle through the upper mantle transition zone, ISC/EHB data for P and PP phases are combined with the ABCE data. To counteract the “smearing effect,” the crust and upper mantle velocity structure, derived from regional travel-times, is used. An adaptive grid method based on ray density is used in the inversion. A P-wave velocity model extending down to a depth of 2000 km is obtained. regional-teleseismic tomography provides a high-resolution, 3-D P-wave velocity model for the crust, upper mantle, and the transition zone. The crustal models correlate well with geologic and tectonic features. The upper mantle tomograms show the images of Tian Shan. The slab geometry is quite complex, reflecting the history of the changes in the plate motions and collision processes. Vp/Vs tomography was also determined in the study region, and an attenuation tomography was obtained as well.

Constraints on the rheology of the lower crust in a strike-slip plate boundary: evidence from the San Quintín xenoliths, Baja California, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Werf, Thomas; Chatzaras, Vasileios; Marcel Kriegsman, Leo; Kronenberg, Andreas; Tikoff, Basil; Drury, Martyn R.

2017-12-01

The rheology of lower crust and its transient behavior in active strike-slip plate boundaries remain poorly understood. To address this issue, we analyzed a suite of granulite and lherzolite xenoliths from the upper Pleistocene-Holocene San Quintín volcanic field of northern Baja California, Mexico. The San Quintín volcanic field is located 20 km east of the Baja California shear zone, which accommodates the relative movement between the Pacific plate and Baja California microplate. The development of a strong foliation in both the mafic granulites and lherzolites, suggests that a lithospheric-scale shear zone exists beneath the San Quintín volcanic field. Combining microstructural observations, geothermometry, and phase equilibria modeling, we estimated that crystal-plastic deformation took place at temperatures of 750-890 °C and pressures of 400-560 MPa, corresponding to 15-22 km depth. A hot crustal geotherm of 40 ° C km-1 is required to explain the estimated deformation conditions. Infrared spectroscopy shows that plagioclase in the mafic granulites is relatively dry. Microstructures are interpreted to show that deformation in both the uppermost lower crust and upper mantle was accommodated by a combination of dislocation creep and grain-size-sensitive creep. Recrystallized grain size paleopiezometry yields low differential stresses of 12-33 and 17 MPa for plagioclase and olivine, respectively. The lower range of stresses (12-17 MPa) in the mafic granulite and lherzolite xenoliths is interpreted to be associated with transient deformation under decreasing stress conditions, following an event of stress increase. Using flow laws for dry plagioclase, we estimated a low viscosity of 1.1-1.3×1020 Pa ṡ s for the high temperature conditions (890 °C) in the lower crust. Significantly lower viscosities in the range of 1016-1019 Pa ṡ s, were estimated using flow laws for wet plagioclase. The shallow upper mantle has a low viscosity of 5.7×1019 Pa ṡ s, which indicates the lack of an upper-mantle lid beneath northern Baja California. Our data show that during post-seismic transients, the upper mantle and the lower crust in the Pacific-Baja California plate boundary are characterized by similar and low differential stress. Transient viscosity of the lower crust is similar to the viscosity of the upper mantle.

Tomography images of the Alpine roots and surrounding upper mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plomerova, Jaroslava; Babuska, Vladislav

2017-04-01

Teleseismic body-wave tomography represents powerful tool to study regional velocity structure of the upper mantle and to image velocity anomalies, such as subducted lithosphere plates in collisional zones. In this contribution, we recapitulate 3D models of the upper mantle beneath the Alps, which developed at a collision zone of the Eurasian and African plates. Seismic tomography studies indicate a leading role of the rigid mantle lithosphere that functioned as a major stress guide during the plate collisions. Interactions of the European lithosphere with several micro-plates in the south resulted in an arcuate shape of this mountain range on the surface and in a complicated geometry of the Alpine subductions in the mantle. Early models with one bended lithosphere root have been replaced with more advanced models showing two separate lithosphere roots beneath the Western and Eastern Alps (Babuska et al., Tectonophysics 1990; Lippitsch et al., JGR 2003). The standard isotropic velocity tomography, based on pre-AlpArray data (the currently performed passive seismic experiment in the Alps and surroundings) images the south-eastward dipping curved slab of the Eurasian lithosphere in the Western Alps. On the contrary, beneath the Eastern Alps the results indicate a very steep northward dipping root that resulted from the collision of the European plate with the Adriatic microplate. Dando et al. (2011) interpret high-velocity heterogeneities at the bottom of their regional tomographic model as a graveyard of old subducted lithospheres. High density of stations, large amount of rays and dense ray-coverage of the volume studied are not the only essential pre-requisites for reliable tomography results. A compromise between the amount of pre-processed data and the high-quality of the tomography input (travel-time residuals) is of the high importance as well. For the first time, the existence of two separate roots beneath the Alps has been revealed from carefully pre-processed, mostly the ISC-bulletin data (Babuska et al., Tectonophysics 1990). Calculated relative travel-time residuals have been assigned to source clusters and filtered relative to the residual mean of each cluster of events. We expect that future 3D studies of the mantle velocities and mantle fabrics with the use of body-wave anisotropic parameters from the AlpArray data will shed a new light on tectonic development of the complex Alpine region and its surroundings.

Driving forces: Slab subduction and mantle convection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hager, Bradford H.

1988-01-01

Mantle convection is the mechanism ultimately responsible for most geological activity at Earth's surface. To zeroth order, the lithosphere is the cold outer thermal boundary layer of the convecting mantle. Subduction of cold dense lithosphere provides tha major source of negative buoyancy driving mantle convection and, hence, surface tectonics. There are, however, importnat differences between plate tectonics and the more familiar convecting systems observed in the laboratory. Most important, the temperature dependence of the effective viscosity of mantle rocks makes the thermal boundary layer mechanically strong, leading to nearly rigid plates. This strength stabilizes the cold boundary layer against small amplitude perturbations and allows it to store substantial gravitational potential energy. Paradoxically, through going faults at subduction zones make the lithosphere there locally weak, allowing rapid convergence, unlike what is observed in laboratory experiments using fluids with temperature dependent viscosities. This bimodal strength distribution of the lithosphere distinguishes plate tectonics from simple convection experiments. In addition, Earth has a buoyant, relatively weak layer (the crust) occupying the upper part of the thermal boundary layer. Phase changes lead to extra sources of heat and bouyancy. These phenomena lead to observed richness of behavior of the plate tectonic style of mantle convection.

Oceanic crust recycling and the formation of lower mantle heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Keken, Peter E.; Ritsema, Jeroen; Haugland, Sam; Goes, Saskia; Kaneshima, Satoshi

2016-04-01

The Earth's lower mantle is heterogeneous at multiple scales as demonstrated for example by the degree-2 distribution of LLSVPs seen in global tomography and widespread distribution of small scale heterogeneity as seen in seismic scattering. The origin of this heterogeneity is generally attributed to leftovers from Earth's formation, the recycling of oceanic crust, or a combination thereof. Here we will explore the consequences of long-term oceanic crust extraction and recycling by plate tectonics. We use geodynamical models of mantle convection that simulate plates in an energetically consistent manner. The recycling of oceanic crust over the age of the Earth produces persistent lower mantle heterogeneity while the upper mantle tends to be significantly more homogeneous. We quantitatively compare the predicted heterogeneity to that of the present day Earth by tomographic filtering of the geodynamical models and comparison with S40RTS. We also predict the scattering characteristics from S-P conversions and compare these to global scattering observations. The geophysical comparison shows that lower mantle heterogeneity is likely dominated by long-term oceanic crust recycling. The models also demonstrate reasonable agreement with the geochemically observed spread between HIMU-EM1-DMM in ocean island basalts as well as the long-term gradual depletion of the upper mantle as observed in Lu-Hf systematics.

A 3-D shear velocity model of the southern North America and the Caribbean plates from ambient noise and earthquake tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaite, B.; Villaseñor, A.; Iglesias, A.; Herraiz, M.; Jiménez-Munt, I.

2014-10-01

We use group velocities from earthquake tomography together with group and phase velocities from ambient noise tomography (ANT) of Rayleigh-waves to invert for the 3-D shear-wave velocity structure (5-70 km) of the Caribbean (CAR) and southern North American (NAM) plates. The lithospheric model proposed offers a complete image of the crust and uppermost-mantle with imprints of the tectonic evolution. One of the most striking features inferred is the main role of the Ouachita-Marathon-Sonora orogeny front on the crustal seismic structure of NAM plate. A new imaged feature is the low crustal velocities along USA-Mexico border. The model also shows a break of the E-W mantle velocity dichotomy of the NAM and CAR plates beneath the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Yucatan Block. High upper-mantle velocities along the Mesoamerican Subduction Zone coincide with inactive volcanic areas while the lowest velocities correspond to active volcanic arcs and thin lithospheric mantle regions.

A 3-D shear velocity model of the southern North American and Caribbean plates from ambient noise and earthquake tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaite, B.; Villaseñor, A.; Iglesias, A.; Herraiz, M.; Jiménez-Munt, I.

2015-02-01

We use group velocities from earthquake tomography together with group and phase velocities from ambient noise tomography (ANT) of Rayleigh waves to invert for the 3-D shear-wave velocity structure (5-70 km) of the Caribbean (CAR) and southern North American (NAM) plates. The lithospheric model proposed offers a complete image of the crust and uppermost-mantle with imprints of the tectonic evolution. One of the most striking features inferred is the main role of the Ouachita-Marathon-Sonora orogeny front on the crustal seismic structure of the NAM plate. A new imaged feature is the low crustal velocities along the USA-Mexico border. The model also shows a break of the east-west mantle velocity dichotomy of the NAM and CAR plates beneath the Isthmus of the Tehuantepec and the Yucatan Block. High upper-mantle velocities along the Mesoamerican Subduction Zone coincide with inactive volcanic areas while the lowest velocities correspond to active volcanic arcs and thin lithospheric mantle regions.

Three-dimensional shear wave velocity structure in the Atlantic upper mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

James, Esther Kezia Candace

Oceanic lithosphere constitutes the upper boundary layer of the Earth's convecting mantle. Its structure and evolution provide a vital window on the dynamics of the mantle and important clues to how the motions of Earth's surface plates are coupled to convection in the mantle below. The three-dimensional shear-velocity structure of the upper mantle beneath the Atlantic Ocean is investigated to gain insight into processes that drive formation of oceanic lithosphere. Travel times are measured for approximately 10,000 fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves, in the period range 30-130 seconds, traversing the Atlantic basin. Paths with >30% of their length through continental upper mantle are excluded to maximize sensitivity to the oceanic upper mantle. The lateral distribution of Rayleigh wave phase velocity in the Atlantic upper mantle is explored with two approaches. One, phase velocity is allowed to vary only as a function of seafloor age. Two, a general two-dimensional parameterization is utilized in order to capture perturbations to age-dependent structure. Phase velocity shows a strong dependence on seafloor age, and removing age-dependent velocity from the 2-D maps highlights areas of anomalously low velocity, almost all of which are proximal to locations of hotspot volcanism. Depth-dependent variations in vertically-polarized shear velocity (Vsv) are determined with two sets of 3-D models: a layered model that requires constant VSV in each depth layer, and a splined model that allows VSV to vary continuously with depth. At shallow depths (˜75 km) the seismic structure shows the expected dependence on seafloor age. At greater depths (˜200 km) high-velocity lithosphere is found only beneath the oldest seafloor; velocity variations beneath younger seafloor may result from temperature or compositional variations within the asthenosphere. The age-dependent phase velocities are used to constrain temperature in the mantle and show that, in contrast to previous results for the Pacific, phase velocities for the Atlantic are not consistent with a half-space cooling model but are best explained by a plate-cooling model with thickness of 75 km and mantle temperature of 1400°C. Comparison with data such as basalt chemistry and seafloor elevation helps to separate thermal and compositional effects on shear velocity.

Rheological properties of the lower crust and upper mantle beneath Baja California: a microstructural study of xenoliths from San Quintin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van der Werf, Thomas F.; Chatzaras, Vasileios; Tikoff, Basil; Drury, Martyn R.

2016-04-01

Baja California is an active transtensional rift zone, which links the San Andreas Fault with the East Pacific Rise. The erupted basalts of the Holocene San Quintin volcanic field contain xenoliths, which sample the lower crust and upper mantle beneath Baja California. The aim of this research is to gain insight in the rheology of the lower crust and the upper mantle by investigating the xenolith microstructure. Microstructural observations have been used to determine the dominant deformation mechanisms. Differential stresses were estimated from recrystallized grain size piezometry of plagioclase and clinopyroxene for the lower crust and olivine for the upper mantle. The degree of deformation can be inferred from macroscopic foliations and the deformation microstructures. Preliminary results show that both the lower crust and the upper mantle have been affected by multiple stages of deformation and recrystallization. In addition the dominant deformation mechanism in both the lower crust and the upper mantle is dislocation creep based on the existence of strong crystallographic preferred orientations. The differential stress estimates for the lower crust are 10-29 MPa using plagioclase piezometry and 12-35 MPa using clinopyroxene piezometry. For the upper mantle, differential stress estimates are 10-20 MPa. These results indicate that the strength of the lower crust and the upper mantle are very similar. Our data do not fit with the general models of lithospheric strength and may have important implications for the rheological structure of the lithosphere in transtensional plate margins and for geodynamic models of the region.

The African and Pacific Superplume Structures Constrained by Assembly and Breakup of Pangea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, N.; Zhong, S.; Leng, W.; Li, Z.

2009-12-01

Seismic tomography studies indicate that the Earth’s mantle structure is characterized by African and Pacific seismically slow velocity anomalies (i.e., superplumes) and circum-Pacific seismically fast anomalies (i.e., a globally spherical harmonic degree-2 structure). McNamara and Zhong (2005) have demonstrated that the African and Pacific superplume structures result from dynamic interaction between mantle convection and surface plate motion history in the last 120 Ma. However, their models produce slightly stronger degree 3 structure than degree 2 near the CMB. Here, we construct a proxy model of plate motions for the African hemisphere for the last 450 Ma since the Early Paleozoic using the paleogeographic reconstruction of continents constrained by paleomagnetic and geological observations. Using this proxy model for plate motion history as the time-dependent surface boundary conditions for a 3-dimensional spherical model of thermochemical mantle convection, we calculate the present-day mantle structure and explore the evolution of mantle structures since the Early Paleozoic. Our model calculations reproduce well the present-day mantle structure including the African and Pacific superplumes. The power spectra of our calculated present-day temperature field shows that the strongest power occurs at degree 2 in the lower mantle while in the upper mantle the strongest power is at degree 3. The degree correlation between tomography model S20RTS and our calculated temperature field shows a high correlation at the degree 1 and degree 2 in the lower mantle while the upper mantle and the short wavelength structures do not correlate well. The summed degree correlation for the lower mantle shows a relatively good correlation for the bottom 300 km of the mantle but the correlation is significantly reduced at depth 600 km above the CMB. For the evolution of mantle structures, we focus on the evolution of the African superplume. Our results suggest that the mantle in the African hemisphere before the assembly of Pangea is predominated by the cold downwelling structure resulting from plate convergence between Gondwana and Laurussia and the cold Africa hemisphere changes to hot due to the return flows from the circum-Pangea subduction after Pangea formation. Based on our results, we suggest that the African superplume structure may be formed no earlier than ~230 Ma ago (i.e., ~100 Ma after the assembly of Pangea).

Recycling Seamounts: Implications for Mantle Source Heterogeneities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madrigal, P.; Gazel, E.

2016-12-01

Isolated seamounts formed away from plate boundaries and/or known hotspot tracks are widely distributed in the Earth's oceanic plates. Despite their pervasiveness, the origin and composition of the magmatic sources that create these seamounts are still unknown. Moreover, as the seamount provinces travel along with the oceanic plate towards subduction trenches these volcanic edifices become subducted materials that are later recycled into the mantle. Using radiogenic isotopes (Sr-Nd-Pb) from present-day non-plume ocean island basalts (OIB) sampled by drilling and dredging as well as by normal processes of accretion to subduction margins, we modeled the isotopic evolution of these enriched reservoirs to assess their role as discrete components contributing to upper mantle heterogeneity. Our evidence suggests that a highly enriched mantle reservoir can originate from OIB-type subducted material that gets incorporated and stirred throughout the upper mantle in a shorter time period ( 200 Ma-500 Ma) than other highly enriched components like ancient subducted oceanic crust (>1 Ga), thought to be the forming agent of the HIMU mantle reservoir endmember. Enriched signatures from intraplate volcanism can be described by mixing of a depleted component like DMM and an enriched reservoir like non-plume related seamounts. Our data suggests that the isotopic evolution in time of a seamount-province type of reservoir can acquire sufficiently enriched compositions to resemble some of the most enriched magmas on Earth. This "fast-forming" (between 200 and 500 Ma) enriched reservoir could also explain some of the enriched signatures commonly present in intraplate and EMORB magmas unrelated to deep mantle plume upwellings.

Rheological structure of the lithosphere in plate boundary strike-slip fault zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatzaras, Vasileios; Tikoff, Basil; Kruckenberg, Seth C.; Newman, Julie; Titus, Sarah J.; Withers, Anthony C.; Drury, Martyn R.

2016-04-01

How well constrained is the rheological structure of the lithosphere in plate boundary strike-slip fault systems? Further, how do lithospheric layers, with rheologically distinct behaviors, interact within the strike-slip fault zones? To address these questions, we present rheological observations from the mantle sections of two lithospheric-scale, strike-slip fault zones. Xenoliths from ˜40 km depth (970-1100 ° C) beneath the San Andreas fault system (SAF) provide critical constraints on the mechanical stratification of the lithosphere in this continental transform fault. Samples from the Bogota Peninsula shear zone (BPSZ, New Caledonia), which is an exhumed oceanic transform fault, provide insights on lateral variations in mantle strength and viscosity across the fault zone at a depth corresponding to deformation temperatures of ˜900 ° C. Olivine recrystallized grain size piezometry suggests that the shear stress in the SAF upper mantle is 5-9 MPa and in the BPSZ is 4-10 MPa. Thus, the mantle strength in both fault zones is comparable to the crustal strength (˜10 MPa) of seismogenic strike-slip faults in the SAF system. Across the BPSZ, shear stress increases from 4 MPa in the surrounding rocks to 10 MPa in the mylonites, which comprise the core of the shear zone. Further, the BPSZ is characterized by at least one order of magnitude difference in the viscosity between the mylonites (1018 Paṡs) and the surrounding rocks (1019 Paṡs). Mantle viscosity in both the BPSZ mylonites and the SAF (7.0ṡ1018-3.1ṡ1020 Paṡs) is relatively low. To explain our observations from these two strike-slip fault zones, we propose the "lithospheric feedback" model in which the upper crust and lithospheric mantle act together as an integrated system. Mantle flow controls displacement and the upper crust controls the stress magnitude in the system. Our stress data combined with data that are now available for the middle and lower crustal sections of other transcurrent fault systems support the prediction for constant shear strength (˜10 MPa) throughout the lithosphere; the stress magnitude is controlled by the shear strength of the upper crustal faults. Fault rupture in the upper crust induces displacement rate loading of the upper mantle, which in turn, causes strain localization in the mantle shear zone beneath the strike-slip fault. Such forced localization leads to higher stresses and strain rates in the shear zone compared to the surrounding rocks. Low mantle viscosity within the shear zone is critical for facilitating mantle flow, which induces widespread crustal deformation and displacement loading. The lithospheric feedback model suggests that strike-slip fault zones are not mechanically stratified in terms of shear stress, and that it is the time-dependent interaction of the different lithospheric layers - rather than their relative strengths - that governs the rheological behavior of the plate boundary, strike-slip fault zones.

African hot spot volcanism: small-scale convection in the upper mantle beneath cratons.

PubMed

King, S D; Ritsema, J

2000-11-10

Numerical models demonstrate that small-scale convection develops in the upper mantle beneath the transition of thick cratonic lithosphere and thin oceanic lithosphere. These models explain the location and geochemical characteristics of intraplate volcanos on the African and South American plates. They also explain the presence of relatively high seismic shear wave velocities (cold downwellings) in the mantle transition zone beneath the western margin of African cratons and the eastern margin of South American cratons. Small-scale, edge-driven convection is an alternative to plumes for explaining intraplate African and South American hot spot volcanism, and small-scale convection is consistent with mantle downwellings beneath the African and South American lithosphere.

Full-wave multiscale anisotropy tomography in Southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yu-Pin; Zhao, Li; Hung, Shu-Huei

2014-12-01

Understanding the spatial variation of anisotropy in the upper mantle is important for characterizing the lithospheric deformation and mantle flow dynamics. In this study, we apply a full-wave approach to image the upper-mantle anisotropy in Southern California using 5954 SKS splitting data. Three-dimensional sensitivity kernels combined with a wavelet-based model parameterization are adopted in a multiscale inversion. Spatial resolution lengths are estimated based on a statistical resolution matrix approach, showing a finest resolution length of ~25 km in regions with densely distributed stations. The anisotropic model displays structural fabric in relation to surface geologic features such as the Salton Trough, the Transverse Ranges, and the San Andreas Fault. The depth variation of anisotropy does not suggest a lithosphere-asthenosphere decoupling. At long wavelengths, the fast directions of anisotropy are aligned with the absolute plate motion inside the Pacific and North American plates.

Crust and Upper Mantle Structure Beneath Tibet and SW China From Seismic Tomography and Array Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Hilst, R. D.; Li, C.; Yao, H.; Sun, R.; Meltzer, A. S.

2007-12-01

We will present a summary of the results of our seismological studies of crust and upper mantle heterogeneity and anisotropy beneath Tibet and SW China with data from temporary (PASSCAL) arrays as well as other regional, national, and global networks. In 2003 and 2004 MIT and CIGMR (Chengdu Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources) operated a 25 station array (3-component, broad band seismometers) in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, SW China; during the same period Lehigh University (also in collaboration with CIGMR) operated a 75 station array in east Tibet. Data from these arrays allow delineation of mantle structure in unprecedented detail. We focus our presentation on results of two lines of seismological study. Travel time tomography (Li et al., PEPI, 2006; EPSL, 2007) with hand-picked phase arrivals from recordings at regional arrays, and combined with data from over 1,000 stations in China and with the global data base due to Engdahl et al. (BSSA, 1998), reveals substantial the structural complexity of the upper mantle beneath SE Asia. In particular, structures associated with subduction of the Indian plate beneath the Himalayas vary significantly from west Tibet (where the plate seems to have underthrusted the entire plateau) to east Tibet (where P-wave tomography provides no evidence for the presence of fast lithosphere beneath the Plateau proper). Further east, fast structures appear in the upper mantle transition zone, presumably related to stagnation of slab fragments associated with subduction of the Pacific plate. (2) Surface wave array tomography (Yao et al., GJI, 2006, 2007), using ambient noise interferometry and traditional (inter station) dispersion analysis, is used to delineate the 3-D structure of the crust and lithospheric mantle at length scales as small as 100 km beneath the MIT and Lehigh arrays. This analysis reveals a complex spatial distribution of intra-crustal low velocity zones (which may imply that crustal-scale faults influence the pattern of middle/lower crustal flow). We will also show preliminary results of surface wave inversion for azimuthal anisotropy, which - combined with previous results from shear wave splitting (Lev et al., EPSL, 2006) - give insight into the deformation of the upper mantle beneath the area under study.

Dissonance and harmony between global and regional-scale seismic anisotropy and mantle dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, T. W.

2017-12-01

Huge numbers of SKS splitting observations and improved surface-wave based models of azimuthal anisotropy have advanced our understanding of how convection is recorded in mantle fabrics in the upper mantle. However, we are still debating the relative importance of frozen to actively forming olivine fabrics, subduction zone anisotropy lacks a clear reference model, and regional marine studies yield conflicting evidence as to what exactly is going on at the base of the plates and below. Here, I review the degree of agreement between regional and global observations of seismic anisotropy and how well those may be matched by first-order mantle convection models. Updated bean counting can help contextualize the spatial scales of alignment, and I discuss several examples of the relative roles of plate shear to mantle density anomalies and frozen-in structure for oceanic and continental plates. Resolution of seismological models is globally uneven, but there are some locales where such exercises may yield information on the relative strength of asthenosphere and mantle. Another long-standing question is how olivine fabrics record flow under different stress and volatile conditions. I illustrate how different petrological assumptions might be used to reconcile observations of azimuthal dependency of wave speeds for both Love and Rayleigh waves, and how this could improve our models of the upper mantle, much in the spirit of Montagner's vectorial tomography. This is but one approach to improve the regional realism of global geodynamic background models to understand where in space and time dissonance arises, and if a harmonious model may yet be constructed given our assumptions about the workings of the mantle.

High-Resolution P'P' Precursor Imaging of Nazca-South America Plate Boundary Zones and Inferences for Transition Zone Temperature and Composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Y. J.; Schultz, R.

2013-12-01

Knowledge of upper mantle transition zone stratification and composition is highly dependent on our ability to efficiently extract and properly interpret small seismic arrivals. A promising high-frequency seismic phase group particularly suitable for a global analysis is P'P' precursors, which are capable of resolving mantle structures at vertical and lateral resolution of approximately 5 and 200 km, respectively, owing to their shallow incidence angle and small, quasi-symmetric Fresnel zones. This study presents a simultaneous analysis of SS and P'P' precursors based on deconvolution, Radon transform and depth migration. Our multi-resolution survey of the mantle near Nazca-South America subduction zone reveals both olivine and garnet related transitions at depth below 400 km. We attribute a depressed 660 to thermal variations, whereas compositional variations atop the upper-mantle transition zone are needed to explain the diminished or highly complex reflected/scattered signals from the 410 km discontinuity. We also observe prominent P'P' reflections within the transition zone, especially near the plate boundary zone where anomalously high reflection amplitudes result from a sharp (~10 km thick) mineral phase change resonant with the dominant frequency of the P'P' precursors. Near the base of the upper mantle, the migration of SS precursors shows no evidence of split reflections near the 660-km discontinuity, but potential majorite-ilmenite (590-640 km) and ilmenite-perovskite transitions (740-750 km) are identified based on similarly processed high-frequency P'P' precursors. At nominal mantle temperatures these two phase changes may be seismically indistinguishable, but colder mantle conditions from the descending Nazca plate, the presence of water and variable Fe contents may cause sufficient separation for a reliable analysis. In addition, our preliminary results provide compelling evidence for multiple shallow lower-mantle reflections (at ~800 km) along the elongated plate boundary zones of South America. Slab stagnation at the base of the transition zone could play a key role, though a proper interpretation of this finding would likely entail compositional (rather than strictly thermal) variations in the vicinity of the descending oceanic crust and lithosphere. Overall, the resolution and sensitivity differences between low/intermediate- S and high-frequency P wave reflections are key considerations toward reconciling seismic and mineralogical models of transition zone structure, both at the study location and worldwide.

Plate and Plume Flux: Constraints for paleomagnetic reference frames and interpretation of deep mantle seismic heterogeneity. (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunge, H.; Schuberth, B. S.; Shephard, G. E.; Müller, D.

2010-12-01

Plate and plume flow are dominant modes of mantle convection, as pointed out by Geoff Davies early on. Driven, respectively, from a cold upper and a hot lower thermal boundary layer these modes are now sufficiently well imaged by seismic tomographers to exploit the thermal boundary layer concept as an effective tool in exploring two long standing geodynamic problems. One relates to the choice of an absolute reference frame in plate tectonic reconstructions. Several absolute reference frames have been proposed over the last decade, including those based on hotspot tracks displaying age progression and assuming either fixity or motion, as well as palaeomagnetically-based reference frames, a subduction reference frame and hybrid versions. Each reference frame implies a particular history of the location of subduction zones through time and thus the evolution of mantle heterogeneity via mixing of subducted slab material in the mantle. Here we compare five alternative absolute plate motion models in terms of their consequences for deep mantle structure. Taking global paleo-plate boundaries and plate velocities back to 140 Ma derived from the new plate tectonic reconstruction software GPlates and assimilating them into vigorous 3-D spherical mantle circulation models, we infer geodynamic mantle heterogeneity and compare it to seismic tomography for each absolute rotation model. We also focus on the challenging problem of interpreting deep mantle seismic heterogeneity in terms of thermal and compositional variations. Using published thermodynamically self-consistent mantle mineralogy models in the pyrolite composition, we find strong plume flux from the CMB, with a high temperature contrast (on the order of 1000 K) across the lower thermal boundary layer is entirely sufficient to explain elastic heterogeneity in the deep mantle for a number of quantitative measures. A high excess temperatures of +1000--1500 K for plumes in the lowermost mantle is particularly important in understanding the strong seismic velocity reduction mapped by tomography in low-velocity bodies of the deep mantle, as this produces significant negative anomalies of shear wave velocity of up to -4%. We note, however, that our results do not account for the curious observation of seismic anti-correlation, which appears difficult to explain in any case. Our results provide important constraints for the integration of plate tectonics and mantle dynamics and their use in forward and inverse geodynamic mantle models.

Dry Juan de Fuca slab revealed by quantification of water entering Cascadia subduction zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canales, J. P.; Carbotte, S. M.; Nedimovic, M. R.; Carton, H. D.

2017-12-01

Water is carried by subducting slabs as a pore fluid and in structurally bound minerals, yet no comprehensive quantification of water content and how it is stored and distributed at depth within incoming plates exists for any segment of the global subduction system. Here we use controlled-source seismic data collected in 2012 as part of the Ridge-to-Trench seismic experiment to quantify the amount of pore and structurally bound water in the Juan de Fuca plate entering the Cascadia subduction zone. We use wide-angle OBS seismic data along a 400-km-long margin-parallel profile 10-15 km seaward from the Cascadia deformation front to obtain P-wave tomography models of the sediments, crust, and uppermost mantle, and effective medium theory combined with a stochastic description of crustal properties (e.g., temperature, alteration assemblages, porosity, pore aspect ratio), to analyze the pore fluid and structurally bound water reservoirs in the sediments, crust and lithospheric mantle, and their variations along the Cascadia margin. Our results demonstrate that the Juan de Fuca lower crust and mantle are much drier than at any other subducting plate, with most of the water stored in the sediments and upper crust. Previously documented, variable but limited bend faulting along the margin, which correlates with degree of plate locking, limits slab access to water, and a warm thermal structure resulting from a thick sediment cover and young plate age prevents significant serpentinization of the mantle. Our results have important implications for a number of subduction processes at Cascadia, such as: (1) the dryness of the lower crust and mantle indicates that fluids that facilitate episodic tremor and slip must be sourced from the subducted upper crust; (2) decompression rather than hydrous melting must dominate arc magmatism in northern-central Cascadia; and (3) dry subducted lower crust and mantle can explain the low levels of intermediate-depth seismicity in the Juan de Fuca slab.

Mantle-derived peridotites in southwestern Oregon: relation to plate tectonics.

PubMed

Medaris, L G; Dott, R H

1970-09-04

A group of peridotites in southwestern Oregon contains high-pressure mineral assemblages reflecting recrystallization at high temperatures (1100 degrees to 1200 degrees C) over a range of pressure decreasing from 19 to 5 kilobars. It is proposed that the peridotites represent upper-mantle material brought from depth along the ancestral Gorda-Juan de Fuca ridge system, transported eastward by the spreading Gorda lithosphere plate, and then emplaced by thrust-faulting in the western margin of the Cordillera during late Mesozoic time.

Asthenosphere rheology inferred from observations of the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake.

PubMed

Hu, Yan; Bürgmann, Roland; Banerjee, Paramesh; Feng, Lujia; Hill, Emma M; Ito, Takeo; Tabei, Takao; Wang, Kelin

2016-10-20

The concept of a weak asthenospheric layer underlying Earth's mobile tectonic plates is fundamental to our understanding of mantle convection and plate tectonics. However, little is known about the mechanical properties of the asthenosphere (the part of the upper mantle below the lithosphere) underlying the oceanic crust, which covers about 60 per cent of Earth's surface. Great earthquakes cause large coseismic crustal deformation in areas hundreds of kilometres away from and below the rupture area. Subsequent relaxation of the earthquake-induced stresses in the viscoelastic upper mantle leads to prolonged postseismic crustal deformation that may last several decades and can be recorded with geodetic methods. The observed postseismic deformation helps us to understand the rheological properties of the upper mantle, but so far such measurements have been limited to continental-plate boundary zones. Here we consider the postseismic deformation of the very large (moment magnitude 8.6) 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake to provide by far the most direct constraint on the structure of oceanic mantle rheology. In the first three years after the Indian Ocean earthquake, 37 continuous Global Navigation Satellite Systems stations in the region underwent horizontal northeastward displacements of up to 17 centimetres in a direction similar to that of the coseismic offsets. However, a few stations close to the rupture area that had experienced subsidence of up to about 4 centimetres during the earthquake rose by nearly 7 centimetres after the earthquake. Our three-dimensional viscoelastic finite-element models of the post-earthquake deformation show that a thin (30-200 kilometres), low-viscosity (having a steady-state Maxwell viscosity of (0.5-10) × 10 18 pascal seconds) asthenospheric layer beneath the elastic oceanic lithosphere is required to produce the observed postseismic uplift.

Thermal anomalies and magmatism due to lithospheric doubling and shifting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vlaar, N. J.

1983-11-01

We present some thermal and magmatic consequences of the processes of lithospheric doubling and lithospheric shifting. Lithospheric doubling concerns the obduction of a cold continental or old oceanic lithospheric plate over a young and hot oceanic lithosphere/upper mantle system, including an oceanic ridge. Lithospheric shifting concerns the translation and rotation of a lithospheric plate relative to the upper mantle. In both cases the resulting thermal state of the upper mantle below the obducting or shifting lithosphere may be perturbed relative to a "normal" continental or oceanic geothermal situation. The perturbed geothermal state gives rise to a density inversion at depth and thus induces a vertical gravitational instability which favours magmatism. We speculate about the magmatic consequences of this situation and infer that in the case of lithospheric doubling our model may account for the petrology and geochemistry of the resulting magma. The original layering and composition of the overridden young oceanic lithosphere may strongly influence magmatic processes. We dwell shortly on the genesis of kimberlites within the framework of our lithospheric doubling model and on magmatism in general. Lithospheric recycling is inherent to the mechanism of lithospheric doubling.

Large-scale trench-perpendicular mantle flow beneath northern Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reiss, M. C.; Rumpker, G.; Woelbern, I.

2017-12-01

We investigate the anisotropic properties of the forearc region of the central Andean margin by analyzing shear-wave splitting from teleseismic and local earthquakes from the Nazca slab. The data stems from the Integrated Plate boundary Observatory Chile (IPOC) located in northern Chile, covering an approximately 120 km wide coastal strip between 17°-25° S with an average station spacing of 60 km. With partly over ten years of data, this data set is uniquely suited to address the long-standing debate about the mantle flow field at the South American margin and in particular whether the flow field beneath the slab is parallel or perpendicular to the trench. Our measurements yield two distinct anisotropic layers. The teleseismic measurements show a change of fast polarizations directions from North to South along the trench ranging from parallel to subparallel to the absolute plate motion and, given the geometry of absolute plate motion and strike of the trench, mostly perpendicular to the trench. Shear-wave splitting from local earthquakes shows fast polarizations roughly aligned trench-parallel but exhibit short-scale variations which are indicative of a relatively shallow source. Comparisons between fast polarization directions and the strike of the local fault systems yield a good agreement. We use forward modelling to test the influence of the upper layer on the teleseismic measurements. We show that the observed variations of teleseismic measurements along the trench are caused by the anisotropy in the upper layer. Accordingly, the mantle layer is best characterized by an anisotropic fast axes parallel to the absolute plate motion which is roughly trench-perpendicular. This anisotropy is likely caused by a combination of crystallographic preferred orientation of the mantle mineral olivine as fossilized anisotropy in the slab and entrained flow beneath the slab. We interpret the upper anisotropic layer to be confined to the crust of the overriding continental plate. This is explained by the shape-preferred orientation of micro-cracks in relation to local fault zones which are oriented parallel the overall strike of the Andean range. Our results do not provide any evidence for a significant contribution of trench-parallel mantle flow beneath the subducting slab to the measurements.

Coupled anisotropic and isotropic tomography of the upper mantle beneath northern Fennoscandia - Application of a novel code AniTomo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munzarova, Helena; Plomerova, Jaroslava; Kissling, Edi; Vecsey, Ludek; Babuska, Vladislav

2017-04-01

Seismological investigations of the continental mantle lithosphere, particularly its anisotropic structure, advance our understanding of plate tectonics and formation of continents. Orientation of the anisotropic fabrics reflects stress fields during the lithosphere origin and its later deformations. To contribute to studies of the large-scale upper-mantle anisotropy, we have developed code AniTomo for regional anisotropic tomography. AniTomo allows a simultaneous inversion of relative travel time residuals of teleseismic P waves for 3D distribution of isotropic-velocity perturbations and anisotropy in the upper mantle. Weak hexagonal anisotropy with symmetry axis oriented generally in 3D is assumed. The code was successfully tested on a large series of synthetic datasets and synthetic structures. In this contribution we present results of the first application of novel code AniTomo to real data, i.e., relative travel-time residuals of teleseismic P waves recorded during passive seismic experiment LAPNET in the northern Fennoscandia between 2007 and 2009. The region of Fennoscandia is a suitable choice for the first application of the new code. This Precambrian region is tectonically stable and has a thick anisotropic mantle lithosphere (Plomerova and Babuska, Lithos 2010) without significant thermal heterogeneities. In the resulting anisotropic model of the upper mantle beneath the northern Fennoscandia, the strongest anisotropy and the largest velocity perturbations concentrate in the mantle lithosphere. We delimit regions of laterally and vertically consistent anisotropy in the mantle-lithospheric part of the model. In general, the identified anisotropic regions correspond to domains detected by joint interpretation of lateral variations of the P- and SKS-wave anisotropic parameters (Plomerova et al., Solid Earth 2011). Particularly, the mantle lithosphere in the western part of the volume studied exhibits a distinct and uniform fabric that is sharply separated from the surrounding regions. The eastern boundary of this region gradually shifts westward with increasing depth in the tomographic model. We connect the retrieved domain-like anisotropic structure of the mantle lithosphere in the northern Fennoscandia with preserved fossil fabrics of the Archean micro-plates, accreted during the Precambrian orogenic processes.

The bright spot in the West Carpathian upper mantle: a trace of the Tertiary plate collision-and a caveat for a seismologist

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Środa, Piotr

2010-07-01

The 2-D full waveform modelling of the mantle arrivals from the CELEBRATION 2000 profiles crossing the Carpathian orogen suggests two possible tectonic models for the collision of ALCAPA (Alpine-Carpathian-Pannonian) and the European Plate in the West Carpathians in southern Poland and Slovakia. Due to an oblique (NE-SW) convergence of plates, the character of the collision may change along the zone of contact of the plates: in the western part of the area an earlier collision might have caused substantial crustal shortening and formation of a crocodile-type structure, with the delaminated lower crust of ~100km length acting as a north-dipping reflecting discontinuity in the uppermost mantle. In the eastern part, a less advanced collision only involved the verticalization of the subducted slab remnant after a slab break-off. The lower crustal remnant of ~10km size in the uppermost mantle acts as a pseudo-diffractor generating observable mantle arrivals. Due to the similarity of synthetic data generated by both models, the question of the non-uniqueness of seismic data interpretation, that may lead to disparate tectonic inferences, is also discussed.

Rheology and strength of the Eurasian continental lithosphere in the foreland of the Taiwan collision belt: Constraints from seismicity, flexure, and structural styles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mouthereau, FréDéRic; Petit, Carole

2003-11-01

Deformation in western Taiwan is characterized by variable depth-frequency distribution of crustal earthquakes which are closely connected with along-strike variations of tectonic styles (thin or thick skinned) around the Peikang High, a major inherited feature of the Chinese margin. To fit the calculated high crustal geotherm and the observed distribution of the crustal seismic activity, a Qz-diorite and granulite composition for the upper and the lower crust is proposed. We then model the plate flexure, through Te estimates, using brittle-elastic-ductile plate rheology. Flexure modeling shows that the best fit combination of Te-boundary condition is for thrust loads acting at the belt front. The calculated Te vary in the range of ˜15-20 km. These values are primarily a reflection of the thermal state of the rifted Chinese margin inherited from the Oligocene spreading in the South China Sea. However, other mechanical properties such as the degree of crust/mantle coupling and the thickness of the mechanically competent crust and mantle are considered. South of the Peikang High, flexure modeling reveals lower Te associated with thinner mechanically strong layers. Variable stress/strain distribution associated with a higher degree of crust/mantle decoupling is examined to explain plate weakening. We first show that plate curvature cannot easily explain strength reduction and observed seismic activity. Additional plate-boundary forces arising from the strong coupling induced by more frontal subduction of a buoyant crustal asperity, i.e., the Peikang High, with the overriding plate are required. Favorably oriented inherited features in the adjacent Tainan basin produce acceleration of strain rates in the upper crust and hence facilitate the crust/mantle decoupling as attested by high seismic activity and thick-skinned deformation. The relative weakening of the lower crust and mantle then leads to weaken the lithosphere. By contrast, to the north, more oblique collision and the lack of inherited features keep the lithosphere stronger. This study suggests that when the Eurasian plate enters the Taiwan collision, tectonic inheritance of the continental margin exerts a strong control on the plate deformation by modifying its strength.

Joint inversion of shear wave travel time residuals and geoid and depth anomalies for long-wavelength variations in upper mantle temperature and composition along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheehan, Anne F.; Solomon, Sean C.

1991-01-01

Measurements were carried out for SS-S differential travel time residuals for nearly 500 paths crossing the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, assuming that the residuals are dominated by contributions from the upper mantle near the surface bounce point of the reflected phase SS. Results indicate that the SS-S travel time residuals decrease linearly with square root of age, to an age of 80-100 Ma, in general agreement with the plate cooling model. A joint inversion was formulated of travel time residuals and geoid and bathymetric anomalies for lateral variation in the upper mantle temperature and composition. The preferred inversion solutions were found to have variations in upper mantle temperature along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge of about 100 K. It was calculated that, for a constant bulk composition, such a temperature variation would produce about a 7-km variation in crustal thickness, larger than is generally observed.

Evidence for Primordial Water in Earths Deep Mantle: D/h Ratios in Baffin Island and Icelandic Picrites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hallis, L. J.; Huss, G. R.; Nagashima, K.; Taylor, J.; Hilton, D. R.; Mottl, M. J.; Meech, K. J.; Halldorsson, S. A.

2016-12-01

Experimentally based chemical models suggest Jeans escape could have caused an increase in Earth's atmospheric D/H ratio of between a factor of 2 and 9 since the planets formation1. Plate tectonic mixing ensures this change has been incorporated into the mantle. In addition, collisions with hydrogen bearing planetesimals or cometary material after Earth's accretion could have altered the D/H ratio of the planet's surface and upper mantle2. Therefore, to determine Earth's original D/H ratio, a reservoir that has been completely unaffected by these surface and upper mantle changes is required. Most studies suggest that high 3He/4He ratios in some OIBs indicate the existence of relatively undegassed regions in the deep mantle compared to the upper mantle, which retain a greater proportion of their primordial He3-4. Early Tertiary (60-million-year-old) picrites from Baffin Island and west Greenland, which represent volcanic rocks from the proto/early Iceland mantle plume, contain the highest recorded terrestrial 3He/4He ratios3-4. These picrites also have Pb and Nd isotopic ratios consistent with primordial mantle ages (4.45 to 4.55 Ga)5, indicating the persistence of an ancient, isolated reservoir in the mantle. The undegassed and primitive nature6of this reservoir suggests that it could preserve Earth's initial D/H ratio. We measured the D/H ratios of olivine-hosted glassy melt inclusions in Baffin Island and Icelandic picrites to establish whether their deep mantle source region exhibits a different D/H ratio to known upper mantle and surface reservoirs. Baffin Island D/H ratios were found to extend lower than any previously measured mantle values (δD -97 to -218 ‰), suggesting that areas of the deep mantle do preserve a more primitive hydrogen reservoir, hence are unaffected by plate tectonic mixing. Comparing our measured low D/H ratios to those of known extra-terrestrial materials can help determine where Earths water came from. References: [1] Genda and Ikoma, 2008 Icarus 194, 42-52. [2] Abramov, and Mojzsis, (2009) Nature 459, 419-422. [3] Stuart et al. (2003) Nature 424, 57-59. [4] Starkey et al. (2009) Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 277, 91-100. [5] Jackson et al. (2010) Nature 466, 853-856. [6] Robillard et al. (1992) Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 112, 230-241.

An upper bound on the electrical conductivity of hydrated oceanic mantle at the onset of dehydration melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naif, Samer

2018-01-01

Electrical conductivity soundings provide important constraints on the thermal and hydration state of the mantle. Recent seafloor magnetotelluric surveys have imaged the electrical conductivity structure of the oceanic upper mantle over a variety of plate ages. All regions show high conductivity (0.02 to 0.2 S/m) at 50 to 150 km depths that cannot be explained with a sub-solidus dry mantle regime without unrealistic temperature gradients. Instead, the conductivity observations require either a small amount of water stored in nominally anhydrous minerals or the presence of interconnected partial melts. This ambiguity leads to dramatically different interpretations on the origin of the asthenosphere. Here, I apply the damp peridotite solidus together with plate cooling models to determine the amount of H2O needed to induce dehydration melting as a function of depth and plate age. Then, I use the temperature and water content estimates to calculate the electrical conductivity of the oceanic mantle with a two-phase mixture of olivine and pyroxene from several competing empirical conductivity models. This represents the maximum potential conductivity of sub-solidus oceanic mantle at the limit of hydration. The results show that partial melt is required to explain the subset of the high conductivity observations beneath young seafloor, irrespective of which empirical model is applied. In contrast, the end-member empirical models predict either nearly dry (<20 wt ppm H2O) or slightly damp (<200 wt ppm H2O) asthenosphere for observations of mature seafloor. Since the former estimate is too dry compared with geochemical constraints from mid-ocean ridge basalts, this suggests the effect of water on mantle conductivity is less pronounced than currently predicted by the conductive end-member empirical model.

Possible emplacement of crustal rocks into the forearc mantle of the Cascadia Subduction Zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Calvert, A.J.; Fisher, M.A.; Ramachandran, K.; Trehu, A.M.

2003-01-01

Seismic reflection profiles shot across the Cascadia forearc show that a 5-15 km thick band of reflections, previously interpreted as a lower crustal shear zone above the subducting Juan de Fuca plate, extends into the upper mantle of the North American plate, reaching depths of at least 50 km. In the extreme western corner of the mantle wedge, these reflectors occur in rocks with P wave velocities of 6750-7000 ms-1. Elsewhere, the forearc mantle, which is probably partially serpentinized, exhibits velocities of approximately 7500 ms-1. The rocks with velocities of 6750-7000 ms-1 are anomalous with respect to the surrounding mantle, and may represent either: (1) locally high mantle serpentinization, (2) oceanic crust trapped by backstepping of the subduction zone, or (3) rocks from the lower continental crust that have been transported into the uppermost mantle by subduction erosion. The association of subparallel seismic reflectors with these anomalously low velocities favours the tectonic emplacement of crustal rocks. Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.

Geophysical constraints on geodynamic processes at convergent margins: A global perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Artemieva, Irina; Thybo, Hans; Shulgin, Alexey

2016-04-01

Convergent margins, being the boundaries between colliding lithospheric plates, form the most disastrous areas in the world due to intensive, strong seismicity and volcanism. We review global geophysical data in order to illustrate the effects of the plate tectonic processes at convergent margins on the crustal and upper mantle structure, seismicity, and geometry of subducting slab. We present global maps of free-air and Bouguer gravity anomalies, heat flow, seismicity, seismic Vs anomalies in the upper mantle, and plate convergence rate, as well as 20 profiles across different convergent margins. A global analysis of these data for three types of convergent margins, formed by ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, and continent-continent collisions, allows us to recognize the following patterns. (1) Plate convergence rate depends on the type of convergent margins and it is significantly larger when, at least, one of the plates is oceanic. However, the oldest oceanic plate in the Pacific ocean has the smallest convergence rate. (2) The presence of an oceanic plate is, in general, required for generation of high-magnitude (M N 8.0) earthquakes and for generating intermediate and deep seismicity along the convergent margins. When oceanic slabs subduct beneath a continent, a gap in the seismogenic zone exists at depths between ca. 250 km and 500 km. Given that the seismogenic zone terminates at ca. 200 km depth in case of continent-continent collision, we propose oceanic origin of subducting slabs beneath the Zagros, the Pamir, and the Vrancea zone. (3) Dip angle of the subducting slab in continent-ocean collision does not correlate neither with the age of subducting oceanic slab, nor with the convergence rate. For ocean-ocean subduction, clear trends are recognized: steeply dipping slabs are characteristic of young subducting plates and of oceanic plates with high convergence rate, with slab rotation towards a near-vertical dip angle at depths below ca. 500 km at very high convergence rate. (4) Local isostasy is not satisfied at the convergent margins as evidenced by strong free air gravity anomalies of positive and negative signs. However, near-isostatic equilibrium may exist in broad zones of distributed deformation such as Tibet. (5) No systematic patterns are recognized in heat flow data due to strong heterogeneity of measured values which are strongly affected by hydrothermal circulation, magmatic activity, crustal faulting, horizontal heat transfer, and also due to low number of heat flow measurements across many margins. (6) Low upper mantle Vs seismic velocities beneath the convergent margins are restricted to the upper 150 km and may be related to mantle wedge melting which is confined to shallow mantle levels. Artemieva, I.M., Thybo, H., and Shulgin, A., 2015. Geophysical constraints on geodynamic processes at convergent margins: A global perspective. Gondwana Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2015.06.010

Stress Drops for Oceanic Crust and Mantle Intraplate Earthquakes in the Subduction Zone of Northeastern Japan Inferred from the Spectral Inversion Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, H.; Ishikawa, K.; Arai, T.; Ibrahim, R.

2017-12-01

Understanding stress drop related to intraplate earthquakes in the subducting plate is very important for seismic hazard mitigation. In previous studies, Kita et al. (2015) analyzed stress drops for intraplate earthquakes under Hokkaido, Northern Japan, using S-coda wave spectral ratio analysis methods, and found that the stress drop for events occurring more than 10 km beneath the upper surface of the subducting plate (within the oceanic mantle) was larger than the stress drop for events occurring within 10 km of the upper surface of the subducting plate (in the oceanic crust). In this study, we focus on intraplate earthquakes that occur under Tohoku, Northeastern Japan, to determine whether similar stress drop differences may exist between earthquakes occurring within the upper 10 km of the subducting plate (within the oceanic crust) and those occurring deeper than 10 km (within the oceanic mantle), based on spectral inversion analysis of seismic waveforms recorded during the earthquakes. We selected 64 earthquakes with focal depths between 49-76 km and Mw 3.5-5.0 that occurred in the source area of the 2003 Miyagi-ken-oki earthquake (Mw 7.0) (region 1), and 82 earthquakes with focal depths between 49-67 km and Mw 3.5-5.5 in the source area of the 2011 Miyagi- ken-oki earthquake (Mw 7.1) (region 2). Records from the target earthquakes at 24 stations in region 1 and 21 stations in region 2 were used in the analysis. A 5-sec time window following S-wave onset was used for each station record. Borehole records of KiK-net station (MYGH04) was used as a reference station for both regions 1 and 2. We applied the spectral inversion analysis method of Matsunami et al. (2003) separately to regions 1 and 2. Our results show that stress drop generally increases with focal depth and that the stress drop for events occurring deeper than 10 km in the plate (within the oceanic mantle) were larger than the stress drop for events occurring within 10 km of the upper surface of the plate (within the oceanic crust). These results are consistent with previous studies.

Lithospheric strength in the active boundary between the Pacific Plate and Baja California microplate constrained from lower crustal and upper mantle xenoliths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatzaras, Vasileios; van der Werf, Thomas; Kriegsman, Leo M.; Kronenberg, Andreas; Tikoff, Basil; Drury, Martyn R.

2017-04-01

The lower crust is the most poorly understood of the lithospheric layers in terms of its rheology, particularly at active plate boundaries. We studied naturally deformed lower crustal xenoliths within an active plate boundary, in order to link their microstructures and rheological parameters to the well-defined active tectonic context. The Baja California shear zone (BCSZ), located at the western boundary of the Baja California microplate, comprises the active boundary accommodating the relative motion between the Pacific plate and Baja California microplate. The basalts of the Holocene San Quintin volcanic field carry lower crustal and upper mantle xenoliths, which sample the Baja California microplate lithosphere in the vicinity of the BCSZ. The lower crustal xenoliths range from undeformed gabbros to granoblastic two-pyroxene granulites. Two-pyroxene geothermometry shows that the granulites equilibrated at temperatures of 690-920 oC. Phase equilibria (P-T pseudosections using Perple_X) indicate that symplectites with intergrown pyroxenes, plagioclase, olivine and spinel formed at 3.6-5.4 kbar, following decompression from pressures exceeding 6 kbar. FTIR spectroscopy shows that the water content of plagioclase varies among the analyzed xenoliths; plagioclase is relatively dry in two xenoliths while one xenolith contains hydrated plagioclase grains. Microstructural observations and analysis of the crystallographic texture provide evidence for deformation of plagioclase by a combination of dislocation creep and grain boundary sliding. To constrain the strength of the lower crust and upper mantle near the BCSZ we estimated the differential stress using plagioclase and olivine grain size paleopiezomtery, respectively. Differential stress estimates for plagioclase range from 10 to 32 MPa and for olivine are 30 MPa. Thus the active microplate boundary records elevated crustal temperatures, heterogeneous levels of hydration, and low strength in both the lower crust and upper mantle. To further investigate the relative strength of the two lithospheric layers, we calculated the strain rate of plagioclase in granulites and the strain rate of olivine in lherzolites using experimental flow laws. These flow laws predict that plagioclase deforms at higher strain rates than olivine. Our data provide constraints on the viscosity structure of active transform plate boundaries and insights on how rheological processes in the lithosphere may change during plate boundary evolution.

P wave anisotropic tomography of the Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, Yuanyuan; Zhao, Dapeng; Xu, Yixian

2017-06-01

The first tomographic images of P wave azimuthal and radial anisotropies in the crust and upper mantle beneath the Alps are determined by joint inversions of arrival time data of local earthquakes and teleseismic events. Our results show the south dipping European plate with a high-velocity (high-V) anomaly beneath the western central Alps and the north dipping Adriatic plate with a high-V anomaly beneath the Eastern Alps, indicating that the subduction polarity changes along the strike of the Alps. The P wave azimuthal anisotropy is characterized by mountain chain-parallel fast-velocity directions (FVDs) in the western central Alps and NE-SW FVDs in the Eastern Alps, which may be caused by mantle flow induced by the slab subductions. Our results reveal a negative radial anisotropy (i.e., Vph < Vpv) within the subducting slabs and a positive radial anisotropy (i.e., Vph > Vpv) in the low-velocity mantle wedge, which may reflect the subvertical plate subduction and its induced mantle flow. The results of anisotropic tomography provide important new information on the complex mantle structure and dynamics of the Alps and adjacent regions.

Tectonic plates, D (double prime) thermal structure, and the nature of mantle plumes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lenardic, A.; Kaula, W. M.

1994-01-01

It is proposed that subducting tectonic plates can affect the nature of thermal mantle plumes by determining the temperature drop across a plume source layer. The temperature drop affects source layer stability and the morphology of plumes emitted from it. Numerical models are presented to demonstrate how introduction of platelike behavior in a convecting temperature dependent medium, driven by a combination of internal and basal heating, can increase the temperature drop across the lower boundary layer. The temperature drop increases dramatically following introduction of platelike behavior due to formation of a cold temperature inversion above the lower boundary layer. This thermal inversion, induced by deposition of upper boundary layer material to the system base, decays in time, but the temperature drop across the lower boundary layer always remains considerably higher than in models lacking platelike behavior. On the basis of model-inferred boundary layer temperature drops and previous studies of plume dynamics, we argue that generally accepted notions as to the nature of mantle plumes on Earth may hinge on the presence of plates. The implication for Mars and Venus, planets apparently lacking plate tectonics, is that mantle plumes of these planets may differ morphologically from those of Earth. A corollary model-based argument is that as a result of slab-induced thermal inversions above the core mantle boundary the lower most mantle may be subadiabatic, on average (in space and time), if major plate reorganization timescales are less than those acquired to diffuse newly deposited slab material.

Self-gravity, self-consistency, and self-organization in geodynamics and geochemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Don L.

The results of seismology and geochemistry for mantle structure are widely believed to be discordant, the former favoring whole-mantle convection and the latter favoring layered convection with a boundary near 650 km. However, a different view arises from recognizing effects usually ignored in the construction of these models, including physical plausibility and dimensionality. Self-compression and expansion affect material properties that are important in all aspects of mantle geochemistry and dynamics, including the interpretation of tomographic images. Pressure compresses a solid and changes physical properties that depend on volume and does so in a highly nonlinear way. Intrinsic, anelastic, compositional, and crystal structure effects control seismic velocities; temperature is not the only parameter, even though tomographic images are often treated as temperature maps. Shear velocity is not a good proxy for density, temperature, and composition or for other elastic constants. Scaling concepts are important in mantle dynamics, equations of state, and wherever it is necessary to extend laboratory experiments to the parameter range of the Earth's mantle. Simple volume-scaling relations that permit extrapolation of laboratory experiments, in a thermodynamically self-consistent way, to deep mantle conditions include the quasiharmonic approximation but not the Boussinesq formalisms. Whereas slabs, plates, and the upper thermal boundary layer of the mantle have characteristic thicknesses of hundreds of kilometers and lifetimes on the order of 100 million years, volume-scaling predicts values an order of magnitude higher for deep-mantle thermal boundary layers. This implies that deep-mantle features are sluggish and ancient. Irreversible chemical stratification is consistent with these results; plausible temperature variations in the deep mantle cause density variations that are smaller than the probable density contrasts across chemical interfaces created by accretional differentiation and magmatic processes. Deep-mantle features may be convectively isolated from upper-mantle processes. Plate tectonics and surface geochemical cycles appear to be entirely restricted to the upper ˜1,000 km. The 650-km discontinuity is mainly an isochemical phase change but major-element chemical boundaries may occur at other depths. Recycling laminates the upper mantle and also makes it statistically heterogeneous, in agreement with high-frequency scattering studies. In contrast to standard geochemical models and recent modifications, the deeper layers need not be accessible to surface volcanoes. There is no conflict between geophysical and geochemical data, but a physical basis for standard geochemical and geodynamic mantle models, including the two-layer and whole-mantle versions, and qualitative tomographic interpretations has been lacking.

Three-dimensional velocity structure of crust and upper mantle in southwestern China and its tectonic implications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Chun-Yong; Chan, W.W.; Mooney, W.D.

2003-01-01

Using P and S arrival times from 4625 local and regional earthquakes recorded at 174 seismic stations and associated geophysical investigations, this paper presents a three-dimensional crustal and upper mantle velocity structure of southwestern China (21??-34??N, 97??-105??E). Southwestern China lies in the transition zone between the uplifted Tibetan plateau to the west and the Yangtze continental platform to the east. In the upper crust a positive velocity anomaly exists in the Sichuan Basin, whereas a large-scale negative velocity anomaly exists in the western Sichuan Plateau, consistent with the upper crustal structure under the southern Tibetan plateau. The boundary between these two anomaly zones is the Longmen Shan Fault. The negative velocity anomalies at 50-km depth in the Tengchong volcanic area and the Panxi tectonic zone appear to be associated with temperature and composition variations in the upper mantle. The Red River Fault is the boundary between the positive and negative velocity anomalies at 50-km depth. The overall features of the crustal and the upper mantle structures in southwestern China are a low average velocity, large crustal thickness variations, the existence of a high-conductivity layer in the crust or/and upper mantle, and a high heat flow value. All these features are closely related to the collision between the Indian and the Asian plates.

Evidence for strong lateral seismic velocity variation in the lower crust and upper mantle beneath the California margin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lai, Voon; Graves, Robert; Wei, Shengji; Helmberger, Don

2017-01-01

Regional seismograms from earthquakes in Northern California show a systematic difference in arrival times across Southern California where long period (30–50 seconds) SH waves arrive up to 15 seconds earlier at stations near the coast compared with sites towards the east at similar epicentral distances. We attribute this time difference to heterogeneity of the velocity structure at the crust-mantle interface beneath the California margin. To model these observations, we propose a fast seismic layer, with thickness growing westward from the San Andreas along with a thicker and slower continental crust to the east. Synthetics generated from such a model are able to match the observed timing of SH waveforms better than existing 3D models. The presence of a strong upper mantle buttressed against a weaker crust has a major influence in how the boundary between the Pacific plate and North American plate deforms and may explain the observed asymmetric strain rate across the boundary.

Upper- and mid-mantle interaction between the Samoan plume and the Tonga-Kermadec slabs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Sung-Joon; Ferreira, Ana M. G.; Faccenda, Manuele

2016-02-01

Mantle plumes are thought to play a key role in transferring heat from the core-mantle boundary to the lithosphere, where it can significantly influence plate tectonics. On impinging on the lithosphere at spreading ridges or in intra-plate settings, mantle plumes may generate hotspots, large igneous provinces and hence considerable dynamic topography. However, the active role of mantle plumes on subducting slabs remains poorly understood. Here we show that the stagnation at 660 km and fastest trench retreat of the Tonga slab in Southwestern Pacific are consistent with an interaction with the Samoan plume and the Hikurangi plateau. Our findings are based on comparisons between 3D anisotropic tomography images and 3D petrological-thermo-mechanical models, which self-consistently explain several unique features of the Fiji-Tonga region. We identify four possible slip systems of bridgmanite in the lower mantle that reconcile the observed seismic anisotropy beneath the Tonga slab (VSH>VSV) with thermo-mechanical calculations.

Evolution of a Subduction Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noack, Lena; Van Hoolst, Tim; Dehant, Veronique

2014-05-01

The purpose of this study is to understand how Earth's surface might have evolved with time and to examine in a more general way the initiation and continuance of subduction zones and the possible formation of continents on an Earth-like planet. Plate tectonics and continents seem to influence the likelihood of a planet to harbour life, and both are strongly influenced by the planetary interior (e.g. mantle temperature and rheology) and surface conditions (e.g. stabilizing effect of continents, atmospheric temperature), but may also depend on the biosphere. Employing the Fortran convection code CHIC (developed at the Royal Observatory of Belgium), we simulate a subduction zone with a pre-defined weak zone (between oceanic and continental crust) and a fixed plate velocity for the subducting oceanic plate (Quinquis et al. in preparation). In our study we first investigate the main factors that influence the subduction process. We simulate the subduction of an oceanic plate beneath a continental plate (Noack et al., 2013). The crust is separated into an upper crust and a lower crust. We apply mixed Newtonian/non-Newtonian rheology and vary the parameters that are most likely to influence the subduction of the ocanic plate, as for example density of the crust/mantle, surface temperature, plate velocity and subduction angle. The second part of our study concentrates on the long-term evolution of a subduction zone. Even though we model only the upper mantle (until a depth of 670km), the subducted crust is allowed to flow into the lower mantle, where it is no longer subject to our investigation. This way we can model the subduction zone over long time spans, for which we assume a continuous inflow of the oceanic plate into the investigated domain. We include variations in mantle temperatures (via secular cooling and decay of radioactive heat sources) and dehydration of silicates (leading to stiffening of the material). We investigate how the mantle environment influences the subduction of the oceanic crust in terms of subduction velocity and subduction angle over time. We develop scaling laws combining the subduction velocity and angle depending on the mantle environment (and thus time). These laws can then be applied to continental growth simulations with 1D parameterized models (Höning et al., in press) or 2D/3D subduction zone simulations at specific geological times (using the correct subduction zone setting). References: Quinquis, M. et al. (in preparation). A comparison of thermo-mechanical subduction models. In preparation for G3. Noack, L., Van Hoolst, T., Dehant, V., and Breuer, D. (2013). Relevance of continents for habitability and self-consistent formation of continents on early Earth. XIII International Workshop on Modelling of Mantle and Lithosphere Dynamics, Hønefoss, Norway, 31. Aug. - 5. Sept. 2013. Höning, D., Hansen-Goos, H., Airo, A., and Spohn, T. (in press). Biotic vs. abiotic Earth: A model for mantle hydration and continental coverage. Planetary and Space Science.

Shear wave reflectivity imaging of the Nazca-South America subduction zone: Stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Contenti, Sean; Gu, Yu Jeffrey; Ökeler, Ahmet; Sacchi, Mauricio D.

2012-01-01

In this study we utilize over 5000 SS waveforms to investigate the high-resolution mantle reflectivity structure down to 1200 km beneath the South American convergent margin. Our results indicate that the dynamics of the Nazca subduction are more complex than previously suggested. The 410- and 660-km seismic discontinuities beneath the Pacific Ocean and Amazonian Shield exhibit limited lateral depth variations, but their depths vary substantially in the vicinity of the subducting Nazca plate. The reflection amplitude of the 410-km discontinuity is greatly diminished in a ˜1300-km wide region in the back-arc of the subducting plate, which is likely associated with a compositional heterogeneity on top of the upper mantle transition zone. The underlying 660-km discontinuity is strongly depressed, showing localized depth and amplitude variations both within and to the east of the Wadati-Benioff zone. The width of this anomalous zone (˜1000 km) far exceeds that of the high-velocity slab structure and suggesting significant slab deformation within the transition zone. The shape of the 660-km discontinuity and the presence of lower mantle reflectivity imply both stagnation and penetration are possible as the descending Nazca slab impinges upon the base of the upper mantle.

Contrasting upper-mantle shear wave anisotropy across the transpressive Queen Charlotte margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Lingmin; Kao, Honn; Wang, Kelin

2017-10-01

In order to investigate upper mantle and crustal anisotropy along the transpressive Queen Charlotte margin between the Pacific (PA) and North America (NA) plates, we conducted shear wave splitting analyses using 17 seismic stations in and around the island of Haida Gwaii, Canada. Despite the limited station coverage at present, our reconnaissance study does reveal a systematic pattern of mantle anisotropy in this region. Fast directions derived from teleseismic SKS-phase splitting are mostly margin-parallel (NNW-SSE) near the plate boundary but transition to predominantly E-W-trending farther away. We propose that the former is associated with the absolute motion of PA, and the latter reflects a transition from this direction to that of the absolute motion of NA. The broad width of the zone of transition from the PA to NA direction is probably caused by the very obliquely subducting PA slab that travels primarily in the margin-parallel direction. Anisotropy of Haida Gwaii based on local earthquakes features a fast direction that cannot be explained with regional stresses and is probably associated with local structural fabric within the overriding crust. Our preliminary shear wave splitting measurements and working hypotheses based on them will serve to guide more refined future studies to unravel details of the geometry and kinematics of the subducted PA slab, as well as the viscous coupling between the slab and upper mantle in other transpressive margins.

On global gravity anomalies and two-scale mantle convection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marsh, B. D.; Marsh, J. G.

1976-01-01

The two-scale model of mantle convection developed by Richter and Parsons (1975) predicts that if the depth of the convective layer is about 600 km, then for a plate moving at 10 cm/yr, longitudinal convective rolls will be produced in about 50 million years, and the strike of these rolls indicates the direction of motion of the plate relative to the upper mantle. The paper tests these predictions by examining a new global free air gravity model complete to the 30th degree and order. The free air gravity map developed shows a series of linear positive and negative anomalies (with transverse wavelengths of about 2000 km) spanning the Pacific Ocean, crossing the Pacific rise and striking parallel to the Hawaiian seamounts. It is suggested that the pattern of these anomalies may indicate the presence of longitudinal convective rolls beneath the Pacific plates, a result which tends to support the predictions of Richter and Parsons.

Garnet Signatures in Geophysical and Geochemical Observations: Insights into the Thermo-Petrological Structure of Oceanic Upper Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grose, C. J.; Afonso, J. C.

2013-12-01

We have developed new physically comprehensive thermal plate models of the oceanic lithosphere which incorporate temperature- and pressure-dependent heat transport properties and thermal expansivity, melting beneath ridges, hydrothermal circulation near ridge axes, and insulating oceanic crust. These models provide good fits to global databases of seafloor topography and heat flow, and seismic evidence of thermal structure near ridge axes. We couple these thermal plate models with thermodynamic models to predict the petrology of oceanic lithosphere. Geoid height predictions from our models suggest that there is a strong anomaly in geoid slope (over age) above ~25 Ma lithosphere due to the topography of garnet-field mantle. A similar anomaly is also present in geoid data over fracture zones. In addition, we show that a new assessment of a large database of ocean island basalt Sm/Yb systematics indicates that there is an unmistakable step-like increase in Sm/Yb values around 15-20 Ma, indicating the presence of garnet. To explain this feature, we have attempted to couple our thermo-petrological models of oceanic upper mantle with an open system, non-modal, dynamic melting model with diffusion kinetics to investigate trace element partitioning in an ascending mantle column.

Geological evidence for the geographical pattern of mantle return flow and the driving mechanism of plate tectonics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alvarez, W.

1982-08-10

Tectonic features at the earth's surface can be used to test models for mantle return flow and to determine the geographic pattern of this flow. A model with shallow return and deep continental roots places the strongest constraints on the geographical pattern of return flow and predicts recognizable surface manifestations. Because of the progressive shrinkage of the Pacific (averaging 0.5 km/sup 2//yr over the last 180 m.y.) this model predicts upper mantle outflow through the three gaps in the chain of continents rimming the Pacific (Carribbean, Drake Passage, Australian-Antartic gap). In this model, upper mantle return flow streams originating atmore » the western Pacific trenches and at the Java Trench meet south of Australia, filling in behind this rapidly northward-moving continent and provding an explanation for the negative bathymetric and gravity anomalies of the 'Australian-Antarctic-Discordance'. The long-continued tectonic movements toward the east that characterize the Caribbean and the eastenmost Scotia Sea may be produced by viscous coupling to the predicted Pacific outflow through the gaps, and the Caribbean floor slopes in the predicted direction. If mantle outflow does not pass through the gaps in the Pacific perimeter, it must pass beneath three seismic zones (Central America, Lesser Antiles, Scotia Sea); none of these seismic zones shows foci below 200 km. Mantle material flowing through the Caribbean and Drake Passage gaps would supply the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, while the Java Trench supplies the Indian Ocean ridges, so that deep-mantle upwellings need not be centered under spreading ridges and therefore are not required to move laterally to follow ridge migrations. The analysis up to this point suggests that upper mantle return flow is a response to the motion of the continents. The second part of the paper suggest driving mechanism for the plate tectonic process which may explain why the continents move.« less

Craton destruction and related resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Rixiang; Zhang, Hongfu; Zhu, Guang; Meng, Qingren; Fan, Hongrui; Yang, Jinhui; Wu, Fuyuan; Zhang, Zhiyong; Zheng, Tianyu

2017-10-01

Craton destruction is a dynamic event that plays an important role in Earth's evolution. Based on comprehensive observations of many studies on the North China Craton (NCC) and correlations with the evolution histories of other cratons around the world, craton destruction has be defined as a geological process that results in the total loss of craton stability due to changes in the physical and chemical properties of the involved craton. The mechanisms responsible for craton destruction would be as the follows: (1) oceanic plate subduction; (2) rollback and retreat of a subducting oceanic plate; (3) stagnation and dehydration of a subducting plate in the mantle transition zone; (4) melting of the mantle above the mantle transition zone caused by dehydration of a stagnant slab; (5) non-steady flow in the upper mantle induced by melting, and/or (6) changes in the nature of the lithospheric mantle and consequent craton destruction caused by non-steady flow. Oceanic plate subduction itself does not result in craton destruction. For the NCC, it is documented that westward subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate should have initiated at the transition from the Middle-to-Late Jurassic, and resulted in the change of tectonic regime of eastern China. We propose that subduction, rollback and retreat of oceanic plates and dehydration of stagnant slabs are the main dynamic factors responsible for both craton destruction and concentration of mineral deposits, such as gold, in the overriding continental plate. Based on global distribution of gold deposits, we suggest that convergent plate margins are the most important setting for large gold concentrations. Therefore, decratonic gold deposits appear to occur preferentially in regions with oceanic subduction and overlying continental lithospheric destruction/modification/growth.

Seismic anisotropy of western Mexico and northeastern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leon-Soto, Gerardo

In this dissertation, characteristics of upper mantle anisotropy, using shear wave splitting techniques, for two distinct tectonic provinces are presented. In the first part, in western Mexico, the Rivera and Cocos plates subduct beneath the North America plate constituting a young subduction setting where plate fragmentation and capture is occurring today. We characterize the upper mantle anisotropy from SKS and local S phases from the data collected by the MARS experiment (MApping the Rivera Subduction zone) and by two stations of the Mexican Servicio Sismologico National. SKS shear-wave splitting parameters indicate that the fast directions of the split SKS waves for the stations that lie on the central and southern Jalisco block are approximately trench normal. Fast polarizations of these phases also follow the convergence direction between the Rivera Plate and Jalisco block with respect to the North America plate. S-wave splitting from slab events show a small averaged delay time of about 0.2 sec for the upper 60 km of the crust and mantle. Therefore, the main source of anisotropy must reside on the entrained mantle below the young and thin Rivera Plate. Trench-oblique fast SKS split directions are observed in the western edge of the Rivera Plate and western parts of the Cocos slab. The curved pattern of fast SKS split directions in the western Jalisco block and the Rivera-Cocos gap indicate 3-D toroidal mantle flow, around the northwestern edge of the Rivera slab and Rivera- Cocos gap. This behavior profoundly affects finite strain field in the northwestern edge of the Rivera slab and the mantle wedge. The shear wave splitting results support the idea that the Rivera and Cocos plates not only moved in a down-dip direction but also have recently rolled back towards the trench and the Colima rift is intimately related to the tearing between the Rivera and Cocos plates. In the second study, the tectonic enviroment of the northeastern Tibetan plateau is considered. Shear wave splitting measurements using teleseismic SKS and SKKS phases recorded by the ASCENT (A Seismic Collaborative Experiment in Northeastern Tibet) and INDEPTH-IV (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya, Phase IV) experiments reveal significant anisotropy in north-eastern Tibet with a large delay time of up 2.2 sec, indicating that anisotropy exists in both the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle. The coherence between fast polarization directions of split core phases and the left-lateral slip on eastern-striking, southeastern-striking and southern-striking faults in eastern Tibet as well as the surface velocity calculated from GPS data support the idea that left-lateral shear strain is the predominant cause of the orientation of the upper mantle petrofabrics. The left-lateral motion can be best understood as a manifestation of north-striking right-lateral simple shear exerted by the eastern edge of the underthrusting Indian plate as it penetrates into Eurasia, as well as the bending of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) by the foundering Burma-Andaman-Sumatra slab. Two plausible competing models are proposed for the flow of asthenosphere. In the first, the deforming lithosphere gliding over the passive asthenosphere induces flow of the asthenosphere. In the second, the asthenosphere beneath northeastern Tibet is flowing eastward in an asthenosphere channel that lies between the Ordos plateau and Sichuan basin, and around the EHS as it is being compressed between the advancing Indian continental lithosphere and the thick Tarim and Qaidam lithospheres to the north. Delay times from stations in the EHS have a maximum of 1.3 sec suggesting that although most anisotropy is residing in the lithosphere, some may be associated with flow of the asthenosphere. The retreating Burma slab induces flow that is toroidal and located exclusively around the northern edge of the slab. The curved fast directions of split shear waves for stations in the EHS are consistent with the toroidal flow pattern as well as the rotational deformation of the overlying lithosphere. It is suggested that the foundering Burma plate may also play an important role in bending the EHS in the late Cenozoic time.

A global geochemical model for the evolution of the mantle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, D. L.

1979-01-01

It is proposed that the upper mantle transition region, 220 to 670 km, is composed of eclogite which has been derived from primitive mantle by about 20 percent partial melting and that this is the source and sink of oceanic crust. The remainder of the upper mantle is garnet peridotite which is the source of continental basalts and hotspot magmas. This region is enriched in incompatible elements by hydrous and CO2 rich metasomatic fluids which have depleted the underlying layers in the L.I.L. elements and L.R.E.E. The volatiles make this a low-velocity, high attenuation, low viscosity region. The eclogite layer is internally heated and its controls the convection pattern in the upper mantle. Plate tectonics is intermittent. The continental thermal anomaly at a depth of 150-220 km triggers kimberlite and carbonatite activity, alkali and flood basalt volcanism, vertical tectonics and continental breakup. Hot spots remain active after the continents leave and build the oceanic islands. Mantle plumes rise from a depth of about 220 km. Midocean ridge basalts rise from the depleted layer below this depth. Material from this layer can also be displaced upwards by subducted oceanic lithosphere to form back-arc basins.

The subcontinental mantle beneath southern New Zealand, characterised by helium isotopes in intraplate basalts and gas-rich springs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoke, L.; Poreda, R.; Reay, A.; Weaver, S. D.

2000-07-01

New helium isotope data measured in Cenozoic intraplate basalts and their mantle xenoliths are compared with present-day mantle helium emission on a regional scale from thermal and nonthermal gas discharges on the South Island of New Zealand and the offshore Chatham Islands. Cenozoic intraplate basaltic volcanism in southern New Zealand has ocean island basalt affinities but is restricted to continental areas and absent from adjacent Pacific oceanic crust. Its distribution is diffuse and widespread, it is of intermittent timing and characterised by low magma volumes. Most of the 3He/ 4He ratios measured in fluid inclusions in mantle xenocrysts and basalt phenocrysts such as olivine, garnet, and amphibole fall within the narrow range of 8.5 ± 1.5 Ra (Ra is the atmospheric 3He/ 4He ratio) with a maximum value of 11.5 Ra. This range is characteristic of the relatively homogeneous and degassed upper MORB-mantle helium reservoir. No helium isotope ratios typical of the lower less degassed mantle (>12 Ra), such as exemplified by the modern hot-spot region of Hawaii (with up to 32 Ra) were measured. Helium isotope ratios of less than 8 Ra are interpreted in terms of dilution of upper mantle helium with a radiogenic component, due to either age of crystallisation or small-scale mantle heterogeneities caused by mixing of crustal material into the upper mantle. The crude correlation between age of samples and helium isotopes with generally lower R/Ra values in mantle xenoliths compared with host rock phenocrysts and the in general depleted Nd and Sr isotope ratios and the light rare earth element enrichment of the basalts supports derivation of melts as small melt fractions from a depleted upper mantle, with posteruptive ingrowth of radiogenic helium as a function of lithospheric age. In comparison, the regional helium isotope survey of thermal and nonthermal gas discharges of the South Island of New Zealand shows that mantle 3He anomalies in general do not show an obvious relationship with either age or proximity to the Cenozoic intraplate volcanic centres or with major faults. In general, areas characterised by mantle 3He emission are interpreted to define those regions beneath which mantle melting and basalt magma addition to the crust are recent. The strongest mantle 3He anomaly (equivalent to >80% mantle helium component) is centred over southern Dunedin, measured in magmatic CO 2-rich mineral water springs issuing from crystalline basement rocks which outcrop at the southern extent of Miocene intraplate basaltic volcanism which ceased 9 Ma ago. This mantle helium anomaly overlaps with an area characterised by elevated surface high heat flow, compatible with a long-lived mantle melt/heat input into the crust. In comparison Banks Peninsula, another Miocene intraplate basaltic centre, is characterised by relatively low surface heat flow and a small mantle helium contribution measured in a nitrogen-rich spring. Here the thermal transient induced by the magmatic event has either dissipated or has not reached the surface. In the former case one might be dealing with storage and mixing of magmatic and crustal gases at shallow crustal levels and in the latter with active to recent mantle-melt degassing at depth. Along the most actively deforming part of the plate boundary zone, the transpressional Alpine Fault and Marlborough fault systems, mantle helium is present in gas-rich springs in all those areas underlain by actively subducting oceanic crust (the Australian plate in the south and Pacific plate in the north), whereas the central part of the Alpine transpressional fault is characterised by pure crustal radiogenic helium. Areas where the mantle helium component is negligible are restricted to the centre part of the South Island, extending along its length from Southland to northern Canterbury and Murchison. These areas are interpreted to delineate the extent of thicker and colder lithosphere compared to all other areas where mantle helium release from partial mantle melts at depth is recent to active being added to the lower lithosphere and/or lower crust. Areas characterised by mantle helium anomalies are equated with areas of thermal mantle anomalies, i.e., localised mantle heterogeneities such as upwelling less dense silicate melts in the upper asthenospheric mantle.

The depth range of azimuthal anisotropy beneath Southern California via analyses of long-period Rayleigh-waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsang, Stephanie Doris

The motion of the mantle beneath the tectonic plates is still unknown. Mantle shears associated with flow generate anisotropy. In order to investigate the anisotropic properties within the Earth to a range of depths within the crust and upper mantle (and perhaps beyond), long-period Rayleigh waves (periods of 51:282 ≤ T ≤ 333:33 seconds) are used in this study. One model suggests that the fast axis orientation, arising from the preferential alignment of olivine crystal grains in the upper mantle, coincides with the direction of absolute plate motion of the North-American plate. Other models suggest it is aligned with the direction of relative plate motion of the Pacific and North-American plates. A third suggests that an eastward mantle flow occurs beneath the North-American plate. There is also controversy as to the depth to which anisotropy is generated. In this thesis, the Rayleigh-wave phase velocities' dependence on a seismic event's back-azimuth angle is explored within the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN). Because surface wave velocities vary depending on the range of depth into the Earth sampled by each period, an observed deviation of the resulting phase velocity calculations for a wide range of back-azimuth angles, (6° to 349°) with respect to a reference dispersion curve of the area, provides information on the anisotropy of the subsurface structure. Further work on the fast-axis orientation and its tectonic implications is carried out here. I find that the 2 directions 270° = 90° and 290° = 110° are possible fast-axes orientations. I also find that the amplitude of azimuthal anisotropy is insufficient to explain birefringence of S-body waves, also known as SKS splitting, suggesting that it occurs much deeper than previously thought, perhaps all the way to the transition zone. Future work might involve array analysis of Love-wave components using the beamforming approach. This approach should prove effective in yielding further insight into the heterogeneity of the subsurface structure beneath Southern California.

Lithospheric Decoupling and Rotations: Hints from Ethiopian Rift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muluneh, A. A.; Cuffaro, M.; Doglioni, C.; Kidane, T.

2014-12-01

Plates move relative to the mantle because some torques are acting on them. The shear in the low-velocity zone (LVZ) at the base of the lithosphere is the expression of these torques. The decoupling is allowed by the low viscosity in the LVZ, which is likely few orders of magnitudes lower than previously estimated. The viscosity value in the LVZ controls the degree of coupling/decoupling between the lithosphere and the underlying mantle. Lateral variations in viscosity within the LVZ may explain the velocity gradient among tectonic plates as the one determining the Ethiopian Rift (ER) separating Africa from Somalia. While it remains not fully understood the mechanisms of the torques acting on the lithosphere (thermally driven mantle convection or the combination of mantle convection with astronomical forces such as the Earth's rotation and tidal drag), the stresses are transmitted across the different mechanical layers (e.g., the brittle upper crust, down to the viscous-plastic ductile lower crust and upper mantle). Differential basal shear traction at the base of the lithosphere beneath the two sides of the East African Rift System (EARS) is assumed to drive and sustain rifting. In our analysis, the differential torques acting on the lithospheric/crustal blocks drive kinematics and block rotations. Since, ER involves the whole lithosphere, we do not expect large amount of rotation. Rotation can be the result of the whole plate motion on the sphere moving along the tectonic equator, or the second order sub-rotation of a single plate. Further rotation may occur along oblique plate boundaries (e.g., left lateral transtensional setting at the ER). Small amount of vertical axis rotation of blocks in northern ER could be related to the presence of local, shallower decollement layers. Shallow brittle-ductile transition (BDT) zone and differential tilting of crustal blocks in the northern ER could hint a possibility of detachment surface between the flow in the lower crust relative to the brittle crust above. Our study suggests that kinematics of crustal blocks in the ER is controlled by Africa and Somalia plates interaction at different scale and layers.

Tectonic predictions with mantle convection models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coltice, Nicolas; Shephard, Grace E.

2018-04-01

Over the past 15 yr, numerical models of convection in Earth's mantle have made a leap forward: they can now produce self-consistent plate-like behaviour at the surface together with deep mantle circulation. These digital tools provide a new window into the intimate connections between plate tectonics and mantle dynamics, and can therefore be used for tectonic predictions, in principle. This contribution explores this assumption. First, initial conditions at 30, 20, 10 and 0 Ma are generated by driving a convective flow with imposed plate velocities at the surface. We then compute instantaneous mantle flows in response to the guessed temperature fields without imposing any boundary conditions. Plate boundaries self-consistently emerge at correct locations with respect to reconstructions, except for small plates close to subduction zones. As already observed for other types of instantaneous flow calculations, the structure of the top boundary layer and upper-mantle slab is the dominant character that leads to accurate predictions of surface velocities. Perturbations of the rheological parameters have little impact on the resulting surface velocities. We then compute fully dynamic model evolution from 30 and 10 to 0 Ma, without imposing plate boundaries or plate velocities. Contrary to instantaneous calculations, errors in kinematic predictions are substantial, although the plate layout and kinematics in several areas remain consistent with the expectations for the Earth. For these calculations, varying the rheological parameters makes a difference for plate boundary evolution. Also, identified errors in initial conditions contribute to first-order kinematic errors. This experiment shows that the tectonic predictions of dynamic models over 10 My are highly sensitive to uncertainties of rheological parameters and initial temperature field in comparison to instantaneous flow calculations. Indeed, the initial conditions and the rheological parameters can be good enough for an accurate prediction of instantaneous flow, but not for a prediction after 10 My of evolution. Therefore, inverse methods (sequential or data assimilation methods) using short-term fully dynamic evolution that predict surface kinematics are promising tools for a better understanding of the state of the Earth's mantle.

Crustal structure in Tengchong Volcano-Geothermal Area, western Yunnan, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chun-Yong; Huangfu, Gang

2004-02-01

Based upon the deep seismic sounding profiles carried out in the Tengchong Volcano-Geothermal Area (TVGA), western Yunnan Province of China, a 2-D crustal P velocity structure is obtained by use of finite-difference inversion and forward travel-time fitting method. The crustal model shows that a low-velocity anomaly zone exists in the upper crust, which is related to geothermal activity. Two faults, the Longling-Ruili Fault and Tengchong Fault, on the profile extend from surface to the lower crust and the Tengchong Fault likely penetrates the Moho. Moreover, based on teleseismic receiver functions on a temporary seismic network, S-wave velocity structures beneath the geothermal field show low S-wave velocity in the upper crust. From results of geophysical survey, the crust of TVGA is characterized by low P-wave and S-wave velocities, low resistivity, high heat-flow value and low Q. The upper mantle P-wave velocity is also low. This suggests presence of magma in the crust derived from the upper mantle. The low-velocity anomaly in upper crust may be related to the magma differentiation. The Tengchong volcanic area is located on the northeast edge of the Indian-Eurasian plate collision zone, away from the eastern boundary of the Indian plate by about 450 km. Based on the results of this paper and related studies, the Tengchong volcanoes can be classified as plate boundary volcanoes.

Origin of dipping structures in fast-spreading oceanic lower crust offshore Alaska imaged by multichannel seismic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bécel, Anne; Shillington, Donna J.; Nedimović, Mladen R.; Webb, Spahr C.; Kuehn, Harold

2015-08-01

Multi-channel seismic (MCS) reflection profiles across the Pacific Plate south of the Alaska Peninsula reveal the internal structure of mature oceanic crust (48-56 Ma) formed at fast to intermediate spreading rates during and after a major plate re-organization. Oceanic crust formed at fast spreading rates (half spreading rate ∼ 74 mm /yr) has smoother basement topography, thinner sediment cover with less faulting, and an igneous section that is at least 1 km thicker than crust formed at intermediate spreading rates (half spreading rate ∼ 28- 34 mm /yr). MCS data across fast-spreading oceanic crust formed during plate re-organization contain abundant bright reflections, mostly confined to the lower crust above a highly reflective Moho transition zone, which has a reflection coefficient (RC) of ∼0.1. The lower crustal events dip predominantly toward the paleo-ridge axis at ∼10-30°. Reflections are also imaged in the uppermost mantle, which primarily dip away from the ridge at ∼10-25°, the opposite direction to those observed in the lower crust. Dipping events in both the lower crust and upper mantle are absent on profiles acquired across the oceanic crust formed at intermediate spreading rates emplaced after plate re-organization, where a Moho reflection is weak or absent. Our preferred interpretation is that the imaged lower crustal dipping reflections within the fast spread crust arise from shear zones that form near the spreading center in the region characterized by interstitial melt. The abundance and reflection amplitude strength of these events (RC ∼ 0.15) can be explained by a combination of solidified melt that was segregated within the shear structures, mylonitization of the shear zones, and crystal alignment, all of which can result in anisotropy and constructive signal interference. Formation of shear zones with this geometry requires differential motion between the crust and upper mantle, where the upper mantle moves away from the ridge faster than the crust. Active asthenospheric upwelling is one possible explanation for these conditions. The other possible interpretation is that lower crustal reflections are caused by magmatic (mafic/ultramafic) layering associated with accretion from a central mid-crustal magma chamber. Considering that the lower crustal dipping events have only been imaged in regions that have experienced plate re-organizations associated with ridge jumps or rift propagation, we speculate that locally enhanced mantle flow associated with these settings may lead to differential motion between the crust and the uppermost mantle, and therefore to shearing in the ductile lower crust or, alternatively, that plate reorganization could produce magmatic pulses which may lead to mafic/ultramafic banding.

Evidence for long-lived subduction of an ancient tectonic plate beneath the southern Indian Ocean: Ancient Slab Beneath the Indian Ocean

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simmons, N. A.; Myers, S. C.; Johannesson, G.

In this study, ancient subducted tectonic plates have been observed in past seismic images of the mantle beneath North America and Eurasia, and it is likely that other ancient slab structures have remained largely hidden, particularly in the seismic-data-limited regions beneath the vast oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present a new global tomographic image, which shows a slab-like structure beneath the southern Indian Ocean with coherency from the upper mantle to the core-mantle boundary region—a feature that has never been identified. We postulate that the structure is an ancient tectonic plate that sank into the mantle along anmore » extensive intraoceanic subduction zone that migrated southwestward across the ancient Tethys Ocean in the Mesozoic Era. Slab material still trapped in the transition zone is positioned near the edge of East Gondwana at 140 Ma suggesting that subduction terminated near the margin of the ancient continent prior to breakup and subsequent dispersal of its subcontinents.« less

Evidence for long-lived subduction of an ancient tectonic plate beneath the southern Indian Ocean: Ancient Slab Beneath the Indian Ocean

DOE PAGES

Simmons, N. A.; Myers, S. C.; Johannesson, G.; ...

2015-11-14

In this study, ancient subducted tectonic plates have been observed in past seismic images of the mantle beneath North America and Eurasia, and it is likely that other ancient slab structures have remained largely hidden, particularly in the seismic-data-limited regions beneath the vast oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present a new global tomographic image, which shows a slab-like structure beneath the southern Indian Ocean with coherency from the upper mantle to the core-mantle boundary region—a feature that has never been identified. We postulate that the structure is an ancient tectonic plate that sank into the mantle along anmore » extensive intraoceanic subduction zone that migrated southwestward across the ancient Tethys Ocean in the Mesozoic Era. Slab material still trapped in the transition zone is positioned near the edge of East Gondwana at 140 Ma suggesting that subduction terminated near the margin of the ancient continent prior to breakup and subsequent dispersal of its subcontinents.« less

Detailed Image of the Subducting Plate and Upper mantle Seismic Discontinuities in the Mariana Subduction Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tibi, R.; Wiens, D. A.; Shiobara, H.; Sugioka, H.; Yuan, X.

2006-12-01

We use P-to-S converted teleseismic phases recorded at island and ocean bottom stations in Mariana to image the subducting plate and the upper mantle seismic discontinuities in the Mariana subduction zone. The land and seafloor stations which operated from June 2003 to May 2004, were deployed within the framework of the MARGINS Subduction Factory experiment of the Mariana system. The crust in the sudducting plate is observed at about 80--90 km depth beneath the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota. For most of the island stations, a low velocity layer is imaged in the forearc at depth between about 20 and 60 km, with decreasing depths toward the arc. The nature of this feature is not yet clear. We found evidence for double seismic discontinuities at the base of the transition zone near the Mariana slab. A shallower discontinuity is imaged at depths of ~650--715 km, and a deeper interface lies at ~740-- 770 km depth. The amplitudes of the seismic signals suggest that the shear velocity contrasts across the two features are comparable. These characteristics support the interpretation that the discontinuities are the results of the phase transformations in olivine (ringwoodite to post-spinel) and garnet (ilminite to perovskite), respectively, for the pyrolite model of mantle composition.

Three Dimensional Viscoelastic Postseismic Deformation of the 2013 Mw8.3 Okhotsk Deep-Focus Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Y.; Burgmann, R.; Shestakov, N.; Titkov, N. N.; Serovetnikov, S.; Prytkov, A.; Vasilenko, N. F.; Wang, K.

2016-12-01

The upper mantle rheology at depths within a few hundred kilometers has been well studied through shallow great megathrust earthquakes. However, understanding of the mantle rheology at greater depths, such as in the vicinity of the transition zone, has been limited by the lack of direct or indirect measurements. The largest well-recorded deep earthquake with magnitude Mw 8.3 occurred within the subducting Pacific plate at 600 km depth beneath the Okhotsk Sea on May 24, 2013. Twenty-seven continuous GPS stations in this region recorded coseismic displacements of up to 15 mm in the horizontal direction and up to 20 mm in the vertical direction. Within three years after the earthquake seventeen continuous GPS stations underwent transient westward motion of up to 8 mm/yr and vertical motion of up to 10 mm/yr. The geodetically delineated postseismic crustal deformation thus provides a unique opportunity to study the three dimensional heterogeneity of the mantle rheology and properties of the subducting slab at great depths. We have developed three-dimensional viscoelastic finite element models of the 2013 Okhotsk earthquake to explore these questions. Our initial model includes an elastic lithosphere including the subducting slab, a viscoelastic continental upper mantle and a viscoelastic oceanic upper mantle. We assume that the upper mantle is characterized by a bi-viscous Burgers rheology. For simplicity, we assume that the transient Kelvin viscosity is one order of magnitude lower than that of the steady-state Maxwell viscosity. Our preliminary models indicate that the viscosity of the upper mantle beneath the transition zone has to be at least one order of magnitude lower than that of the upper mantle at shallower depths. A viscoelastic subducting slab at depths >400 km with viscosities of 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than that of the mantle wedge provides a better fit to the observed surface velocities.

Passive margins getting squeezed in the mantle convection vice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamato, Philippe; Husson, Laurent; Becker, Thorsten W.; Pedoja, Kevin

2013-12-01

margins often exhibit uplift, exhumation, and tectonic inversion. We speculate that the compression in the lithosphere gradually increased during the Cenozoic, as seen in the number of mountain belts found at active margins during that period. Less clear is how that compression increase affects passive margins. In order to address this issue, we design a 2-D viscous numerical model wherein a lithospheric plate rests above a weaker mantle. It is driven by a mantle conveyor belt, alternatively excited by a lateral downwelling on one side, an upwelling on the other side, or both simultaneously. The lateral edges of the plate are either free or fixed, representing the cases of free convergence, and collision (or slab anchoring), respectively. This distinction changes the upper mechanical boundary condition for mantle circulation and thus, the stress field. Between these two regimes, the flow pattern transiently evolves from a free-slip convection mode toward a no-slip boundary condition above the upper mantle. In the second case, the lithosphere is highly stressed horizontally and deforms. For a constant total driving force, compression increases drastically at passive margins if upwellings are active. Conversely, if downwellings alone are activated, compression occurs at short distances from the trench and extension prevails elsewhere. These results are supported by Earth-like models that reveal the same pattern, where active upwellings are required to excite passive margins compression. Our results substantiate the idea that compression at passive margins is in response to the underlying mantle flow that is increasingly resisted by the Cenozoic collisions.

Interplay between deformation, fluid release and migration across a nascent subduction interface: evidence from Oman-UAE and implications for warm subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agard, Philippe; Prigent, Cécile; Soret, Mathieu; Guillot, Stéphane; Dubacq, Benoît

2017-04-01

Frozen-in subduction plate interfaces preserving the first 1-2 My of the subduction history are found beneath ophiolites. These contacts are a key target to study the inception of mantle wedge metasomatism and the mechanical coupling between the upper plate and the top part of the sinking slab shortly after subduction initiation. Combining structural field and EBSD data, detailed petrology, thermodynamic modelling and geochemistry on both sides, i.e. the base of the mantle wedge (Oman-UAE basal peridotites) and the underlying accreted crustal fragments from the subducting slab (metamorphic soles), this study documents the continuous evolution of the plate contact from 1 GPa 900-750°C to 0.6 GPa 750-600°C, with emphasis on strain localization and feedbacks between deformation and fluid migration. In the mantle wedge, the (de)formation of proto-ultramylonitic peridotites is coeval with mantle metasomatism by focused hydrous fluid migration. Peridotite metasomatism results in the precipitation of new minerals (clinopyroxene, amphibole and spinel ± olivine and orthopyroxene) and their enrichment in FMEs (particularly B, Li and Cs, with concentrations up to 40 times that of the PM). Boron concentrations and isotopes (δ11B of metasomatized peridotites up to +25‰) suggest that these fluids with a "subduction signature" are probably sourced from the dehydrating amphibolitic metamorphic sole. Concomitantly, deformation in the lower plate results in the stepwise formation, detachment and accretion to the mylonitic s.l. mantle of successive slices of HT metabasalts from the downgoing slab, equilibrated at amphibolite/granulite conditions (900-750°C). Two major stages may be outlined: - between 900 and 750°C, the garnet-clinopyroxene-amphibole bearing sinking crust (with melting < 6 vol%) gets juxtaposed and mechanically coupled to the mantle, leading to the transfer of subduction fluids and metasomatism (possibly into the arc zone ultimately). Deformation is distributed on the km scale, typically 200-500 m thick in the mantle and 100-200 m thick in the slab crust. Dislocation creep is the dominant mechanism in the mantle wedge while, in the lower plate crust, deformation is accomodated by cataclasis and reorientation of amphibole grains and dislocation creep of clinopyroxene. Amphibole LPO suggests that granulite to amphibolite deformation was accommodated by thinning of the crustal fragments accreted to the upper plate (by up to a factor of 5-10). - between 750-600°C, the plate contact is further deformed (and partially exhumed) with considerable increase in strain localization on both sides, and fluid channelization in the mantle through (milli)metric ultramylonitic shear bands. Strain is accommodated by a change from olivine dislocation to grain size sensitive creep in mantle ultramylonites, and in the footwall by dislocation creep of amphibole and plagioclase (with progressive increase of rigid body rotation). This example sheds light on the behaviour of warm subductions (e.g., Cascadia, Nankai) where slab material gets amphibolitized at depths of 40 km, on how fluids are fluxed into the mantle wedge and how mechanical coupling resumes at depth (i.e., beyond those where serpentine is stable). Documented deformation patterns also suggest that, where serpentine is stable in the mantle wedge, deformation should be very localized.

Crustal structure of the Sunda-Banda arc transition: results from marine geophysical investigations offshore eastern Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planert, L.; Shulgin, A.; Kopp, H.; Lueschen, E.; Mueller, C.; Flueh, E.; Djajadihardja, Y.; Engels, M.

2009-04-01

The Sunda-Banda arc transition, the easternmost portion of the Indonesian convergent margin, presents a probably unique natural laboratory to study lower plate variability and related upper plate deformation in the so-called ‘subduction factory' for a deeper understanding of forearc evolution. In neighboring margin segments, we can observe strong changes of the incoming plate (transition from an oceanic to a continental lower plate, increasing plate age to the East, presence/absence of an oceanic plateau, variability in plate roughness) as well as a wide range of corresponding forearc structures, including large sedimentary basins and an accretionary prism/outer arc high of variable size and shape. During RV Sonne cruise SO190 in 2006 (SINDBAD: Seismic and Geoacoustic Investigations along the Sunda-Banda Arc Transition), we acquired a combination of seismic wide-angle OBH/OBS refraction, multichannel streamer and gravity data in order to study the seismic velocity structure of the subducting crust and the overriding island arc along a number of trench normal corridors located between 113°E and 121°E. Additionally, a number of trench parallel profiles were conducted which mainly focus on the internal structure of the large sedimentary basins and which were also intended for further clarifying the type of underlying forearc crust and mantle respectively. We used a tomographic approach for refracted and reflected phases to obtain seismic velocity models which again were used for prestack depth-migration of the MCS data. In turn, we incorporated the highly resolved sedimentary portions as a priori structure in our tomography. The results show the seismic velocity structure of the incoming plate, starting 100 km seaward of the trench, and the adjoining forearc down to depths of 20-28 km, i.e. well into the upper mantle, and at the same time fit the gravity data very well, using simple velocity-density relations. In the Argo abyssal plain, the models show 8.0-8.5 km thick oceanic crust. The velocities in the crust and uppermost mantle are reduced within distances of ~50 km seaward of the trench, which coincides with the onset of normal faulting on the incoming oceanic plate. Anomalously low mantle velocities of 7.5 km/s directly beneath the Moho are possibly due to the intrusion of seawater and subsequent serpentinisation of mantle peridotite. Landward of the trench in the outer arc high, velocities do not exceed 5.5 km/s down to the top of the subducting slab, which can be traced over ~70 km length beneath the forearc down to ~13 km depth. The plate boundary is of irregular shape, obviously imprinted by the complex deformation of the oceanic basement prior to subduction, which is further amplified as response to thrusting/downbending of the dissected oceanic blocks. Offshore Lombok island, our models reveal the geometry of the Lombok basin as well as the forearc Moho in ~16 km depth. Reduced upper mantle velocities suggest a hydrated shallow mantle wedge for this corridor. Further east offshore Sumba island, where the Java trench terminates and the transition to the collisional regime further east occurs, our models show a subducting oceanic plate of similar thickness and structure. But different to the situation offshore Lombok, we find no evidence for a shallow mantle wedge beneath the forearc; crustal-type velocities are found down to depths of ~20 km. The different forearc regime is most likely related to the collision with the Sumba block. Our results give a detailed view into the complex structure in both the deeper and shallower portions of this convergent margin.

The Isotopic Record From Monogenetic Seamounts: Insights Into Recycling Time Scales In The Upper Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madrigal Quesada, P.; Gazel, E.

2017-12-01

Monogenetic seamounts related to non-plume intraplate magmatism provide a window into the composition of upper mantle heterogeneities, nevertheless, the origin of these heterogeneities are still not well constrained. Radiogenic isotopes (Sr-Nd-Pb) from present-day ocean island basalts (OIB) produced by this type of magmatism can help establish the source compositions of these chemically and isotopically enriched reservoirs. Here we present evidence that suggests that a highly enriched mantle reservoir can originate from OIB-type subducted material that gets incorporated and stirred throughout the upper mantle. We explore this hypothesis using data from non-plume related OIB volcanism; focusing on isolated monogenetic seamounts with no apparent age progression and interpreted to be related to either plate flexure, shear driven convection and/or edge convection. The isotopic record compiled, added to new results obtained from accreted petit-spot seamounts from Santa Elena Peninsula in Costa Rica, suggest that a highly radiogenic mantle reservoir originated from recycled seamount materials can be formed in a shorter time scale than ancient subducted oceanic crust (>1 Ga), thought to be the forming agent of the HIMU mantle "flavor" found in some of these small-scale seamounts. The implications of these results entail that the recycling of already enriched materials in short time scales and in restricted depths within the Upper Mantle may play an important role in the source of OIBs (plume and non-plume related), as well as, the most enriched suites of EMORBs.

The electrical conductivity during incipient melting in the oceanic low velocity zone

PubMed Central

Sifré, David; Gardés, Emmanuel; Massuyeau, Malcolm; Hashim, Leila; Hier-Majumder, Saswata; Gaillard, Fabrice

2014-01-01

A low viscosity layer in the upper mantle, the Asthenosphere, is a requirement for plate tectonics1. The seismic low velocities and the high electrical conductivities of the Asthenosphere are attributed either to sub-solidus water-related defects in olivine minerals2-4 or to a few volume percents of partial melt5-8 but these two interpretations have shortcomings: (1) The amount of H2O stored in olivine is not expected to be higher than 50 ppm due to partitioning with other mantle phases9, including pargasite amphibole at moderate temperatures10, and partial melting at high temperatures9; (2) elevated melt volume fractions are impeded by the too cold temperatures prevailing in the Asthenosphere and by the high melt mobility that can lead to gravitational segregation11,12. Here we determined the electrical conductivity of CO2-H2O-rich melts, typically produced at the onset of mantle melting. Electrical conductivity modestly increases with moderate amounts of H2O and CO2 but it dramatically increases as CO2 content exceeds 6 wt% in the melt. Incipient melts, long-expected to prevail in the asthenosphere10,13-15, can therefore trigger its high electrical conductivities. Considering depleted and enriched mantle abundances in H2O and CO2 and their effect on the petrology of incipient melting, we calculated conductivity profiles across the Asthenosphere for various plate ages. Several electrical discontinuities are predicted and match geophysical observations in a consistent petrological and geochemical framework. In moderately aged plates (>5Ma), incipient melts most likely trigger both the seismic low velocities and the high electrical conductivities in the upper part of the asthenosphere, whereas for young plates4, where seamount volcanism occurs6, higher degree of melting is expected. PMID:24784219

Electrical conductivity during incipient melting in the oceanic low-velocity zone.

PubMed

Sifré, David; Gardés, Emmanuel; Massuyeau, Malcolm; Hashim, Leila; Hier-Majumder, Saswata; Gaillard, Fabrice

2014-05-01

The low-viscosity layer in the upper mantle, the asthenosphere, is a requirement for plate tectonics. The seismic low velocities and the high electrical conductivities of the asthenosphere are attributed either to subsolidus, water-related defects in olivine minerals or to a few volume per cent of partial melt, but these two interpretations have two shortcomings. First, the amount of water stored in olivine is not expected to be higher than 50 parts per million owing to partitioning with other mantle phases (including pargasite amphibole at moderate temperatures) and partial melting at high temperatures. Second, elevated melt volume fractions are impeded by the temperatures prevailing in the asthenosphere, which are too low, and by the melt mobility, which is high and can lead to gravitational segregation. Here we determine the electrical conductivity of carbon-dioxide-rich and water-rich melts, typically produced at the onset of mantle melting. Electrical conductivity increases modestly with moderate amounts of water and carbon dioxide, but it increases drastically once the carbon dioxide content exceeds six weight per cent in the melt. Incipient melts, long-expected to prevail in the asthenosphere, can therefore produce high electrical conductivities there. Taking into account variable degrees of depletion of the mantle in water and carbon dioxide, and their effect on the petrology of incipient melting, we calculated conductivity profiles across the asthenosphere for various tectonic plate ages. Several electrical discontinuities are predicted and match geophysical observations in a consistent petrological and geochemical framework. In moderately aged plates (more than five million years old), incipient melts probably trigger both the seismic low velocities and the high electrical conductivities in the upper part of the asthenosphere, whereas in young plates, where seamount volcanism occurs, a higher degree of melting is expected.

Did clockwise rotation of Antarctica cause the break-up of Gondwanaland? An investigation in the 'deep-keeled cratons' frame for global dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmaston, M. F.

2012-04-01

Introduction. The 'deep-keeled cratons' frame for global dynamics is the result of seeking Earth-behaviour answers to the following outside-the-box proposition:- "If cratons have tectospheric keels that reach or approach the 660 km discontinuity, AND the 660 level is an effective barrier to mantle circulation, then obviously (i) when two cratons separate, the upper mantle to put under the nascent ocean must arrive by a circuitous route and, conversely, (ii) if they approach one another, the mantle volume that was in between them must get extruded sideways." Surprisingly it has turned out [1 - 4] that Earth dynamical behaviour for at least the past 150 Ma provides persuasive affirmation of both these expectations and that there is a rational petrological explanation for the otherwise-unexpected immobility of subcratonic material to such depths [5 - 7]. Clockwise rotation of Antarctica? This contribution greatly amplifies my original plate dynamical arguments for suggesting [8] that such rotation is ongoing. Convection is unsuited to causing rotation about a pole within the plate so, as noted then, a gearwheel-like linkage to Africa at the SWIR would provide its clearly CCW (Biscay-Caucasus) relationship to the Mediterranean belt for the past 100 Ma, also seen in its separation from South America. Gearwheel-like linkage of motion requires the presence of some kind of E-W restraint further north. In that case it was the N Africa/Arabia involvement in the Alpide belt, but the earlier opening of the central Atlantic by the eastward motion of Africa, suggests its rigid Gondwanan attachment to Antarctica rotation at that time, with little constraint in the north. Further east, the seafloor data show that Australia-Antarctica separation involved no such opposite rotational linkage, so, with no E-W mechanical constraint in the north by Indonesia, they must have rotated together, as is recorded by Australia's eastward motion to generate the Mesozoic seafloor at its western side. Moving east again, the sigmoidal fracture-zone pattern between W Antarctica and Tonga Trench seems consistent with a gearwheel-linked relative rotation of the Pacific plate by about 35o CCW since about 120 Ma, so about half that (clockwise) by Antarctica. The triangular Cocos plate is then in the position where the two gearwheels separate. Further north, the dextral slip on the San Andreas Fault and the opening of the Gorda Ridge are broadly consistent with such rotation. Note that with our two-layer mantle all reference to 'absolute', lower mantle-related, positions is inappropriate. Our sole concern now is with relative motions of plates. Driving torque on the cratonic keel of East Antarctica. I maintain here my suggestion [8] that this keel, in actual contact with the lower mantle at its boundary, is picking up an electromagnetically generated torque, transmitted up from the polar zone of the CMB through the higher viscosity lower mantle. The reality of the rotation now invites more attention to this mechanism. The involvement of the cratonic keel is supported, as noted [8], by the apparent absence of rotational effects in the Arctic, where there is no keel in the polar position, although a similar CMB coupling to the lower mantle seems likely. The involvement of geomagnetism is supported by the sharp changes in central Pacific fracture zone orientation and the onset of the Ontong Java magmatism, correlating with the start and end of the Cretaceous long normal geochron [8, 9]. Such a change is also seen at M0 time in the Weddell Sea. Presumably the speed of Antarctica rotation was affected. Gondwanaland break-up. In view of these abundant tectonic effects attributable to Antarctica rotation, I propose that this was what broke up Gondwanaland, not a plume, as no such things are recognized in this thick-plate, two-layer mantle, version of the Earth-function paradigm. In this version, magmas with apparently lower mantle chemical signatures can be sourced within the upper mantle [10] and flood basalts can be generated by splitting cratons [11]. So the ~176 Ma age of the Ferrar Dolerite in Antarctica is a record of one of those splits. Gaps in the PalaeoPacific rim. If we restore Australia both westward to before the spreading at its western side and southward to its position against Antarctica, the Pacific rim was a fair approximation to a great circle, so it covered a hemisphere. Spreading of the other oceans, initiated by Gondwanaland break-up, must have been at the expense of the size of the Pacific, so it must formerly have covered much more than a hemisphere, and had a periphery correspondingly rather shorter than a great circle. Thus we have the surprising result that reducing the area of the Pacific actually required that its rim be made longer, by making gaps between the previously defining cratonic keels. A further result was that now-excess upper mantle material from below the Pacific had to flow through those gaps to put beneath the widening 'new' oceans. For all four of the obvious gaps - Caribbean, Scotia, Australia-Antarctica, Bering - there is evidence to support the presence of that outflow, and in two of the cases there is evidence that motions to open the gaps began very soon after Gondwana began to break up. Subduction and a two-layer mantle? In another contribution at this meeting (GD5.1) I explain that, in the thick-plate frame adopted here, subduction is neither a motivating player (for break-up purposes) in plate dynamics nor does it breach significantly our 2-layer mantle picture. The underlying reason is that oceanic 'tectosphere' is actually thicker for the same reason [5 - 7] as that of cratons, giving it ex-LVZ heat content which transforms the subduction picture. Three Conclusions. (1) The thick-plate, 2-layer mantle version of the earth-function paradigm [1 - 7] is alive and well. (2) The break-up of Gondwanaland was caused by Antarctica's clockwise rotation. (3) Such rotation is now to be considered a major agent in plate motion dynamics for the period during which East Antarctica, or any other sufficiently deep-keeled craton previously, was located at one of the Earth's poles. [1] Osmaston M. F. (2006) Global tectonic actions emanating from Arctic opening in the circumstances of a two-layer mantle and a thick-plate paradigm involving deep cratonic tectospheres: the Eurekan (Eocene) compressive motion of Greenland and other examples. In Proc. ICAM IV, 2003 (ed. R. Scott & D. Thurston). OCS Study MMS 2006-003, p.105-124: Also at: http://www.mms.gov/alaska/icam. [2] Osmaston M. (2005) Interrelationships between large-scale plate motions as indicators of mantle structure: new constraints on mantle modelling and compositional layout. In 3rd Workshop on "Earth's mantle composition, structure and phase transitions" St Malo, France. http://deep.earth.free.fr/participants.php. [3] Osmaston M. F. (2007) Cratonic keels and a two-layer mantle tested: mantle expulsion during Arabia-Russia closure linked to westward enlargement of the Black Sea, formation of the Western Alps and subduction of the Tyrrhenian (not the Ionian) Sea. XXIV IUGG, Session JSS 011, Abstr #2105 http://www.iugg2007perugia.it/webbook/. [4] Osmaston M. F. (2009) Deep cratonic keels and a 2-layer mantle? Tectonic basis for some far-reaching new insights on the dynamical properties of the Earth's mantle: example motions from Mediterranean, Atlantic-Arctic and India. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 11, EGU2009-6359 (Solicited). [5] Karato S. (1986) Does partial melting reduce the creep strength of the upper mantle? Nature 319, 309-310. [6] Hirth G. & Kohlstedt D. L. (1996) Water in the oceanic upper mantle: implication for rheology, melt extraction, and the evolution of the lithosphere. EPSL 144, 93-108. [7] Osmaston M. F. (2010) On the actual variety of plate dynamical mechanisms and how mantle evolution affected them through time, from core formation to the Indian collision. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 12, EGU2010-6101. [8] Osmaston M. F. (2003) What drives plate tectonics? Slab pull, ridge push or geomagnetic torque from the CMB? A new look at the old players vis-a-vis an exciting new one. In XXIII IUGG 2003, B129, Abstr no 016795-2. [9] Atwater T., Sclater J., Sandwell D., Severinghaus J., & Marlow M. S. (1993) Fracture zone traces across the North Pacific Cretaceous quiet zone and their tectonic implications. In The Mesozoic Pacific: geology, tectonics and volcanism, (ed. Pringle, Sager, Sliter, & Stein) AGU Geophys. Monogr. 77, 137-154. [10] Osmaston M. F. (2000) An upper mantle source for plumes and Dupal; result of processes and history that have shaped the Earth's interior from core to crust. Goldschmidt 2000, J. Conf. Abstr. 5 (2), 763. [11] Osmaston M. F. (2008) Extra-thick plates: basis for a single model of mantle magmagenesis, all the way from MORB to kimberlite. Goldschmidt 2008. Geochim.Cosmochim. Acta 72(12S), A711.

Study on 3-D velocity structure of crust and upper mantle in Sichuan-yunnan region, China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, C.; Mooney, W.D.; Wang, X.; Wu, J.; Lou, H.; Wang, F.

2002-01-01

Based on the first arrival P and S data of 4 625 regional earthquakes recorded at 174 stations dispersed in the Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, the 3-D velocity structure of crust and upper mantle in the region is determined, incorporating with previous deep geophysical data. In the upper crust, a positive anomaly velocity zone exists in the Sichuan basin, whereas a negative anomaly velocity zone exists in the western Sichuan plateau. The boundary between the positive and negative anomaly zones is the Longmenshan fault zone. The images of lower crust and upper mantle in the Longmenshan fault, Xianshuihe fault, Honghe fault and others appear the characteristic of tectonic boundary, indicating that the faults litely penetrate the Moho discontinuity. The negative velocity anomalies at the depth of 50 km in the Tengchong volcanic area and the Panxi tectonic zone appear to be associated with the temperature and composition variations in the upper mantle. The overall features of the crustal and the upper mantle structures in the Sichuan-Yunnan region are the lower average velocity in both crust and uppermost mantle, the large crustal thickness variations, and the existence of high conductivity layer in the crust or/and upper mantle, and higher geothermal value. All these features are closely related to the collision between the Indian and the Asian plates. The crustal velocity in the Sichuan-Yunnan rhombic block generally shows normal.value or positive anomaly, while the negative anomaly exists in the area along the large strike-slip faults as the block boundary. It is conducive to the crustal block side-pressing out along the faults. In the major seismic zones, the seismicity is relative to the negative anomaly velocity. Most strong earthquakes occurred in the upper-mid crust with positive anomaly or normal velocity, where the negative anomaly zone generally exists below.

Segmentation of plate coupling, fate of subduction fluids, and modes of arc magmatism in Cascadia, inferred from magnetotelluric resistivity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wannamaker, Philip E.; Evans, Rob L.; Bedrosian, Paul A.; Unsworth, Martyn J.; Maris, Virginie; McGary, R. Shane

2014-01-01

Five magnetotelluric (MT) profiles have been acquired across the Cascadia subduction system and transformed using 2-D and 3-D nonlinear inversion to yield electrical resistivity cross sections to depths of ∼200 km. Distinct changes in plate coupling, subduction fluid evolution, and modes of arc magmatism along the length of Cascadia are clearly expressed in the resistivity structure. Relatively high resistivities under the coasts of northern and southern Cascadia correlate with elevated degrees of inferred plate locking, and suggest fluid- and sediment-deficient conditions. In contrast, the north-central Oregon coastal structure is quite conductive from the plate interface to shallow depths offshore, correlating with poor plate locking and the possible presence of subducted sediments. Low-resistivity fluidized zones develop at slab depths of 35–40 km starting ∼100 km west of the arc on all profiles, and are interpreted to represent prograde metamorphic fluid release from the subducting slab. The fluids rise to forearc Moho levels, and sometimes shallower, as the arc is approached. The zones begin close to clusters of low-frequency earthquakes, suggesting fluid controls on the transition to steady sliding. Under the northern and southern Cascadia arc segments, low upper mantle resistivities are consistent with flux melting above the slab plus possible deep convective backarc upwelling toward the arc. In central Cascadia, extensional deformation is interpreted to segregate upper mantle melts leading to underplating and low resistivities at Moho to lower crustal levels below the arc and nearby backarc. The low- to high-temperature mantle wedge transition lies slightly trenchward of the arc.

Mantle updrafts and mechanisms of oceanic volcanism.

PubMed

Anderson, Don L; Natland, James H

2014-10-14

Convection in an isolated planet is characterized by narrow downwellings and broad updrafts--consequences of Archimedes' principle, the cooling required by the second law of thermodynamics, and the effect of compression on material properties. A mature cooling planet with a conductive low-viscosity core develops a thick insulating surface boundary layer with a thermal maximum, a subadiabatic interior, and a cooling highly conductive but thin boundary layer above the core. Parts of the surface layer sink into the interior, displacing older, colder material, which is entrained by spreading ridges. Magma characteristics of intraplate volcanoes are derived from within the upper boundary layer. Upper mantle features revealed by seismic tomography and that are apparently related to surface volcanoes are intrinsically broad and are not due to unresolved narrow jets. Their morphology, aspect ratio, inferred ascent rate, and temperature show that they are passively responding to downward fluxes, as appropriate for a cooling planet that is losing more heat through its surface than is being provided from its core or from radioactive heating. Response to doward flux is the inverse of the heat-pipe/mantle-plume mode of planetary cooling. Shear-driven melt extraction from the surface boundary layer explains volcanic provinces such as Yellowstone, Hawaii, and Samoa. Passive upwellings from deeper in the upper mantle feed ridges and near-ridge hotspots, and others interact with the sheared and metasomatized surface layer. Normal plate tectonic processes are responsible both for plate boundary and intraplate swells and volcanism.

Mantle updrafts and mechanisms of oceanic volcanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Don L.; Natland, James H.

2014-10-01

Convection in an isolated planet is characterized by narrow downwellings and broad updrafts-consequences of Archimedes' principle, the cooling required by the second law of thermodynamics, and the effect of compression on material properties. A mature cooling planet with a conductive low-viscosity core develops a thick insulating surface boundary layer with a thermal maximum, a subadiabatic interior, and a cooling highly conductive but thin boundary layer above the core. Parts of the surface layer sink into the interior, displacing older, colder material, which is entrained by spreading ridges. Magma characteristics of intraplate volcanoes are derived from within the upper boundary layer. Upper mantle features revealed by seismic tomography and that are apparently related to surface volcanoes are intrinsically broad and are not due to unresolved narrow jets. Their morphology, aspect ratio, inferred ascent rate, and temperature show that they are passively responding to downward fluxes, as appropriate for a cooling planet that is losing more heat through its surface than is being provided from its core or from radioactive heating. Response to doward flux is the inverse of the heat-pipe/mantle-plume mode of planetary cooling. Shear-driven melt extraction from the surface boundary layer explains volcanic provinces such as Yellowstone, Hawaii, and Samoa. Passive upwellings from deeper in the upper mantle feed ridges and near-ridge hotspots, and others interact with the sheared and metasomatized surface layer. Normal plate tectonic processes are responsible both for plate boundary and intraplate swells and volcanism.

Lithospheric radial anisotropy beneath the Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Risheng; Ko, Justin Yen-Ting; Wei, Shengji; Zhan, Zhongwen; Helmberger, Don

2017-05-01

The Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB), where a layer of low viscosity asthenosphere decouples with the upper plate motion, plays an essential role in plate tectonics. Most dynamic modeling assumes that the shear velocity can be used as a surrogate for viscosity which provides key information about mantle flow. Here, we derive a shear velocity model for the LAB structure beneath the Gulf of Mexico allowing a detailed comparison with that beneath the Pacific (PAC) and Atlantic (ATL). Our study takes advantage of the USArray data from the March 25th, 2013 Guatemala earthquake at a depth of 200 km. Such data is unique in that we can observe a direct upward traveling lid arrival which remains the first arrival ahead of the triplications beyond 18°. This extra feature in conjunction with upper-mantle triplication sampling allows good depth control of the LAB and a new upper-mantle seismic model ATM, a modification of ATL, to be developed. ATM has a prominent low velocity zone similar to the structure beneath the western Atlantic. The model contains strong radial anisotropy in the lid where VSH is about 6% faster than VSV. This anisotropic feature ends at the bottom of the lithosphere at about the depth of 175 km in contrast to the Pacific where it extends to over 300 km. Another important feature of ATM is the weaker velocity gradient from the depth of 175 to 350 km compared to Pacific models, which may be related to differences in mantle flow.

Mantle updrafts and mechanisms of oceanic volcanism

PubMed Central

Anderson, Don L.; Natland, James H.

2014-01-01

Convection in an isolated planet is characterized by narrow downwellings and broad updrafts—consequences of Archimedes’ principle, the cooling required by the second law of thermodynamics, and the effect of compression on material properties. A mature cooling planet with a conductive low-viscosity core develops a thick insulating surface boundary layer with a thermal maximum, a subadiabatic interior, and a cooling highly conductive but thin boundary layer above the core. Parts of the surface layer sink into the interior, displacing older, colder material, which is entrained by spreading ridges. Magma characteristics of intraplate volcanoes are derived from within the upper boundary layer. Upper mantle features revealed by seismic tomography and that are apparently related to surface volcanoes are intrinsically broad and are not due to unresolved narrow jets. Their morphology, aspect ratio, inferred ascent rate, and temperature show that they are passively responding to downward fluxes, as appropriate for a cooling planet that is losing more heat through its surface than is being provided from its core or from radioactive heating. Response to doward flux is the inverse of the heat-pipe/mantle-plume mode of planetary cooling. Shear-driven melt extraction from the surface boundary layer explains volcanic provinces such as Yellowstone, Hawaii, and Samoa. Passive upwellings from deeper in the upper mantle feed ridges and near-ridge hotspots, and others interact with the sheared and metasomatized surface layer. Normal plate tectonic processes are responsible both for plate boundary and intraplate swells and volcanism. PMID:25201992

Structure of crust and upper mantle beneath NW Himalayas, Pamir and Hindukush by multi-scale double-difference seismic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhatti, Zahid Imran; Zhao, Junmeng; Khan, Nangyal Ghani; Shah, Syed Tallataf Hussain

2018-08-01

The India-Asia collision and subsequent subduction initiated the evolution of major tectonic features in the Western Syntaxis. The complex tectonic structure and shallow to deep seismicity have attracted geoscientists over the past two decades. The present research is based on a 3D tomographic inversion of P-wave arrival time data to constrain the crustal and upper mantle structure beneath the NW Himalayas and Pamir-Hindukush region using the Double-difference tomography. We utilized a very large multi-scale dataset comprising 19,080 earthquakes recorded at 397 local and regional seismic stations from 1950 to 2017. The northward dipping seismic zone coinciding with the low velocity anomaly suggests the subduction of the Indian lower crust beneath the Hindukush. The extent of the northward advancing Indian slab increases from east to west in this region. We observed no signs of northward subduction of the Indian plate under the Hindukush beyond 71°E longitude. The Indian plate overturns due south after interacting with the Asian plate beneath the southern Pamir, which correlates with the counter-clockwise rotation of the Indian plate. The Asian plate is also imaged as a southward subducting seismic zone beneath the southern Pamir. In the NW Himalayas, the northward subducting Indian plate appears as a gently dipping low velocity anomaly beneath the Karakoram Block. The stresses caused by the collision and subduction along the Shyok Suture and Indus Suture are translated to the south. The crustal scale seismicity and high velocity anomalies indicate an intense deformation in the crust, which is manifested by syntaxial bends and thrust faults to the south of the Main Mantle Thrust.

Slab stagnation and detachment under northeast China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honda, Satoru

2016-03-01

Results of tomography models around the Japanese Islands show the existence of a gap between the horizontally lying (stagnant) slab extending under northeastern China and the fast seismic velocity anomaly in the lower mantle. A simple conversion from the fast velocity anomaly to the low-temperature anomaly shows a similar feature. This feature appears to be inconsistent with the results of numerical simulations on the interaction between the slab and phase transitions with temperature-dependent viscosity. Such numerical models predict a continuous slab throughout the mantle. I extend previous analyses of the tomography model and model calculations to infer the origins of the gap beneath northeastern China. Results of numerical simulations that take the geologic history of the subduction zone into account suggest two possible origins for the gap: (1) the opening of the Japan Sea led to a breaking off of the otherwise continuous subducting slab, or (2) the western edge of the stagnant slab is the previous subducted ridge, which was the plate boundary between the extinct Izanagi and the Pacific plates. Origin (2) suggesting the present horizontally lying slab has accumulated since the ridge subduction, is preferable for explaining the present length of the horizontally lying slab in the upper mantle. Numerical models of origin (1) predict a stagnant slab in the upper mantle that is too short, and a narrow or non-existent gap. Preferred models require rather stronger flow resistance of the 660-km phase change than expected from current estimates of the phase transition property. Future detailed estimates of the amount of the subducted Izanagi plate and the present stagnant slab would be useful to constrain models. A systematic along-arc variation of the slab morphology from the northeast Japan to Kurile arcs is also recognized, and its understanding may constrain the 3D mantle flow there.

Isostatic models and isostatic gravity anomalies of the Arabian plate and surroundings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaban, Mikhail K.; El Khrepy, Sami; Al-Arifi, Nassir

2015-04-01

Isostaic anomalies represent one of the most useful "geological" reduction of the gravity field. With the isostatic correction it is possible to remove a significant part of the effect of deep density heterogeneity, which dominates in the Bouguer gravity anomalies. This correction is based on the fact that a major part of the near-surface load is compensated by variations of the lithosphere boundaries (chiefly the Moho and LAB) and by density variations within the crust and upper mantle. It is usually supposed that it is less important to a first order, what is the actual compensation model when reducing the effect of compensating masses, since their total weight is exactly opposite to the near-surface load. We compare several compensating models for the Arabian plate and surrounding area. The Airy model gives very significant regional isostatic anomalies, which can not be explained by the upper crust structure or disturbances of the isostatic equilibrium. Also the predicted "isostatic" Moho is very different from the existing observations. The second group of the isostatic models includes the Moho, which is based on existing seismic determinations. Additional compensation is provided by density variations within the lithosphere (chiefly in the upper mantle). In this way we minimize regional anomalies over the Arabian plate. The residual local anomalies well correspond to tectonic structure of the plate. Still very significant anomalies are associated with the Zagros fold belt, the collision zone of the Arabian and Eurasian plates.

SKS Anisotropy Measurements in Mid-Plate South America: a Test of Subduction-Induced Upper Mantle Flow and the Effect of Cratonic Keels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assumpcao, M.; Melo, B. C.

2017-12-01

Shear-wave splitting from core-refracted (SKS) waves indicates the amount and orientation of seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle, and is used to infer past and present mantle dynamics and continental evolution. Previous SKS studies in South America concentrated mainly in the Andes and in SE Brazil. Although effects of frozen anisotropy in the lithospheric mantle were suggested in some parts of SE Brazil, the main contribution to the orientation of the fast polarization directions have been attributed to asthenospheric flow around cratonic keels, especially around the São Francisco craton in eastern Brazil (Assumpção et al., 2006,2011). We added extra SKS splitting measurements in the area of the Pantanal and Paraná-Chaco basins (FAPESP-funded "3-Basins" Project). Results from 47 new stations will be presented, both from the temporary deployments and from the Brazilian permanent net. This data set partly fills the gap in SKS measurements between the Andes and SE Brazil, providing a more complete and robust anisotropy map of the S. American stable platform. On average, over most of the mid-continent, the fast polarization orientation tends to be close to the absolute plate motion given by the hotspot reference frame HS3-NUVEL-1A. Nevertheless, the new and previously published fast polarizations results suggest mantle flow around the Amazon and São Francisco cratons. A comparison with recent modeling of upper mantle flow induced by the Nazca plate subduction (Hu et al., 2017) shows good agreement with the predictions of mantle flow around the Amazon craton. Further south, however, especially in the Pantanal Basin, the observed SKS fast orientations are ENE-WSW, deviating from the general ESE-WNW predicted orientations. We propose that the observed ENE-WSW orientation may be due to flow around a possible cratonic nucleus beneath the northern part of the Paraná Basin ("Paranapanema block"). This cratonic block (inferred from geological observations) is also seen in regional surface-wave tomography. Large delay times at the Pantanal Basin may indicate a stronger asthenospheric channel, a more coherent flow, or a thicker asthenosphere. Similarly, small delay times beneath the northern Paraná Basin may indicate thinner anisotropic asthenosphere in that region, similar to the observations in the Amazon craton.

Dynamics of upper mantle rocks decompression melting above hot spots under continental plates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perepechko, Yury; Sorokin, Konstantin; Sharapov, Victor

2014-05-01

Numeric 2D simulation of the decompression melting above the hot spots (HS) was accomplished under the following conditions: initial temperature within crust mantle section was postulated; thickness of the metasomatized lithospheric mantle is determined by the mantle rheology and position of upper asthenosphere boundary; upper and lower boundaries were postulated to be not permeable and the condition for adhesion and the distribution of temperature (1400-2050°C); lateral boundaries imitated infinity of layer. Sizes and distribution of lateral points, their symmetry, and maximum temperature varied between the thermodynamic condition for existences of perovskite - majorite transition and its excess above transition temperature. Problem was solved numerically a cell-vertex finite volume method for thermo hydrodynamic problems. For increasing convergence of iterative process the method of lower relaxation with different value of relaxation parameter for each equation was used. The method of through calculation was used for the increase in the computing rate for the two-layered upper mantle - lithosphere system. Calculated region was selected as 700 x (2100-4900) km. The time step for the study of the asthenosphere dynamics composed 0.15-0.65 Ma. The following factors controlling the sizes and melting degree of the convective upper mantle, are shown: a) the initial temperature distribution along the section of upper mantleb) sizes and the symmetry of HS, c) temperature excess within the HS above the temperature on the upper and lower mantle border TB=1500-2000oC with 5-15% deviation but not exceed 2350oC. It is found, that appearance of decompression melting with HS presence initiate primitive mantle melting at TB > of 1600oC. Initial upper mantle heating influence on asthenolens dimensions with a constant HS size is controlled mainly by decompression melting degree. Thus, with lateral sizes of HS = 400 km the decompression melting appears at TB > 1600oC and HS temperature (THS) > 1900oC asthenolens size ~700 km. When THS = of 2000oC the maximum melting degree of the primitive mantle is near 40%. An increase in the TB > 1900oC the maximum degree of melting could rich 100% with the same size of decompression melting zone (700 km). We examined decompression melting above the HS having LHS = 100 km - 780 km at a TB 1850- 2100oC with the thickness of lithosphere = 100 km.It is shown that asthenolens size (Lln) does not change substantially: Lln=700 km at LHS = of 100 km; Lln= 800 km at LHS = of 780 km. In presence of asymmetry of large HS the region of advection is developed above the HS maximum with the formation of asymmetrical cell. Influence of lithospheric plate thicknesses on appearance and evolution of asthenolens above the HS were investigated for the model stepped profile for the TB ≤ of 1750oS with Lhs = 100km and maximum of THS =2350oC. With an increase of TB the Lln difference beneath lithospheric steps is leveled with retention of a certain difference to melting degrees and time of the melting appearance a top of the HS. RFBR grant 12-05-00625.

Petit-spot geology reveals melts in upper-most asthenosphere dragged by lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machida, Shiki; Hirano, Naoto; Sumino, Hirochika; Hirata, Takafumi; Yoneda, Shigekazu; Kato, Yasuhiro

2015-09-01

Petit-spot volcanism is a phenomenon ubiquitous on Earth. It originates from melt in the upper-most mantle asthenosphere, occurring where the plate flexes and fractures before subduction. Recent geochemical and petrological studies of petit-spot volcanism lava have shown that understanding this form of volcanism can contribute to the investigation of mantle dynamics and CO2 degassing of Earth. However, geological information constraining the magma source of petit-spot remains limited. Here, we present a comprehensive dataset of geochemistry (major and trace elements, and Sr and Nd isotopic compositions) and 40Ar/39Ar ages of alkaline basaltic rocks and glasses to define the geological characteristics of petit-spot volcanoes in the northwestern Pacific. The geochemical and geochronological variations of the basalts indicate that petit-spot volcanism is characterized by a petrogenetically and temporally isolated magma system for each volcano. The basalt geochemistry further indicates that the magmas at the volcanoes were derived from the melting of a heterogeneous regional-scale source under a range of conditions. In addition, slight temporal intra-field migration of petit-spot vent fields against the plate motion was detected. These features indicate that the magma originates from isolated melt ponds at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, and that the speed at which the melt ponds are dragged by the plate is only slightly slower than that of the plate motion. Our results provide detailed insight into eruption processes of asthenosphere melts induced by plate-flexure, and also suggest the complete coupling of the lithosphere to the upper-most asthenosphere in the case of large plate subduction.

Electrical conductivity imaging in the western Pacific subduction zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Utada, Hisashi; Baba, Kiyoshi; Shimizu, Hisayoshi

2010-05-01

Oceanic plate subduction is an important process for the dynamics and evolution of the Earth's interior, as it is regarded as a typical downward flow of the mantle convection that transports materials from the near surface to the deep mantle. Recent seismological study showed evidence suggesting the transportation of a certain amount of water by subduction of old oceanic plate such as the Pacific plate down to 150-200 km depth into the back arc mantle. However it is not well clarified how deep into the mantle the water can be transported. The electromagnetic induction method to image electrical conductivity distribution is a possible tool to answer this question as it is known to be sensitive to the presence of water. Here we show recent result of observational study from the western Pacific subduction zone to examine the electrical conductivity distribution in the upper mantle and in the mantle transition zone (MTZ), which will provide implications how water distributes in the mantle. We take two kinds of approach for imaging the mantle conductivity, (a) semi-global and (b) regional induction approaches. Result may be summarized as follows: (a) Long (5-30 years) time series records from 8 submarine cables and 13 geomagnetic observatories in the north Pacific region were analyzed and long period magnetotelluric (MT) and geomagnetic deep sounding (GDS) responses were estimated in the period range from 1.7 to 35 days. These frequency dependent response functions were inverted to 3-dimensional conductivity distribution in the depth range between 350 and 850 km. Three major features are suggested in the MTZ depth such as, (1) a high conductivity anomaly beneath the Philippine Sea, (2) a high conductivity anomaly beneath the Hawaiian Islands, and (3) a low conductivity anomaly beneath and in the vicinity of northern Japan. (b) A three-year long deployment of ocean bottom electro-magnetometers (OBEM's) was conducted in the Philippine Sea and west Pacific Ocean from 2005 to 2008. As a preliminary investigation, MT response functions from 20 sites in the Philippine Sea and 4 sites in the west Pacific basin in the period range between 300 and 80000 sec were respectively inverted to one-dimensional (1-D) profile of electrical conductivity by quantitatively considering the effect of the heterogeneous conductivity distribution (ocean and lands) at the surface. The resultant 1-D models show three main features: (1) Strong contrast in the conductivity for the shallower 200 km of the upper mantle depths is recognized between the two regions, which is qualitatively consistent with the difference in lithospheric age. (2) The conductivity at 200-300 km depth is more or less similar to each other at about 0.3 S /m. (3) The conductivity around the MTZ depth is higher for the Philippine Sea mantle than for the Pacific mantle, which is consistent with the implication obtained from a semi-global approach (a). As already suggested in our previous work, the high conductivity in the MTZ below the Philippine Sea can be explained by the excess conduction due to the presence of hydrogen (water) in wadesleyite or in ringwoodite. Therefore, it implies a large scale circulation of water in the back arc mantle not only in the upper mantle but also down to the MTZ depth. However, our interpretation indicates that the high conductivity of the Philippine Sea uppermost upper mantle cannot be explained only by the effect of hydrogen conduction in olivine, but that additional conduction enhancement such as the presence of partial melt is required.

Net Rotation of the Lithosphere in Mantle Convection Models with Self-consistent Plate Generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerault, M.; Coltice, N.

2017-12-01

Lateral variations in the viscosity structure of the lithosphere and the mantle give rise to a discordant motion between the two. In a deep mantle reference frame, this motion is called the net rotation of the lithosphere. Plate motion reconstructions, mantle flow computations, and inferences from seismic anisotropy all indicate some amount of net rotation using different mantle reference frames. While the direction of rotation is somewhat consistent across studies, the predicted amplitudes range from 0.1 deg/Myr to 0.3 deg/Myr at the present-day. How net rotation rates could have differed in the past is also a subject of debate and strong geodynamic arguments are missing from the discussion. This study provides the first net rotation calculations in 3-D spherical mantle convection models with self-consistent plate generation. We run the computations for billions of years of numerical integration. We look into how sensitive the net rotation is to major tectonic events, such as subduction initiation, continental breakup and plate reorganisations, and whether some governing principles from the models could guide plate motion reconstructions. The mantle convection problem is solved with the finite volume code StagYY using a visco-pseudo-plastic rheology. Mantle flow velocities are solely driven by buoyancy forces internal to the system, with free slip upper and lower boundary conditions. We investigate how the yield stress, the mantle viscosity structure and the properties of continents affect the net rotation over time. Models with large lateral viscosity variations from continents predict net rotations that are at least threefold faster than those without continents. Models where continents cover a third of the surface produce net rotation rates that vary from nearly zero to over 0.3 deg/Myr with rapide increase during continental breakup. The pole of rotation appears to migrate along no particular path. For all models, regardless of the yield stress and the presence of continental material, the most substantial variations in amplitude and direction of rotation occur over a few tenth of millions of years. It suggests that, to first order, the net rotation is closely related to the tectonic make-up of the surface, evolving with the nature of plate boundaries and the physical arrangement of the plates.

Density structure of the lithosphere in the southwestern United States and its tectonic significance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kaban, M.K.; Mooney, W.D.

2001-01-01

We calculate a density model of the lithosphere of the southwestern United States through an integrated analysis of gravity, seismic refraction, drill hole, and geological data. Deviations from the average upper mantle density are as much as ?? 3%. A comparison with tomographic images of seismic velocities indicates that a substantial part (>50%) of these density variations is due to changes in composition rather than temperature. Pronounced mass deficits are found in the upper mantle under the Basin and Range Province and the northern part of the California Coast Ranges and adjacent ocean. The density structure of the northern and central/southern Sierra Nevada is remarkably different. The central/southern part is anomalous and is characterized by a relatively light crust underlain by a higher-density upper mantle that may be associated with a cold, stalled subducted plate. High densities are also determined within the uppermost mantle beneath the central Transverse Ranges and adjoining continental slope. The average density of the crystalline crust under the Great Valley and western Sierra Nevada is estimated to be up to 200 kg m~3 higher than the regional average, consistent with tectonic models for the obduction of oceanic crust and uppermost mantle in this region.

Slab melting beneath the Cascade Arc driven by dehydration of altered oceanic peridotite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walowski, K. J.; Wallace, P. J.; Hauri, E. H.; Wada, I.; Clynne, M. A.

2015-05-01

Water is returned to Earth’s interior at subduction zones. However, the processes and pathways by which water leaves the subducting plate and causes melting beneath volcanic arcs are complex; the source of the water--subducting sediment, altered oceanic crust, or hydrated mantle in the downgoing plate--is debated; and the role of slab temperature is unclear. Here we analyse the hydrogen-isotope and trace-element signature of melt inclusions in ash samples from the Cascade Arc, where young, hot lithosphere subducts. Comparing these data with published analyses, we find that fluids in the Cascade magmas are sourced from deeper parts of the subducting slab--hydrated mantle peridotite in the slab interior--compared with fluids in magmas from the Marianas Arc, where older, colder lithosphere subducts. We use geodynamic modelling to show that, in the hotter subduction zone, the upper crust of the subducting slab rapidly dehydrates at shallow depths. With continued subduction, fluids released from the deeper plate interior migrate into the dehydrated parts, causing those to melt. These melts in turn migrate into the overlying mantle wedge, where they trigger further melting. Our results provide a physical model to explain melting of the subducted plate and mass transfer from the slab to the mantle beneath arcs where relatively young oceanic lithosphere is subducted.

On gravity from SST, geoid from Seasat, and plate age and fracture zones in the Pacific

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marsh, B. D.; Marsh, J. G.; Williamson, R. G. (Principal Investigator)

1984-01-01

A composite map produced by combining 90 passes of SST data show good agreement with conventional GEM models. The SEASAT altimeter data were deduced and found to agree with both the SST and GEM fields. The maps are dominated (especially in the east) by a pattern of roughly east-west anomalies with a transverse wavelength of about 2000 km. Comparison with regional bathymetric data shows a remarkedly close correlation with plate age. Most anomalies in the east half of the Pacific could be partly caused by regional differences in plate age. The amplitude of these geoid or gravity anomalies caused by age differences should decrease with absolute plate age, and large anomalies (approximately 3 m) over old, smooth sea floor may indicate a further deeper source within or perhaps below the lithosphere. The possible plume size and ascent velocity necessary to supply deep mantle material to the upper mantle without complete thermal equilibration was considered. A plume emanating from a buoyant layer 100 km thick and 10,000 times less viscous than the surrounding mantle should have a diameter of about 400 km and must ascend at about 10 cm/yr to arrive still anomalously hot in the uppermost mantle.

Deep seismic structure and tectonics of northern Alaska: Crustal-scale duplexing with deformation extending into the upper mantle

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fuis, G.S.; Murphy, J.M.; Lutter, W.J.; Moore, Thomas E.; Bird, K.J.; Christensen, N.I.

1997-01-01

Seismic reflection and refraction and laboratory velocity data collected along a transect of northern Alaska (including the east edge of the Koyukuk basin, the Brooks Range, and the North Slope) yield a composite picture of the crustal and upper mantle structure of this Mesozoic and Cenozoic compressional orogen. The following observations are made: (1) Northern Alaska is underlain by nested tectonic wedges, most with northward vergence (i.e., with their tips pointed north). (2) High reflectivity throughout the crust above a basal decollement, which deepens southward from about 10 km depth beneath the northern front of the Brooks Range to about 30 km depth beneath the southern Brooks Range, is interpreted as structural complexity due to the presence of these tectonic wedges, or duplexes. (3) Low reflectivity throughout the crust below the decollement is interpreted as minimal deformation, which appears to involve chiefly bending of a relatively rigid plate consisting of the parautochthonous North Slope crust and a 10- to 15-km-thick section of mantle material. (4) This plate is interpreted as a southward verging tectonic wedge, with its tip in the lower crust or at the Moho beneath the southern Brooks Range. In this interpretation the middle and upper crust, or all of the crust, is detached in the southern Brooks Range by the tectonic wedge, or indentor: as a result, crust is uplifted and deformed above the wedge, and mantle is depressed and underthrust beneath this wedge. (5) Underthrusting has juxtaposed mantle of two different origins (and seismic velocities), giving rise to a prominent sub-Moho reflector. Copyright 1997 by the American Geophysical Union.

High-resolution seismic constraints on flow dynamics in the oceanic asthenosphere.

PubMed

Lin, Pei-Ying Patty; Gaherty, James B; Jin, Ge; Collins, John A; Lizarralde, Daniel; Evans, Rob L; Hirth, Greg

2016-07-28

Convective flow in the mantle and the motions of tectonic plates produce deformation of Earth's interior, and the rock fabric produced by this deformation can be discerned using the anisotropy of the seismic wave speed. This deformation is commonly inferred close to lithospheric boundaries beneath the ocean in the uppermost mantle, including near seafloor-spreading centres as new plates are formed via corner flow, and within a weak asthenosphere that lubricates large-scale plate-driven flow and accommodates smaller scale convection. Seismic models of oceanic upper mantle differ as to the relative importance of these deformation processes: seafloor spreading fabric is very strong just beneath the crust-mantle boundary (the Mohorovičić discontinuity, or Moho) at relatively local scales, but at the global and ocean-basin scales, oceanic lithosphere typically appears weakly anisotropic when compared to the asthenosphere. Here we use Rayleigh waves, recorded across an ocean-bottom seismograph array in the central Pacific Ocean (the NoMelt Experiment), to provide unique localized constraints on seismic anisotropy within the oceanic lithosphere-asthenosphere system in the middle of a plate. We find that azimuthal anisotropy is strongest within the high-seismic-velocity lid, with the fast direction coincident with seafloor spreading. A minimum in the magnitude of azimuthal anisotropy occurs within the middle of the seismic low-velocity zone, and then increases with depth below the weakest portion of the asthenosphere. At no depth does the fast direction correlate with the apparent plate motion. Our results suggest that the highest strain deformation in the shallow oceanic mantle occurs during corner flow at the ridge axis, and via pressure-driven or buoyancy-driven flow within the asthenosphere. Shear associated with motion of the plate over the underlying asthenosphere, if present, is weak compared to these other processes.

Lithospheric electrical structure of the middle Lhasa terrane in the south Tibetan plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Hongda; Jin, Sheng; Wei, Wenbo; Gao, Rui; Ye, Gaofeng; Zhang, Letian; Yin, Yaotian; Lu, Zhanwu

2018-04-01

The Lhasa terrane in southern Tibetan plateau is a huge tectono-magmatic belt and an important metallogenic belt. Its formation evolution process and mineralization are affected by the subduction of oceanic plate and subsequent continental collision. However, the evolution of Lhasa terrane has been a subject of much debate for a long time. The Lithospheric structure records the deep processes of the subduction of oceanic plate and continental collision. The magnetotelluric (MT) method can probe the sub-surface electrical conductivity, newly dense broadband and long period magnetotelluric data were collected along a south-north trending profile that across the Lhasa terrane at 88°-89°E. Dimensionality analyses demonstrated that the MT data can be interpreted using two-dimensional approaches, and the regional strike direction was determined as N110°E.Based on data analysis results, a two-dimensional (2-D) resistivity model of crust and upper mantle was derived from inversion of the transverse electric mode, transverse magnetic mode and vertical magnetic field data. Inversion model shows a large north-dipping resistor that extended from the upper crust to upper mantle beneath the Himalaya and the south of Lhasa Terrane, which may represent the subducting Indian continental lithosphere. The 31°N may be an important boundary in the Lhasa Terrane, the south performs a prominent high-conductivity anomaly from the lower crust to upper mantle which indicates the existence of asthenosphere upwelling, while the north performs a higher resistivity and may have a reworking ancient basement. The formation of the ore deposits in the study area may be related to the upwelling of the mantle material triggered by slab tearing and/or breaking off of the Indian lithosphere, and the mantle material input also contributed the total thickness of the present-day Tibetan crust. The results provide helpful constrains to understand the mechanism of the continent-continent collision and the regional exploratory prospect of the deep resources.

Plate interface rheological switches during subduction infancy: Control on slab penetration and metamorphic sole formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agard, P.; Yamato, P.; Soret, M.; Prigent, C.; Guillot, S.; Plunder, A.; Dubacq, B.; Chauvet, A.; Monié, P.

2016-10-01

Subduction infancy corresponds to the first few million years following subduction initiation, when slabs start their descent into the mantle. It coincides with the transient (yet systematic) transfer of material from the top of the slab to the upper plate, as witnessed by metamorphic soles welded beneath obducted ophiolites. Combining structure-lithology-pressure-temperature-time data from metamorphic soles with flow laws derived from experimental rock mechanics, this study highlights two main successive rheological switches across the subduction interface (mantle wedge vs. basalts, then mantle wedge vs. sediments; at ∼800 °C and ∼600 °C, respectively), during which interplate mechanical coupling is maximized by the existence of transiently similar rheologies across the plate contact. We propose that these rheological switches hinder slab penetration and are responsible for slicing the top of the slab and welding crustal pieces (high- then low-temperature metamorphic soles) to the base of the mantle wedge during subduction infancy. This mechanism has implications for the rheological properties of the crust and mantle (and for transient episodes of accretion/exhumation of HP-LT rocks in mature subduction systems) and highlights the role of fluids in enabling subduction to overcome the early resistance to slab penetration.

Understanding the geodynamic setting of São Miguel, Azores: A peculiar bit of mantle in the Central Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, M.; Houlie, N.; Khan, A.; Lithgow-Bertelloni, C. R.

2012-12-01

The Azores Plateau and Archipelago in the Central Atlantic Ocean has traditionally been considered as the surface expression of a deep mantle plume or hotspot that has interacted with a mid-ocean ridge. It is geodynamically associated with the triple junction between the North American, African and Eurasian plates. (Yang et al., 2006) used finite frequency seismic tomography to demonstrate the presence of a zone of low P-wave velocities (peak magnitude -1.5%) in the uppermost 200km of the mantle beneath the plateau. The tomographic model is consistent with SW deflection of a mantle plume by regional upper mantle shear flow driven by absolute plate motions. The volcanic island of Sao Miguel is located within the Terceira Rift, believed to represent the boundary between the African and Eurasian plates; magmatic activity has been characterised by abundant basaltic eruptions in the past 30,000 years. The basalts are distinctive within the spectrum of global ocean island basalts for their wide range in isotopic composition, particularly in 87Sr/86Sr. Their Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions show systematic variations from west to east across the island which can be interpreted in terms of melting of a two-component mantle source. The low melting point (enriched) component in the source has been attributed to recycled ancient (~3 Ga) oceanic crust(Elliott et al., 2007). Using the thermo-barometry approach of (Lee et al., 2009) we demonstrate that the pressure and temperature of magma generation below Sao Miguel increase from west (2 GPa, 1425 °C) to east (3.8 GPa, 1575 °C), consistent with partial melting along a mantle geotherm with a potential temperature of ~ 1500 °C. This is consistent with the magnitude of the thermal anomaly beneath the Azores Plateau (ΔT ~ 150-200 °C) inferred on the basis of the seismic tomography study. The site of primary magma generation extends from the base of the local lithosphere (~ 50 km) to ~ 125 km depth. To understand the geodynamic setting of the Sao Miguel magmatism we combine GPS data and mantle convection models with our interpretation of the geochemistry of the basalts. We demonstrate strong south-westerly and downward flow in the asthenospheric mantle above the Transition Zone (410 km seismic discontinuity), consistent with a zone of upper mantle shearing below the base of the lithosphere. The maximum flow velocity is broadly consistent with the depth of magma generation. The advection of the mantle with respect to the oceanic plate "moves" an isotopically distinct mantle source component beneath the active volcanoes of Sao Miguel and carries its previous melting residues to the south-west. We discuss the nature of this mantle source and its contribution to the mantle velocity anomalies determined by seismic tomography. This study opens-up new perspectives for seismic tomography and potentially new connections between the fields of geophysics and geochemistry in oceanic domains.

Topographic asymmetry of the South Atlantic from global models of mantle flow and lithospheric stretching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flament, Nicolas; Gurnis, Michael; Williams, Simon; Seton, Maria; Skogseid, Jakob; Heine, Christian; Dietmar Müller, R.

2014-02-01

The relief of the South Atlantic is characterized by elevated passive continental margins along southern Africa and eastern Brazil, and by the bathymetric asymmetry of the southern oceanic basin where the western flank is much deeper than the eastern flank. We investigate the origin of these topographic features in the present and over time since the Jurassic with a model of global mantle flow and lithospheric deformation. The model progressively assimilates plate kinematics, plate boundaries and lithospheric age derived from global tectonic reconstructions with deforming plates, and predicts the evolution of mantle temperature, continental crustal thickness, long-wavelength dynamic topography, and isostatic topography. Mantle viscosity and the kinematics of the opening of the South Atlantic are adjustable parameters in thirteen model cases. Model predictions are compared to observables both for the present-day and in the past. Present-day predictions are compared to topography, mantle tomography, and an estimate of residual topography. Predictions for the past are compared to tectonic subsidence from backstripped borehole data along the South American passive margin, and to dynamic uplift as constrained by thermochronology in southern Africa. Comparison between model predictions and observations suggests that the first-order features of the topography of the South Atlantic are due to long-wavelength dynamic topography, rather than to asthenospheric processes. The uplift of southern Africa is best reproduced with a lower mantle that is at least 40 times more viscous than the upper mantle.

Topographic asymmetry of the South Atlantic from global models of mantle flow and lithospheric stretching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flament, Nicolas; Gurnis, Michael; Williams, Simon; Seton, Maria; Skogseid, Jakob; Heine, Christian; Müller, Dietmar

2014-05-01

The relief of the South Atlantic is characterized by elevated passive continental margins along southern Africa and eastern Brazil, and by the bathymetric asymmetry of the southern oceanic basin where the western flank is much deeper than the eastern flank. We investigate the origin of these topographic features in the present and over time since the Jurassic with a model of global mantle flow and lithospheric deformation. The model progressively assimilates plate kinematics, plate boundaries and lithospheric age derived from global tectonic reconstructions with deforming plates, and predicts the evolution of mantle temperature, continental crustal thickness, long-wavelength dynamic topography, and isostatic topography. Mantle viscosity and the kinematics of the opening of the South Atlantic are adjustable parameters in multiple model cases. Model predictions are compared to observables both for the present-day and in the past. Present-day predictions are compared to topography, mantle tomography, and an estimate of residual topography. Predictions for the past are compared to tectonic subsidence from backstripped borehole data along the South American passive margin, and to dynamic uplift as constrained by thermochronology in southern Africa. Comparison between model predictions and observations suggests that the first-order features of the topography of the South Atlantic are due to long-wavelength dynamic topography, rather than to asthenospheric processes. We find the uplift of southern Africa to be best reproduced with a lower mantle that is at least 40 times more viscous than the upper mantle.

Early Earth slab stagnation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agrusta, R.; Van Hunen, J.

2016-12-01

At present day, the Earth's mantle exhibits a combination of stagnant and penetrating slabs within the transition zone, indicating a intermittent convection mode between layered and whole-mantle convection. Isoviscous thermal convection calculations show that in a hotter Earth, the natural mode of convection was dominated by double-layered convection, which may imply that slabs were more prone to stagnate in the transition zone. Today, slab penetration is to a large extent controlled by trench mobility for a plausible range of lower mantle viscosity and Clapeyron slope of the mantle phase transitions. Trench mobility is, in turn, governed by slab strength and density and upper plate forcing. In this study, we systematically investigate the slab-transition zone internation in the Early Earth, using 2D self-consistent numerical subduction models. Early Earth's higher mantle temperature facilitates decoupling between the plates and the underlying asthenosphere, and may result in slab sinking almost without trench retreat. Such behaviour together with a low resistance of a weak lower mantle may allow slabs to penetrate. The ability of slab to sink into the lower mantle throughout Earth's history may have important implications for Earth's evolution: it would provide efficient mass and heat flux through the transition zone therefore provide an efficient way to cool and mix the Earth's mantle.

Seismic tomography shows that upwelling beneath Iceland is confined to the upper mantle

USGS Publications Warehouse

Foulger, G.R.; Pritchard, M.J.; Julian, B.R.; Evans, J.R.; Allen, R.M.; Nolet, G.; Morgan, W.J.; Bergsson, B.H.; Erlendsson, P.; Jakobsdottir, S.; Ragnarsson, S.; Stefansson, R.; Vogfjord, K.

2001-01-01

We report the results of the highest-resolution teleseismic tomography study yet performed of the upper mantle beneath Iceland. The experiment used data gathered by the Iceland Hotspot Project, which operated a 35-station network of continuously recording, digital, broad-band seismometers over all of Iceland 1996-1998. The structure of the upper mantle was determined using the ACH damped least-squares method and involved 42 stations, 3159 P-wave, and 1338 S-wave arrival times, including the phases P, pP, sP, PP, SP, PcP, PKIKP, pPKIKP, S, sS, SS, SKS and Sdiff. Artefacts, both perceptual and parametric, were minimized by well-tested smoothing techniques involving layer thinning and offset-and-averaging. Resolution is good beneath most of Iceland from ??? 60 km depth to a maximum of ??? 450 km depth and beneath the Tjornes Fracture Zone and near-shore parts of the Reykjanes ridge. The results reveal a coherent, negative wave-speed anomaly with a diameter of 200-250 km and anomalies in P-wave speed, Vp, as strong as -2.7 per cent and in S-wave speed, Vs, as strong as -4.9 per cent. The anomaly extends from the surface to the limit of good resolution at ??? 450 km depth. In the upper ??? 250 km it is centred beneath the eastern part of the Middle Volcanic Zone, coincident with the centre of the ??? 100 mGal Bouguer gravity low over Iceland, and a lower crustal low-velocity zone identified by receiver functions. This is probably the true centre of the Iceland hotspot. In the upper ??? 200 km, the low-wave-speed body extends along the Reykjanes ridge but is sharply truncated beneath the Tjornes Fracture Zone. This suggests that material may flow unimpeded along the Reykjanes ridge from beneath Iceland but is blocked beneath the Tjornes Fracture Zone. The magnitudes of the Vp, Vs and Vp/Vs anomalies cannot be explained by elevated temperature alone, but favour a model of maximum temperature anomalies <200 K, along with up to ??? 2 per cent of partial melt in the depth range ??? 100-300 km beneath east-central Iceland. The anomalous body is approximately cylindrical in the top 250 km but tabular in shape at greater depth, elongated north-south and generally underlying the spreading plate boundary. Such a morphological change and its relationship to surface rift zones are predicted to occur in convective upwellings driven by basal heating, passive upwelling in response to plate separation and lateral temperature gradients. Although we cannot resolve structure deeper than ??? 450 km, and do not detect a bottom to the anomaly, these models suggest that it extends no deeper than the mantle transition zone. Such models thus suggest a shallow origin for the Iceland hotspot rather than a deep mantle plume, and imply that the hotspot has been located on the spreading ridge in the centre of the north Atlantic for its entire history, and is not fixed relative to other Atlantic hotspots. The results are consistent with recent, regional full-thickness mantle tomography and whole-mantle tomography images that show a strong, low-wave-speed anomaly beneath the Iceland region that is confined to the upper mantle and thus do not require a plume in the lower mantle. Seismic and geochemical observations that are interpreted as indicating a lower mantle, or core-mantle boundary origin for the North Atlantic Igneous Province and the Iceland hotspot should be re-examined to consider whether they are consistent with upper mantle processes.

Passive margins getting squeezed in the mantle convection vice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamato, Philippe; Husson, Laurent; Becker, Thorsten W.; Pedoja, Kevin

2014-05-01

Passive margins often exhibit uplift, exhumation and tectonic inversion. We speculate that the compression in the lithosphere gradually increased during the Cenozoic. In the same time, the many mountain belts at active margins that accompany this event seem readily witness this increase. However, how that compression increase affects passive margins remains unclear. In order to address this issue, we design a 2D viscous numerical model wherein a lithospheric plate rests above a weaker mantle. It is driven by a mantle conveyor belt, alternatively excited by a lateral downwelling on one side, an upwelling on the other side, or both simultaneously. The lateral edges of the plate are either free or fixed, representing the cases of free convergence, and collision or slab anchoring, respectively. This distinction changes the upper boundary condition for mantle circulation and, as a consequence, the stress field. Our results show that between these two regimes, the flow pattern transiently evolves from a free-slip convection mode towards a no-slip boundary condition above the upper mantle. In the second case, the lithosphere is highly stressed horizontally and deforms. For an equivalent bulk driving force, compression increases drastically at passive margins provided that upwellings are active. Conversely, if downwellings alone are activated, compression occurs at short distances from the trench and extension prevails elsewhere. These results are supported by Earth-like 3D spherical models that reveal the same pattern, where active upwellings are required to excite passive margins compression. These results support the idea that compression at passive margins, is the response to the underlying mantle flow, that is increasingly resisted by the Cenozoic collisions.

The Role of Oceanic Transform Faults in Seafloor Spreading: A Global Perspective From Seismic Anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eakin, Caroline M.; Rychert, Catherine A.; Harmon, Nicholas

2018-02-01

Mantle anisotropy beneath mid-ocean ridges and oceanic transforms is key to our understanding of seafloor spreading and underlying dynamics of divergent plate boundaries. Observations are sparse, however, given the remoteness of the oceans and the difficulties of seismic instrumentation. To overcome this, we utilize the global distribution of seismicity along transform faults to measure shear wave splitting of over 550 direct S phases recorded at 56 carefully selected seismic stations worldwide. Applying this source-side splitting technique allows for characterization of the upper mantle seismic anisotropy, and therefore the pattern of mantle flow, directly beneath seismically active transform faults. The majority of the results (60%) return nulls (no splitting), while the non-null measurements display clear azimuthal dependency. This is best simply explained by anisotropy with a near vertical symmetry axis, consistent with mantle upwelling beneath oceanic transforms as suggested by numerical models. It appears therefore that the long-term stability of seafloor spreading may be associated with widespread mantle upwelling beneath the transforms creating warm and weak faults that localize strain to the plate boundary.

The shear-wave splitting in the crust and the upper mantle around the Bohai Sea, North China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yutao, Shi; Yuan, Gao; Lingxue, Tai; Yuanyuan, Fu

2015-11-01

In order to infer the distribution of local stress and the deep geodynamic process in North China, this study detects seismic anisotropy in the crust and upper mantle beneath the Bohai Sea area. A total of 535 local shear-wave and 721 XKS (including SKS, PKS and SKKS phases) splitting measurements were obtained from stations in permanent regional seismograph networks and a temporary seismic network called ZBnet-E. The dominant fast polarization orientation of local shear-waves in the crust is nearly East-West, suggesting an East-West direction of local maximum compressive stress in the area. Nearly North-South fast orientation was obtained at some stations in the Tan-Lu fault belt and the Zhang-Bo seismic belt. The average fast orientation from XKS splitting analysis is 87.4° measured clockwise from the North. The average time-delays of XKS splitting are range from 0.54 s to 1.92 s, corresponding to a 60-210 km thick layer of anisotropy. The measured results indicate that upper mantle anisotropy beneath Bohai Sea area, even the eastern part of North China, is mainly from asthenospheric mantle flow from the subduction of the Pacific plate. From the complicated anisotropic characteristics in this study, we infer that there might be multiple mechanisms in the crust and upper mantle around the Bohai Sea area that led to the observed anisotropy.

Upper Mantle Discontinuity Structure Beneath the Western Atlantic Ocean and Eastern North America from SS Precursors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmerr, N. C.; Beghein, C.; Kostic, D.; Baldridge, A. M.; West, J. D.; Nittler, L. R.; Bull, A. L.; Montesi, L.; Byrne, P. K.; Hummer, D. R.; Plescia, J. B.; Elkins-Tanton, L. T.; Lekic, V.; Schmidt, B. E.; Elkins, L. J.; Cooper, C. M.; ten Kate, I. L.; Van Hinsbergen, D. J. J.; Parai, R.; Glass, J. B.; Ni, J.; Fuji, N.; McCubbin, F. M.; Michalski, J. R.; Zhao, C.; Arevalo, R. D., Jr.; Koelemeijer, P.; Courtier, A. M.; Dalton, H.; Waszek, L.; Bahamonde, J.; Schmerr, B.; Gilpin, N.; Rosenshein, E.; Mach, K.; Ostrach, L. R.; Caracas, R.; Craddock, R. A.; Moore-Driskell, M. M.; Du Frane, W. L.; Kellogg, L. H.

2015-12-01

Seismic discontinuities within the mantle arise from a wide range of mechanisms, including changes in mineralogy, major element composition, melt content, volatile abundance, anisotropy, or a combination of the above. In particular, the depth and sharpness of upper mantle discontinuities at 410 and 660 km depth are attributed to solid-state phase changes sensitive to both mantle temperature and composition, where regions of thermal heterogeneity produce topography and chemical heterogeneity changes the impedance contrast across the discontinuity. Seismic mapping of this topography and sharpness thus provides constraint on the thermal and compositional state of the mantle. The EarthScope USArray is providing unprecedented access to a wide variety of new regions previously undersampled by the SS precursors. This includes the boundary between the oceanic plate in the western Atlantic Ocean and continental margin of eastern North America. Here we use a seismic array approach to image the depth, sharpness, and topography of the upper mantle discontinuities, as well as other possible upper mantle reflectors beneath this region. This array approach utilizes seismic waves that reflect off the underside of a mantle discontinuity and arrive several hundred seconds prior to the SS seismic phase as precursory energy. In this study, we collected high-quality broadband data SS precursors data from shallow focus (< 30 km deep), mid-Atlantic ridge earthquakes recorded by USArray seismometers in Alaska. We generated 4th root vespagrams to enhance the SS precursors and determine how they sample the mantle. Our data show detection of localized structure on the discontinuity boundaries as well as additional horizons, such as the X-discontinuity and a potential reflection from a discontinuity near the depth of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. These structures are related to the transition from predominantly old ocean lithosphere to underlying continental lithosphere, as while deeper reflectors are associated with the subduction of the ancient Farallon slab. A comparison of the depth of upper mantle discontinuities to changes in seismic velocity and anisotropy will further quantify the relationship to mantle flow, compositional layering, and phases changes.

Bulldozing of Basal Continental Mantle Lithosphere During Flat-Slab Subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Axen, G. J.; van Wijk, J.; Currie, C. A.

2017-12-01

Flat-slab subduction occurs along 10% of subduction margins, forming magmatic gaps and causing inland migration of upper-plate deformation. We suggest that basal continental mantle lithosphere (CML) can be bulldozed ahead of the flat portion of horizontally-subducted oceanic lithosphere, forming a growing and advancing keel of thickened CML. This process fills the asthenospheric mantle wedge with CML, precluding melting. The bulldozed CML keel may transmit tectonic stresses ahead of the flat slab itself, causing upper-plate deformation ahead of the slab hinge. We designed 2-D numerical models after the North American Laramide orogeny, with subduction of a thick, buoyant oceanic plateau (conjugate Shatsky Rise) and with the continent advancing trenchward over the initial slab hinge. This results in slab-flattening, and removal of CML material. In our models, the thickness of the CML layer removed by this process depends on overriding plate rheology and is up to 25 km. The removed material is bulldozed ahead of the hinge and may fill up the asthenospheric wedge. Low-density (depleted) CML favors formation of bulldozed keels, which increase in width as CML strength decreases. Regular-density and/or stronger CML forms smaller bulldozed keels that are more likely to sink with the slab as eclogitization and densification proceed. When the flat slab rolls back, it leaves a step in the CML at the farthest extent of the slab. Relics of this step may remain below North America or may have dripped off. We interpret an upper-mantle fast-velocity anomaly below SE New Mexico and W Texas as a drip/keel, and the step in lithosphere thickness in southwestern Colorado as a fossil step, caused by the removal of the CML layer. Our model predicts that the Laramide bulldozed CML keel may have aided in stress transmission that caused basement uplifts as far as NE Wyoming and subsurface folds even farther N and E. Modern examples may exist in South American flat slab segments.

Adjoint tomography of Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, H.; Bozdag, E.; Peter, D. B.; Tromp, J.

2010-12-01

We use spectral-element and adjoint methods to image crustal and upper mantle heterogeneity in Europe. The study area involves the convergent boundaries of the Eurasian, African and Arabian plates and the divergent boundary between the Eurasian and North American plates, making the tectonic structure of this region complex. Our goal is to iteratively fit observed seismograms and improve crustal and upper mantle images by taking advantage of 3D forward and inverse modeling techniques. We use data from 200 earthquakes with magnitudes between 5 and 6 recorded by 262 stations provided by ORFEUS. Crustal model Crust2.0 combined with mantle model S362ANI comprise the initial 3D model. Before the iterative adjoint inversion, we determine earthquake source parameters in the initial 3D model by using 3D Green functions and their Fréchet derivatives with respect to the source parameters (i.e., centroid moment tensor and location). The updated catalog is used in the subsequent structural inversion. Since we concentrate on upper mantle structures which involve anisotropy, transversely isotropic (frequency-dependent) traveltime sensitivity kernels are used in the iterative inversion. Taking advantage of the adjoint method, we use as many measurements as can obtain based on comparisons between observed and synthetic seismograms. FLEXWIN (Maggi et al., 2009) is used to automatically select measurement windows which are analyzed based on a multitaper technique. The bandpass ranges from 15 second to 150 second. Long-period surface waves and short-period body waves are combined in source relocations and structural inversions. A statistical assessments of traveltime anomalies and logarithmic waveform differences is used to characterize the inverted sources and structure.

Quantifying mantle structure and dynamics using plume tracing in seismic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Farrell, K. A.; Eakin, C. M.; Jackson, M. G.; Jones, T. D.; Lekic, V.; Lithgow-Bertelloni, C. R.

2017-12-01

Directly linking deep mantle processes with surface features and dynamics is a complex problem. Hotspot volcanism gives us surface observables of mantle signatures, but the depth and source of the mantle plumes feeding these hotspots are highly debated. To address these issues, it is necessary to consider the entire journey of a plume through the mantle. By analyzing the behavior of mantle plumes we can constrain the vigor of mantle convection, the net rotation of the mantle and the role of thermal versus chemical anomalies as well as the bulk physical properties such as the viscosity profile. To do this, we developed a new algorithm to trace plume-like features in shear-wave (Vs) seismic tomography models based on picking local minima in the velocity and searching for continuous features with depth. We applied this method to recent tomographic models and find 60+ continuous plume conduits that are > 750 km long. Approximately a third of these can be associated with known hotspots at the surface. We analyze the morphology of these continuous conduits and infer large scale mantle flow patterns and properties. We find the largest lateral deflections in the conduits occur near the base of the lower mantle and in the upper mantle (near the thermal boundary layers). The preferred orientation of the plume deflections show large variability at all depths and indicate no net mantle rotation. Plate by plate analysis shows little agreement in deflection below particular plates, indicating these deflected features might be long lived and not caused by plate shearing. Changes in the gradient of plume deflection are inferred to correspond with viscosity contrasts in the mantle and found below the transition zone as well as at 1000 km depth. From this inferred viscosity structure, we explore the dynamics of a plume through these viscosity jumps. We also retrieve the Vs profiles for the conduits and compare with the velocity profiles predicted for different mantle adiabat temperatures. We are able to constrain the average temperature anomaly of the conduits to be around 150 K. We use these thermal anomalies in conjunction with our measured plume tilts/deflections to further explore the dynamics of plume conduits in the lower mantle and transition zone.

Seismic Migration Imaging of the Crust and Upper Mantle Discontinuity Structure beneath Southern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.-S.; Kuo, B.-Y.

2009-04-01

Taiwan is located in the convergent plate boundary zone where the Philippine Sea plate has obliquely collided on the Asian continental margin, initiating the arc-continent collision and subsequent mountain-building in Taiwan. Receiver function has been a powerful tool to image seismic velocity discontinuity structure in the crust and upper mantle which can help illuminate the deep dynamic process of active Taiwan orogeny. In this study, we adopt backprojection migration processing of teleseismic receiver functions to investigate the crust and upper mantle discontinuities beneath southern Taiwan, using the data from Southern Taiwan Transect Seismic Array (STTA), broadband stations of Central Weather Bureau (CWB), Broadband Array in Taiwan for Seismology (BATS), and Taiwan Integrated Geodynamics Research (TAIGER). This composite east-west trending linear array has the aperture of about 150 km with the station spacing of ~5-10 km. Superior to the common midpoint (CMP) stack approach, the migration can properly image the dipping, curved, or laterally-varying topography of discontinuous interfaces which very likely exist under the complicated tectonic setting of Taiwan. We first conduct synthetic experiments to test the depth and lateral resolution of migration images based on the WKBJ synthetic waveforms calculated from available source and receiver distributions. We will next construct the 2-D migration image under the array to reveal the topographic variation of the Moho and lithosphere discontinuities beneath southern Taiwan.

Modelling the interplate domain in thermo-mechanical simulations of subduction: Critical effects of resolution and rheology, and consequences on wet mantle melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arcay, Diane

2017-08-01

The present study aims at better deciphering the different mechanisms involved in the functioning of the subduction interplate. A 2D thermo-mechanical model is used to simulate a subduction channel, made of oceanic crust, free to evolve. Convergence at constant rate is imposed under a 100 km thick upper plate. Pseudo-brittle and non-Newtonian behaviours are modelled. The influence of the subduction channel strength, parameterized by the difference in activation energy between crust and mantle (ΔEa) is investigated to examine in detail the variations in depth of the subduction plane down-dip extent, zcoup . First, simulations show that numerical resolution may be responsible for an artificial and significant shallowing of zcoup if the weak crustal layer is not correctly resolved. Second, if the age of the subducting plate is 100 Myr, subduction occurs for any ΔEa . The stiffer the crust is, that is, the lower ΔEa is, the shallower zcoup is (60 km depth if ΔEa = 20 kJ/mol) and the hotter the fore-arc base is. Conversely, imposing a very weak subduction channel (ΔEa > 135 J/mol) leads there to an extreme mantle wedge cooling and inhibits mantle melting in wet conditions. Partial kinematic coupling at the fore-arc base occurs if ΔEa = 145 kJ/mol. If the incoming plate is 20 Myr old, subduction can occur under the conditions that the crust is either stiff and denser than the mantle, or weak and buoyant. In the latter condition, cold crust plumes rise from the subduction channel and ascend through the upper lithosphere, triggering (1) partial kinematic coupling under the fore-arc, (2) fore-arc lithosphere cooling, and (3) partial or complete hindrance of wet mantle melting. zcoup then ranges from 50 to more than 250 km depth and is time-dependent if crust plumes form. Finally, subduction plane dynamics is intimately linked to the regime of subduction-induced corner flow. Two different intervals of ΔEa are underlined: 80-120 kJ/mol to reproduce the range of slab surface temperature inferred from geothermometry, and 10-40 kJ/mol to reproduce the shallow hot mantle wedge core inferred from conditions of last equilibration of near-primary arc magmas and seismic tomographies. Therefore, an extra process controlling mantle wedge dynamics is needed to satisfy simultaneously the aforementioned observations. A mantle viscosity reduction, by a factor 4-20, caused by metasomatism in the mantle wedge is proposed. From these results, I conclude that the subduction channel down-dip extent, zcoup , should depend on the subduction setting, to be consistent with the observed variability of sub-arc depths of the subducting plate surface.

Geoid, topography, and convection-driven crustal deformation on Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, Mark; Hager, Bradford H.; Solomon, Sean C.

1992-01-01

High-resolution Magellan images and altimetry of Venus reveal a wide range of styles and scales of surface deformation that cannot readily be explained within the classical terrestrial plate tectonic paradigm. The high correlation of long-wavelength topography and gravity and the large apparent depths of compensation suggest that Venus lacks an upper-mantle low-viscosity zone. A key difference between Earth and Venus may be the degree of coupling between the convecting mantle and the overlying lithosphere. Mantle flow should then have recognizable signatures in the relationships between surface topography, crustal deformation, and the observed gravity field.

Formation and tectonic evolution of the Cretaceous Jurassic Muslim Bagh ophiolitic complex, Pakistan: Implications for the composite tectonic setting of ophiolites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Mehrab; Kerr, Andrew C.; Mahmood, Khalid

2007-10-01

The Muslim Bagh ophiolitic complex Balochistan, Pakistan is comprised of an upper and lower nappe and represents one of a number of ophiolites in this region which mark the boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates. These ophiolites were obducted onto the Indian continental margin around the Late Cretaceous, prior to the main collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. The upper nappe contains mantle sequence rocks with numerous isolated gabbro plutons which we show are fed by dolerite dykes. Each pluton has a transitional dunite-rich zone at its base, and new geochemical data suggest a similar mantle source region for both the plutons and dykes. In contrast, the lower nappe consists of pillow basalts, deep-marine sediments and a mélange of ophiolitic rocks. The rocks of the upper nappe have a geochemical signature consistent with formation in an island arc environment whereas the basalts of the lower nappe contain no subduction component and are most likely to have formed at a mid-ocean ridge. The basalts and sediments of the lower nappe have been intruded by oceanic alkaline igneous rocks during the northward drift of the Indian plate. The two nappes of the Muslim Bagh ophiolitic complex are thus distinctively different in terms of their age, lithology and tectonic setting. The recognition of composite ophiolites such as this has an important bearing on the identification and interpretation of ophiolites where the plate tectonic setting is less well resolved.

Deep and persistent melt layer in the Archaean mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrault, Denis; Pesce, Giacomo; Manthilake, Geeth; Monteux, Julien; Bolfan-Casanova, Nathalie; Chantel, Julien; Novella, Davide; Guignot, Nicolas; King, Andrew; Itié, Jean-Paul; Hennet, Louis

2018-02-01

The transition from the Archaean to the Proterozoic eon ended a period of great instability at the Earth's surface. The origin of this transition could be a change in the dynamic regime of the Earth's interior. Here we use laboratory experiments to investigate the solidus of samples representative of the Archaean upper mantle. Our two complementary in situ measurements of the melting curve reveal a solidus that is 200-250 K lower than previously reported at depths higher than about 100 km. Such a lower solidus temperature makes partial melting today easier than previously thought, particularly in the presence of volatiles (H2O and CO2). A lower solidus could also account for the early high production of melts such as komatiites. For an Archaean mantle that was 200-300 K hotter than today, significant melting is expected at depths from 100-150 km to more than 400 km. Thus, a persistent layer of melt may have existed in the Archaean upper mantle. This shell of molten material may have progressively disappeared because of secular cooling of the mantle. Crystallization would have increased the upper mantle viscosity and could have enhanced mechanical coupling between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere. Such a change might explain the transition from surface dynamics dominated by a stagnant lid on the early Earth to modern-like plate tectonics with deep slab subduction.

Models of earth structure inferred from neodymium and strontium isotopic abundances

PubMed Central

Wasserburg, G. J.; DePaolo, D. J.

1979-01-01

A simplified model of earth structure based on the Nd and Sr isotopic characteristics of oceanic and continental tholeiitic flood basalts is presented, taking into account the motion of crustal plates and a chemical balance for trace elements. The resulting structure that is inferred consists of a lower mantle that is still essentially undifferentiated, overlain by an upper mantle that is the residue of the original source from which the continents were derived. PMID:16592688

Incipient mantle delamination, active tectonics and crustal thickening in Northern Morocco: Insights from gravity data and numerical modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baratin, Laura-May; Mazzotti, Stéphane; Chéry, Jean; Vernant, Philippe; Tahayt, Abdelilah; Mourabit, Taoufik

2016-11-01

The Betic-Rif orocline surrounding the Alboran Sea, the westernmost tip of the Mediterranean Sea, accommodates the NW-SE convergence between the Nubia and Eurasia plates. Recent GPS observations indicate a ∼4 mm/yr SW motion of the Rif Mountains, relative to stable Nubia, incompatible with a simple two-plate model. New gravity data acquired in this study define a pronounced negative Bouguer anomaly south of the Rif, interpreted as a ∼40 km-thick crust in a state of non-isostatic equilibrium. We study the correlation between these present-day kinematic and geodynamic processes using a finite-element code to model in 2-D the first-order behavior of a lithosphere affected by a downward normal traction (representing the pull of a high-density body in the upper mantle). We show that intermediate viscosities for the lower crust and uppermost mantle (1021-1022Pas) allow an efficient coupling between the mantle and the base of the brittle crust, thus enabling (1) the conversion of vertical movement, resulting from the downward traction, to horizontal movement and (2) shortening in the brittle upper crust. Our results show that incipient delamination of the Nubian continental lithosphere, linked to slab pull, can explain the present-day abnormal tectonics, contribute to the gravity anomaly observed in northern Morocco, and give insight into recent tectonics in the Western Mediterranean region.

The interpretation of crustal dynamics data in terms of plate motions and regional deformation near plate boundaries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soloman, Sean C.

1991-01-01

The focus was in two broad areas during the most recent 6-month period: (1) the nature and dynamics of time dependent deformation and stress along major seismic zones; and (2) the nature of long-wavelength oceanic geoid anomalies in terms of lateral variations in upper mantle temperature and composition. The principle findings are described in the accompanying appendices.

Imaging the deep structures of the convergent plates along the Ecuadorian subduction zone through receiver function analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galve, A.; Charvis, P.; Regnier, M. M.; Font, Y.; Nocquet, J. M.; Segovia, M.

2017-12-01

The Ecuadorian subduction zone was affected by several large M>7.5 earthquakes. While we have low resolution on the 1942, 1958 earthquakes rupture zones extension, the 2016 Pedernales earthquake, that occurs at the same location than the 1942 earthquake, give strong constraints on the deep limit of the seismogenic zone. This downdip limit is caused by the onset of plasticity at a critical temperature (> 350-450 °C for crustal materials, or serpentinized mantle wedge, and eventually > 700 °C for dry mantle). However we still don't know exactly where is the upper plate Moho and therefore what controls the downdip limit of Ecuadorian large earthquakes seismogenic zone. For several years Géoazur and IG-EPN have maintained permanent and temporary networks (ADN and JUAN projects) along the margin to register the subduction zone seismological activity. Although Ecuador is not a good place to perform receiver function due to its position with respect to the worldwide teleseismic sources, the very long time deployment compensate this issue. We performed a frequency dependent receiver function analysis to derive (1) the thickness of the downgoing plate, (2) the interplate depth and (3) the upper plate Moho. These constraints give the frame to interpretation on the seismogenic zone of the 2016 Pedernales earthquake.

Initiation of the Pyrenean plate boundary fault and its effect on the near- and far-field deformation of the European plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dielforder, Armin; Frasca, Gianluca; Ford, Mary

2017-04-01

The European plate was affected by contractional deformation events in Late Cretaceous time. This is recorded by inception of thrusting and foreland basin subsidence in the Pyrenean realm, and inversion of Mesozoic rift systems in the interior of the European plate. It is widely accepted that the plate-wide deformation resulted from the onset of NE-directed convergence of Africa-Iberia relative to Europe, and a strong mechanical coupling of the plates, which allowed the transfer of stresses far into Europe. Geological data from both the Pyrenean orogen and the interior of the European plate indicate, however, that these conditions persisted only for 15-20 Myr and that Europe experienced a plate-wide stress relaxation during Paleocene time. Although a slow down in plate convergence between Africa and Europe and North Atlantic continental rifting were proposed as potential causes for the stress relaxation, the subject has remained controversial. In particular, none of the mechanisms seem to be suitable to explain the required changes in the mechanical coupling of Iberian and European plates and the associated stress transfer. Here we propose a new model for the Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene tectonic evolution of the European plate, which takes the temporal evolution of the Pyrenean plate boundary fault into account. Based on plate reconstructions, geological field-data, and restored cross-sections we argue that the plate boundary fault initiated during the Upper Cretaceous within the exhumed mantle domain situated between the rifted margins of the Iberian and European plates. At the transition from the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene, the mantle domain was closed and the rifted margins collided. This evolution was associated with a substantial change in the fault rheology leading to an overall decrease in the plate coupling force. During Paleocene time, the plate coupling force was efficiently balanced by the gravitational push of the European plate, leading to a near neutral stress state in the upper plate and the observed plate-wide stress relaxation in Europe. This study is part of the Orogen research program and conducted in close collaboration with the BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières), the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), and Total.

Is subduction really in the plate tectonics driving seat, or do two other global mechanisms do the driving? A review in the 'deep-keeled cratons' frame for global dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmaston, M. F.

2012-04-01

Introduction. The title poses a question very like that of my talk in 2003 [1], concluding then that, as a driver, subduction comes 'a doubtful third'. My purpose here is to show that subsequent developments now cause even that limited status to be denied it with great assurance, except in a rare situation, of which there is no current example. The key point is that studies of subduction have been importantly mistaken as to the nature of the plate arriving for subduction. Deep-keeled cratons? The 'deep-keeled cratons' frame for global dynamics [2 - 5] is the result of seeking Earth-behaviour guidance on the following outside-the-box proposition:- "If cratons have tectospheric keels that reach or approach the 660 km discontinuity, AND the 660 level is an effective barrier to mantle circulation, then obviously (i) when two cratons separate, the upper mantle to put under the nascent ocean must arrive by a circuitous route and, conversely, (ii) if they approach one another, the mantle volume that was in between them must get extruded sideways." Remarkably it has turned out [2 - 5] that Earth dynamical behaviour for at least the past 150 Ma provides persuasive affirmation of both these expectations and that the explanation for the otherwise-unexpected immobility of subcratonic material to such depths is a petrological one which is also applicable to the behaviour of LVZ mantle below MORs [6 - 8]. Straight away this result has major consequences for the character of the plate arriving for subduction. First, to construct them, we need a 'thick-plate' (>100km?) model of the MOR process which recognizes that this LVZ immobility renders invalid the existing concept of divergent mantle flow below MORs. I show that my now not-so-new model [1, 8 - 10], based on a deep, narrrow, wall-accreting sub-axis crack, possesses outstandingly relevant properties, even appropriately dependent on spreading rate. Second, the oceanic plate arriving for subduction is no longer just the cooled mantle boundary layer habitually assumed, but its LVZ content gives it (i) residual heat content, (ii) corresponding buoyancy, and (iii) a flexural strength which demands a reconsideration of its mode of downbend, hitherto widely regarded as flexural, but still be able to explain outer rises and their differences. Solutions for (ii) and (iii) are convincingly supported by widespread exposure of the resulting rocks in the Alps, telling us how they and other UHP metamorphic mountain belts have been built [11]. I will illustrate the essential points. In particular, the buoyancy (ii) provides the upward mechanical contact essential for the shallow basal subduction tectonic erosion of the upper plate as preparation of thin imbricate crustal slices to subduct to UHP. And a seismologically supported through-plate step-faulting mode of downbend copes with the flexure problem (iii) and provides the tectonic erosion mechanism. In tackling these matters, important intrinsic properties of the materials are, notably:- (1) the thermal conductivity of non-migrating interstitial melt is >20 times less than its parent rock, so the LVZ heat is effectively trapped during the plate's journey across the ocean, only to be released when subduction raises the pressure and the melt freezes; (2) the garnet-to-spinel peridotite phase change, typically at 50 to 90 km depth, gives some 50 times more volume change per joule than pure expansivity, and it does so with the big force of solid-state recrystallization. This force is the crack-wall push-apart force provided by our thick-plate MOR model, which thereby develops at least an order more ridge push than the divergent flow model. We now consider the post-downbend evolution of the subducting plate, recognizing both the heat content of its ex-LVZ material and that, within the 2-layer mantle picture established by the plate dynamics of 'deep-keeled cratons' [2 - 5], there is no substantial mantle transport across the 660 km level. Examination of tomographic transects shows at once that in by far the majority of cases, the 'slab' signature begins to fade at some depth in the 180 - 350 km interval, but that a second high-Vp signature begins near 400 km and may continue far into the lower mantle. The fading, whose onset depth varies both with the age of the plate and with the subduction rate, is clearly due, not to slab drop-off, but to reheating of the slab component by its underlying ex-LVZ heat. In either case, reheating or drop-off, this invalidates slab pull as a reliable item in the tectonics toolkit. Instead, there is a thick-plate mechanism to provide back-arc opening in the presence of ridge-push [3, 11]. Slab-reheating may proceed to the stage of partially melting the interface oceanic crust. On experimental evidence, this will, at TZ depth, produce high-density, high-Vp stishovitic residues, lumps of which I see as causing the second high-Vp signature, as they shower through the 660 into the lower mantle. This interpretation escapes the slab-view paradox that the world's longest-lived young-plate subduction zone also has the world's biggest high-Vp signature in the lower mantle, whereas Izu-Bonin, subducting very old plate, has one of the smallest. Young-plate heat would surely melt more of the interface crust and generate more of the high-density residue. The early Proterozoic date at which this mantle layout replaced whole-mantle overturn is well shown by the behaviour of the mantle depletion index, epsilon Nd. At this point I conclude unhesitatingly that subduction is neither the, nor even one of the drivers of current plate motions, but is primarily driven by the powerful ridge-push from the thick-plate version of the MOR process. That push is what compresses the ocean plate if step-faulting at the downbend has temporarily locked subduction ('seismic coupling'), with the potential to release the energy for an M9 earthquake. But our system is dynamically incomplete. Ridge push cannot split a continent, so how does that occur? My original proposal [1] for that function was the long-term clockwise rotation of Antarctica and its coupling to the other plates. In another contribution at this meeting [12] the observational basis for its reality is now shown to be very strong. So the conclusion is that plate tectonics has only two primary drivers - this rotation and ridge push - subduction being a wholly passive consequence. [1] Osmaston M. F. (2003) What drives plate tectonics? Slab pull, ridge push or geomagnetic torque from the CMB? A new look at the old players vis-a-vis an exciting new one. XXIII IUGG, B129, Abstr. 016795-2. [2] Osmaston M. (2005) Interrelationships between large-scale plate motions as indicators of mantle structure: new constraints on mantle modelling and compositional layout. In 3rd Workshop on "Earth's mantle composition, structure and phase transitions". http://deep.earth.free.fr/participants.php. [3] Osmaston M. F. (2006) Global tectonic actions emanating from Arctic opening in the circumstances of a two-layer mantle and a thick-plate paradigm involving deep cratonic tectospheres: the Eurekan (Eocene) compressive motion of Greenland and other examples. In Proc. ICAM IV, 2003 (ed. R. Scott & D. Thurston). OCS Study MMS 2006-003, pp.105-124: Also at ; http://www.mms.gov/alaska/icam. [4] Osmaston M. F. (2007) Cratonic keels and a two-layer mantle tested: mantle expulsion during Arabia-Russia closure linked to westward enlargement of the Black Sea, formation of the Western Alps and subduction of the Tyrrhenian (not the Ionian) Sea. XXIV IUGG, Session JSS 011 Abstr #2105, http://www.iugg2007perugia.it/webbook/. [5] Osmaston M. F. (2009) Deep cratonic keels and a 2-layer mantle? Tectonic basis for some far-reaching new insights on the dynamical properties of the Earth's mantle: example motions from Mediterranean, Atlantic-Arctic and India. Geophys. Res.Abstr 11, EGU2009-6359 (Solicited). [6] Karato S. (1986) Does partial melting reduce the creep strength of the upper mantle? Nature 319, 309-310. [7] Hirth G. & Kohlstedt D. L. (1996) Water in the oceanic upper mantle: implication for rheology, melt extraction, and the evolution of the lithosphere. EPSL 144, 93-108. [8] Osmaston M. F. (2010) On the actual variety of plate dynamical mechanisms and how mantle evolution affected them through time, from core formation to the Indian collision. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 12, EGU2010-6101. [9] Osmaston M. F. (1995) A straightness mechanism for MORs: a new view of ocean plate genesis and evolution XXI IUGG, Abstracts p. A472. [10] Osmaston M. (2005) The ridge push mechanism of MORs as the agent of seismic coupling, tsunami, convergence partitioning and landward thrusting at subduction zones; insights on an interactive family of mostly-jerky mechanisms. IASPEI 2005 Gen. Assy, Santiago, Chile, Abstr. No 303. [11] Osmaston M. F. (2008) Basal subduction tectonic erosion (STE), butter mélanges and the construction and exhumation of HP-UHP belts: the Alps example and some comparisons. Internat. Geol. Rev. 50(8), 685-754 DOI: 10.2747/00206814.50.8.685. [12] Osmaston M. F. (2012) Did clockwise rotation of Antarctica cause the break-up of Gondwanaland? An investigation in the 'deep-keeled cratons' frame for global dynamics. GD6.1. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 14, EGU2012-2170.

Seismic tomographic imaging of P- and S-waves velocity perturbations in the upper mantle beneath Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alinaghi, Alireza; Koulakov, Ivan; Thybo, Hans

2007-06-01

The inverse tomography method has been used to study the P- and S-waves velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle underneath Iran. The method, based on the principle of source-receiver reciprocity, allows for tomographic studies of regions with sparse distribution of seismic stations if the region has sufficient seismicity. The arrival times of body waves from earthquakes in the study area as reported in the ISC catalogue (1964-1996) at all available epicentral distances are used for calculation of residual arrival times. Prior to inversion we have relocated hypocentres based on a 1-D spherical earth's model taking into account variable crustal thickness and surface topography. During the inversion seismic sources are further relocated simultaneously with the calculation of velocity perturbations. With a series of synthetic tests we demonstrate the power of the algorithm and the data to reconstruct introduced anomalies using the ray paths of the real data set and taking into account the measurement errors and outliers. The velocity anomalies show that the crust and upper mantle beneath the Iranian Plateau comprises a low velocity domain between the Arabian Plate and the Caspian Block. This is in agreement with global tomographic models, and also tectonic models, in which active Iranian plateau is trapped between the stable Turan plate in the north and the Arabian shield in the south. Our results show clear evidence of the mainly aseismic subduction of the oceanic crust of the Oman Sea underneath the Iranian Plateau. However, along the Zagros suture zone, the subduction pattern is more complex than at Makran where the collision of the two plates is highly seismic.

Upper mantle seismic anisotropy beneath the West Antarctic Rift System and surrounding region from shear wave splitting analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Accardo, Natalie J.; Wiens, Douglas A.; Hernandez, Stephen; Aster, Richard C.; Nyblade, Andrew; Huerta, Audrey; Anandakrishnan, Sridhar; Wilson, Terry; Heeszel, David S.; Dalziel, Ian W. D.

2014-07-01

We constrain azimuthal anisotropy in the West Antarctic upper mantle using shear wave splitting parameters obtained from teleseismic SKS, SKKS and PKS phases recorded at 37 broad-band seismometres deployed by the POLENET/ANET project. We use an eigenvalue technique to linearize the rotated and shifted shear wave horizontal particle motions and determine the fast direction and delay time for each arrival. High-quality measurements are stacked to determine the best fitting splitting parameters for each station. Overall, fast anisotropic directions are oriented at large angles to the direction of Antarctic absolute plate motion in both hotspot and no-net-rotation frameworks, showing that the anisotropy does not result from shear due to plate motion over the mantle. Further, the West Antarctic directions are substantially different from those of East Antarctica, indicating that anisotropy across the continent reflects multiple mantle regimes. We suggest that the observed anisotropy along the central Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) and adjacent West Antarctic Rift System (WARS), one of the largest zones of extended continental crust on Earth, results from asthenospheric mantle strain associated with the final pulse of western WARS extension in the late Miocene. Strong and consistent anisotropy throughout the WARS indicate fast axes subparallel to the inferred extension direction, a result unlike reports from the East African rift system and rifts within the Basin and Range, which show much greater variation. We contend that ductile shearing rather than magmatic intrusion may have been the controlling mechanism for accumulation and retention of such coherent, widespread anisotropic fabric. Splitting beneath the Marie Byrd Land Dome (MBL) is weaker than that observed elsewhere within the WARS, but shows a consistent fast direction, possibly representative of anisotropy that has been `frozen-in' to remnant thicker lithosphere. Fast directions observed inland from the Amundsen Sea appear to be radial to the dome and may indicate radial horizontal mantle flow associated with an MBL plume head and low upper mantle velocities in this region, or alternatively to lithospheric features associated with the complex Cenozoic tectonics at the far-eastern end of the WARS.

Diverse continental subduction scenarios along the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaban, M. K.; Petrunin, A.; El Khrepy, S.; Al-Arifi, N. S.

2017-12-01

The Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone is one of the largest and most active on the Earth. It has been discussed already long ago that the convergence of these plates implies subduction of the lithosphere. However, scenarios of this process are still debatable. Even direction of the present-day continental subduction is not clear. Previously, principal conclusions about structure of the upper mantle in this region were chiefly based on seismic tomography results. However, seismic velocities not always provide a complete image of the deep interiors since they are chiefly affected by temperature variations and less - by composition. Here we construct a 3D model of the mantle down to 700 km, which is based on a joint inversion of seismic tomography, residual (crust free) gravity field and residual topography (Kaban et al., 2016). Several cross-sections across the collision zone demonstrate principal variations of the continental subduction scenarios from northwest to southeast. In the southeastern part we observe subduction of the Eurasian plate under the West Great Caucasus, Pontic mountains and further under the northwestern part of the Arabian plate. However, the situation is changed when we move to the East Great Caucasus and Zagros, where clear double-sided subduction is observed. The Arabian plate is subducting under the Zagros, while the Eurasian plate - under the Caucasus merging in the transition zone. This situation persists further to the southeast, where we observe the subduction of the South Caspian block under Alborz accompanied by the counteracting penetration of the Arabian plate from the south. More to the southeast, the subduction of the Arabian plate is stagnated, while the subduction of the Eurasian plate can be traced down to the bottom of the transition zone under the northeastern flank of the Arabian plate. In the southern rim of the collision zone under Makran, we don't find any evidence for the present day subduction; remnants of the formerly subducted slabs are located below 200 km. Kaban, M. K., S. El Khrepy, N. Al-Arifi, M. Tesauro, and W. Stolk (2016), Three dimensional density model of the upper mantle in the Middle East: Interaction of diverse tectonic processes, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 121.

Upper-mantle water stratification inferred from observations of the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake.

PubMed

Masuti, Sagar; Barbot, Sylvain D; Karato, Shun-Ichiro; Feng, Lujia; Banerjee, Paramesh

2016-10-20

Water, the most abundant volatile in Earth's interior, preserves the young surface of our planet by catalysing mantle convection, lubricating plate tectonics and feeding arc volcanism. Since planetary accretion, water has been exchanged between the hydrosphere and the geosphere, but its depth distribution in the mantle remains elusive. Water drastically reduces the strength of olivine and this effect can be exploited to estimate the water content of olivine from the mechanical response of the asthenosphere to stress perturbations such as the ones following large earthquakes. Here, we exploit the sensitivity to water of the strength of olivine, the weakest and most abundant mineral in the upper mantle, and observations of the exceptionally large (moment magnitude 8.6) 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake to constrain the stratification of water content in the upper mantle. Taking into account a wide range of temperature conditions and the transient creep of olivine, we explain the transient deformation in the aftermath of the earthquake that was recorded by continuous geodetic stations along Sumatra as the result of water- and stress-activated creep of olivine. This implies a minimum water content of about 0.01 per cent by weight-or 1,600 H atoms per million Si atoms-in the asthenosphere (the part of the upper mantle below the lithosphere). The earthquake ruptured conjugate faults down to great depths, compatible with dry olivine in the oceanic lithosphere. We attribute the steep rheological contrast to dehydration across the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, presumably by buoyant melt migration to form the oceanic crust.

South-American plate advance and forced Andean trench retreat as drivers for transient flat subduction episodes.

PubMed

Schepers, Gerben; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J J; Spakman, Wim; Kosters, Martha E; Boschman, Lydian M; McQuarrie, Nadine

2017-05-16

At two trench segments below the Andes, the Nazca Plate is subducting sub-horizontally over ∼200-300 km, thought to result from a combination of buoyant oceanic-plateau subduction and hydrodynamic mantle-wedge suction. Whether the actual conditions for both processes to work in concert existed is uncertain. Here we infer from a tectonic reconstruction of the Andes constructed in a mantle reference frame that the Nazca slab has retreated at ∼2 cm per year since ∼50 Ma. In the flat slab portions, no rollback has occurred since their formation at ∼12 Ma, generating 'horse-shoe' slab geometries. We propose that, in concert with other drivers, an overpressured sub-slab mantle supporting the weight of the slab in an advancing upper plate-motion setting can locally impede rollback and maintain flat slabs until slab tearing releases the overpressure. Tear subduction re-establishes a continuous slab and allows the process to recur, providing a mechanism for the transient character of flat slabs.

On the actual variety of plate dynamical mechanisms and how mantle evolution affected them through time, from core formation to the Indian collision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmaston, Miles

2010-05-01

If horizontal plate motions were driven by thermal convection of the mantle, they would display the action of slow-to-change body forces. Yet rapid changes of spreading rate and direction, and ridge jumps, are well-documented for the past 130Ma. Also convection cannot readily cause rotations of a plate (e.g. Africa) about a pole within the plate or near it. And plate motions, especially that of India, scarcely fit a convective pattern. To address these problems we look first at mantle motivation at both ends of earth history, beginning with core formation. I then introduce 3 important properties of mantle materials, whose neglect by mantle modellers has surely impaired the value of their work, but whose recognition illuminates the present plate dynamical situation and provides the Earth with a heat engine that is not thermal convection. Finally I sketch the intervening changes in behaviour over time, the sharpest of which brought about the rise of atmospheric oxygen at ~2.25Ga. Core formation. As the very high specific angular momentum of mean planetary material (>105-fold relative to solar) can only be achieved if the planets were wholly accreted in presence of the nebula [1], the iron percolation model is ruled out, because it takes too long. This validates the A.E.Ringwood model (1960-1978) involving nebular H reaction with erupting FeO. The iron then loads the downgoing limb of what is then not a truly thermal convection system. Huge volumes of reaction water were produced, giving the early Earth a wet mantle, a (diminishing) feature that we'll see has constrained mantle behaviour ever since. Plate dynamics since 150Ma. Multiple plate dynamical evidence [2], which will be rapidly re-presented here, shows that currently (a) the Earth has a 2-layer mantle system with a boundary at ~660km and (b) that most cratons have tectospheric keels that reach right to that boundary, or nearly so. The argument is the simple and persuasive one (even to seismologists) of mantle volume disposal if two such cratons approach one another (e.g. Caucasus), and of the provision of mantle volume to put under the growing ocean if they separate, e.g. S Atlantic, Arctic opening. In the latter case, W Siberia offers a major gap between the Russian and Angara keels and it is through this gap that Arctic-bound upper mantle flow is seen to have acted on India's cratonic keel and caused its powerful collision with Asia, rejuvenating many intervening ranges. This has 'put Asia in a crusher' and is contrary to the plate tectonics dictum of plate boundary interaction. Manifesting this 'suction' upon the Indian keel there is around S India by far the deepest dent in the geoid. The 3 neglected mantle properties we need for understanding this behaviour are:- (1) The garnet-to-spinel peridotite phase change, typically occurring at 70-90km depth, converts one joule into ~50 times more volume increase than simple expansion and does so with the big force of solid-state recrystallization. The density drop across the phase change can approximate that of simply heating the rock through ~1000K so it should never have been neglected by modellers. (2) Interstitial melt has much lower thermal conductivity than its parent solid, so overall thermal conductivity is reduced by >10% per 1% of non-migrating melt, i.e. by ~30% for typical oceanic LVZ conditions. (3) If the water-weakening of the mantle mineral structure (in the form of dislocations by H atoms) is not too high, that weakening will be stripped out by partitioning into any interstitial melt that is present, stiffening the rock by up to 2 orders of magnitude [3]. This contradicts the precept of seismologists and mantle modellers that lowered seismic Vs automatically signifies asthenospheric mobility. Since Vp-Vs relationships in the oceanic LVZ and at >180km under cratons are closely similar, the recognition of (3) explains both the dynamically evident strength of cratonic deep keels and offers a new basis for modelling the MOR process. Instead of convectively driven divergent mantle flow, this has a deeply extending laterally accreting narrow (20cm?) mantle crack below the axis and the gt-sp peridotite phase change (1) is present in the walls at some level. Heat from an eruption up the crack causes a lot of extra volume increase in the walls at that level, which closes the crack and wedges the plates apart with great force. This push-apart is responsible both for MOR rift valleys above and for inducing more mantle into the crack from below. It is this 'suction' which appears responsible for the above-mentioned plate dynamical behaviour and for the geoid dent around India. This MOR mechanism is a powerful heat engine but it is not convection. That cratonic keels may 'rub' on the highly viscous lower mantle at the 660 offers a means of coupling polar core-to-mantle electromagnetic coupling torque to the plate system and thereby to provide rotations. Probable examples are the clockwise rotation of Antarctica since Tierra del Fuego was extracted (150Ma?) from the Weddell Sea, the linked CCW rotation of Africa, and other geomag-related changes of plate motion [4]. From an Earth history perspective, it appears that during the Archaean the mantle was wet enough for vigorous whole-mantle convection to remove the early radiogenic heating. But, as this waned and the evolution of ocean water reduced the water-weakening, the lock-up condition prescribed in (3) was reached soon after 2.5Ga, and plate tectonics halted for ~230Ma, before restarting in the present 2-layer mode. The collapse of MORs during this hiatus correlates with major geological and atmospheric changes including the primary rise in oxygen to which we owe our existence [2]. [1] Osmaston MF (2009) A two-stage scenario for forming the Sun's planetary system, with good links to exoplanet findings, arising from new physical insight on the gravitational process. EPSC Abstracts 4, EPSC2009-264, European Planetary Science Congress, Potsdam 2009. [2] Osmaston MF (2009) Deep cratonic keels and a 2-layer mantle? Tectonic basis for some far-reaching new insights on the dynamical properties of the Earth's mantle: example motions from Mediterranean, Atlantic-Arctic and India. Geophys.Res.Abstr. 11, EGU2009-6359-6, EGU Gen. Assy 2009. [3] Hirth, G & Kohlstedt, DL (1996) Water in the oceanic upper mantle: implication for rheology, melt extraction, and the evolution of the lithosphere, EPSL 144, 93-108. [4] Osmaston, M. F. (2003) What drives plate tectonics? Slab pull, ridge push or geomagnetic torque from the CMB? A new look at the old players vis-a-vis an exciting new one. XXIII IUGG 2003, Sapporo, Japan. Abstracts CD, p. B129, Abstr #016795-2.

Constructing a Teleseismic Tomographic Image of Taiwan using BATS Recordings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krajewski, J.; Roecker, S.

2005-12-01

Taiwan is an evolving arc-continent collision located at a complicated part of the plate boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. To better understand the role of the upper mantle in the dynamics of this collision, we reviewed 4 years of data from the Broadband Array in Taiwan for Seismology (BATS) in Taiwan to construct a teleseismic dataset for tomographic imaging of the subsurface of the island. From an initial selection of approximately 300 events, we used waveform correlation to generate a dataset of 4500 relative arrival times. To calculate accurate travel times in three dimensional wavespeed models over the large lateral distances in our model (~800 km), we solve the eikonal equation directly in a spherical coordinate system. We reduce the influence of smearing of crustal heterogeneity into the deeper mantle, we fix the upper 30 km to a previously determined P wavespeed model for the region. Initial resolution tests suggest a spatial limit on the order of 40 km.

Mantle dynamics in super-Earths: Post-perovskite rheology and self-regulation of viscosity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tackley, P. J.; Ammann, M.; Brodholt, J. P.; Dobson, D. P.; Valencia, D.

2013-07-01

The discovery of extra-solar "super-Earth" planets with sizes up to twice that of Earth has prompted interest in their possible lithosphere and mantle dynamics and evolution. Simple scalings suggest that super-Earths are more likely than an equivalent Earth-sized planet to be undergoing plate tectonics. Generally, viscosity and thermal conductivity increase with pressure while thermal expansivity decreases, resulting in lower convective vigour in the deep mantle, which, if extralopated to the largest super-Earths might, according to conventional thinking, result in no convection in their deep mantles due to the very low effective Rayleigh number. Here we evaluate this. First, as the mantle of a super-Earth is made mostly of post-perovskite we here extend the density functional theory (DFT) calculations of post-perovskite activation enthalpy of to a pressure of 1 TPa, for both slowest diffusion (upper-bound rheology) and fastest diffusion (lower-bound rheology) directions. Along a 1600 K adiabat the upper-bound rheology would lead to a post-perovskite layer of a very high (˜1030 Pa s) but relatively uniform viscosity, whereas the lower-bound rheology leads to a post-perovskite viscosity increase of ˜7 orders of magnitude with depth; in both cases the deep mantle viscosity would be too high for convection. Second, we use these DFT-calculated values in statistically steady-state numerical simulations of mantle convection and lithosphere dynamics of planets with up to ten Earth masses. The models assume a compressible mantle including depth-dependence of material properties and plastic yielding induced plate-like lithospheric behaviour. Results confirm the likelihood of plate tectonics for planets with Earth-like surface conditions (temperature and water) and show a self-regulation of deep mantle temperature. The deep mantle is not adiabatic; instead feedback between internal heating, temperature and viscosity regulates the temperature such that the viscosity has the value needed to facilitate convective loss of the radiogenic heat, which results in a very hot perovskite layer for the upper-bound rheology, a super-adiabatic perovskite layer for the lower-bound rheology, and an azimuthally-averaged viscosity of no more than 1026 Pa s. Convection in large super-Earths is characterised by large upwellings (even with zero basal heating) and small, time-dependent downwellings, which for large super-Earths merge into broad downwellings. In the context of planetary evolution, if, as is likely, a super-Earth was extremely hot/molten after its formation, it is thus likely that even after billions of years its deep interior is still extremely hot and possibly substantially molten with a "super basal magma ocean" - a larger version of the proposal of Labrosse et al. (Labrosse, S., Hernlund, J.W., Coltice, N. [2007]. Nature 450, 866-869), although this depends on presently unknown melt-solid density contrast and solidus.

Deformation of "stable" continental interiors by mantle convection: Implications for intraplate stress in the New Madrid Seismic Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forte, A. M.; Moucha, R.; Simmons, N. A.; Grand, S. P.; Mitrovica, J. X.

2011-12-01

The enigmatic origin of large-magnitude earthquakes far from active plate boundaries, especially those occurring in so-called "stable" continental interiors, is a source of continuing controversy that has eluded a satisfactory explanation using past geophysical models of intraplate deformation and faulting. One outstanding case of such major intraplate earthquakes is the 1811-1812 series of events in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). We contend that the origin of some of these enigmatic intraplate events is due to regional variations in the pattern of tectonic stress generated by mantle convective flow acting on the overlying lithosphere and crust. Mantle convection affects the entire surface of the planet, irrespective of the current configuration of surface plate boundaries. In addition, it must be appreciated that plate tectonics is not a 2-D process, because the convective flow that drives the observed horizontal motions of the tectonic plates also drives vertical displacements of the crust across distances as great as 2 to 3 km. This dynamic topography is directly correlated with convection-driven stress field variations in the crust and lithosphere and these stresses can be locally focussed if the mantle rheology below the lithosphere is characterised by sufficiently low viscosities. We have developed global models of convection-driven mantle flow [Forte et al. 2009,2010] that are based on recent high-resolution 3-D tomography models derived from joint inversions of seismic, geodynamic and mineral physics data [Simmons et al. 2007,2008,2010]. These tomography-based mantle convection models also include a full suite of surface geodynamic (postglacial rebound and convection) constraints on the depth-dependent average viscosity of the mantle [Mitrovica & Forte 2004]. Our latest tomography-based and geodynamically-constrained convection calculations reveal that mantle flow under the central US are driven by density anomalies within the lower mantle associated with the descent of the ancient Farallon plate and shallow buoyant anomalies in the upper mantle under the eastern US coastal margin. The viscous coupling of this mantle flow to the overlying crust and lithosphere gives rise to a focussed, convergent stress pattern below the NMSZ which is favourably oriented with respect the local fault geometry. In summary, mantle-flow induced surface depression and associated bending stress may be an important and long-lived contributor to (clustered, migrating) seismic activity in the Mississippi Basin, extending from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Episodic large-scale overturn of two-layer mantles in terrestrial planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrick, D. L.; Parmentier, E. M.

1994-01-01

It is usually assumed that the upper and lower mantles of a chemically stratified planet are arranged so that the upper mantle is chemically less dense and that these layers convect separately. Possible buoyant overturn of the two mantle layers has not previously been considered. Such overturn would initially occur when thermal expansion of a chemically denser lower mantle more than offsets the compositional density difference between the layers, reversing the relative sense of buoyancy. Once overturn has occurred, the chemically denser, but thermally less dense upper mantle cools more efficiently than the lower mantle and loses its relative thermal buoyancy. If mixing is slow, this leads to repeated overturns that result in thermal histories that differ radically from those obtained without this large-scale overturning. Thermal evolution calculations, for a two-layer mantle over a wide range of parameter space, show that large-scale overturn occurs cyclically with a well-defined period. This period depends most strongly on the viscosity of the lower mantle, to which it is approximately proportional. Geologically interesting overturn periods on the order of 107 to 109 years result for lower mantle viscosities of 1022 to 1024 Pa s for the Earth and Venus, and 1021 to 1023 Pa s for Mars. The mantles of Mercury and the Moon are too thin to permit two-layer convection, and therefore the model is not appropriate for them. Overturn cannot occur on Earth or Venus if the compositional density difference between the layers exceeds about 4%, or on Mars if it exceeds about 2%. Large-scale mantle overturn could have significant tectonic consequences such as the initiation of a new plate tectonic cycle on the Earth or a major resurfacing event on Mars or Venus. Such episodic events in the evolution of a planet are not easily explained by whole mantle thermal convection.

Episodic large-scale overturn of two-layer mantles in terrestrial planets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herrick, David L.; Parmentier, E. M.

1994-01-01

It is usually assumed that the upper and lower mantles of a chemically stratified planet are arranged so that the upper mantle is chemically less dense and that these layers convect separately. Possible buoyant overturn of the two mantle layers has not previously been considered. Such overturn would initially occur when thermal expansion of a chemically denser lower mantle more than offsets the compositional density difference between the layers, reversing the relative sense of buoyancy. Once overturn has occurred, the chemically denser, but thermally less dense upper mantle cools more efficiently than the lower mantle and loses its relative thermal buoyancy. If mixing is slow, this leads to repeated overturns that result in thermal histories that differ radically from those obtained without this large-scale overturning. Thermal evolution calculations, for a two-layer mantle over a wide range of parameter space, show that large-scale overturn occurs cyclically with a well-defined period. This period depends most strongly on the viscosity of the lower mantle, to which it is approximately proportional. Geologically interesting overturn periods on the order of 10(exp 7) to 10(exp 9) years result for lower mantle viscosities of 10(exp 22) to 10(exp 24) Pa s for the Earth and Venus, and 10(exp 21) to 10(exp 23) Pa s for Mars. The mantles of Mercury and the Moon are too thin to permit two-layer convection, and therefore the model is not appropriate for them. Overturn cannot occur on Earth or Venus if the compositional density difference between the layers exceeds about 4%, or on Mars if it exceeds about 2%. Large-scale mantle overturn could have significant tectonic consequences such as the initiation of a new plate tectonic cycle on the Earth or a major resurfacing event on Mars or Venus. Such episodic events in the evolution of a planet are not easily explained by whole mantle thermal convection.

Plate tectonics on large exoplanets and the importance of the initial conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noack, Lena; Breuer, Doris

2013-04-01

Several numerical studies have been published in the past years speculating about the existence of plate tectonics on large exoplanets. These studies focus on various aspects like the mass of a planet [1,2,3,5], the interior heating rate and mantle temperatures [4,5] and the occurrence of water in the upper mantle [6]. Different trends in the propensity for plate tectonics have been observed in particular when varying the planetary mass: with increasing mass the surface mobilization is found to be either more [2,3,5], equally [3,6] or less [1,4] likely than on Earth. These studies and their implications are, however, difficult to compare as they assume different initial conditions and parameter sets, and either neglect the pressure effect on the viscosity or assume a rather small influence of the pressure on the rheology. Furthermore, the thermal evolution of the planets (i.e. cooling of core and decrease in radioactive heat sources with time) is typically neglected. In our study, we us the finite volume code GAIA [7] and apply a pseudo-plastic rheology. We investigate how a strong pressure-dependence of the viscosity [8] influences not only the convective regime in the lower mantle, but also the upper mantle and hence the likelihood to obtain plate tectonics. We investigate how our results change when assuming different initial conditions, focussing on the initial temperature in the lower mantle and at the core-mantle boundary. We find that the initial temperature conditions have a first-order influence on the likelihood of plate tectonics on large exoplanets and (as observed in earlier studies) surface mobilization may either be more, equally or less likely than on Earth. References [1] O'Neill, C. and A. Lenardic (2007), GRL 34, 1-4. [2] Valencia, D., O'Connell, R.J. and Sasselov, D.D. (2007), Astrophys. J. Let., 670(1):45-48. [3] van Heck, H.J. and Tackley, P.J. (2011), EPSL, 310:252-261. [4] Stein, C.; A. Finnenkötter, J. P. Lowman and U. Hansen (2011), GRL 38, L21201. [5] Foley, B.J., Bercovici, D. and Landuyt, W. (2012), EPSL 331-332, 281-290. [6] Korenaga, J. (2010), Astrophys. J. Let. 725, L43-L46. [7] Hüttig, C. and K. Stemmer (2008), PEPI 171, 137-146. [8] Stamenkovic, V.; L. Noack, D. Breuer and T. Spohn (2012), Astroph. J. 748(1), 41.

Slab flattening and exhumation of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siravo, G.; Faccenna, C.; Fellin, M. G.; Herman, F.; Becker, T. W.; Molin, P.

2017-12-01

Mountain belt topography is shaped by processes acting at different time scales and depths, from the surface down to the crust and mantle. In particular, subduction dynamics is expected to strongly affect upper plate topography. Here, we present the case of the Eastern Cordillera (EC) in Colombia as a case history for dynamic mantle forcing from a subduction zone on the upper plate topography. The EC is an active double-vergent fold and thrust belt formed during the Cenozoic by the inversion of a Mesozoic rift, and topography there has grown up to 5000 m (Cocuy Sierra). The EC is located far ( 500 km) from the trench where the Nazca slab subducts below the South American plate. Tomography and seismicity show the presence of a flat slab subduction north of 5° N (Chiarabba et al., 2016). Slab flattening may have occurred transitionally from 10 to 5 Ma shutting down the arc volcanism (Wagner et al., 2017). We reconstruct the exhumation of the EC based on previously published and new thermochronologic data collected in the area of the Cocuy Sierra. Results of this analysis show notably fast exhumation rates since Late Miocene. We also analyze the likely contributions to topography and show that neither the present-day crustal thickness nor the cumulative shortening in the Cenozoic as extracted form balanced cross section can isostatically explain the present day topography. We conclude that fast EC exhumation and uplift are driven by mantle dynamics and likely occurred during the recent episode of slab flattening.

A Review of Geophysical Constraints on the Deep Structure of the Tibetan Plateau, the Himalaya and the Karakoram, and their Tectonic Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molnar, P.

1988-09-01

The Tibetan Plateau, the Himalaya and the Karakoram are the most spectacular consequences of the collision of the Indian subcontinent with the rest of Eurasia in Cainozoic time. Accordingly, the deep structures beneath them provide constraints on both the tectonic history of the region and on the dynamic processes that have created these structures. The dispersion of seismic surface waves requires that the crust beneath Tibet be thick: nowhere less than 50 km, at least 65 km, in most areas, but less than 80 km in all areas that have been studied. Wide-angle reflections of P-waves from explosive sources in southern Tibet corroborate the existence of a thick crust but also imply the existence of marked lateral variations in that thickness, or in the velocity structure of the crust. Thus isostatic compensation occurs largely by an Airy-type mechanism, unlike that, for instance, of the Basin and Range Province of western North America where a hot upper mantle buoys up a thin crust. The P-wave and S-wave velocities in the uppermost mantle of most of Tibet are relatively high and typical of those of Precambrian shields and stable platforms: Vp = 8.1 km s-1 or higher, and Vs≈ 4.7 km s-1. Travel times and waveforms of S-waves passing through the uppermost mantle of much of Tibet, however, require a much lower average velocity in the uppermost mantle than that of the Indian, or other, shields. They indicate a thick low-velocity zone in the upper mantle beneath Tibet, reminiscent of tectonically active regions. These data rule out a shield structure beneath northern Tibet and suggest that if such a structure does underlie part of the plateau, it does so only beneath the southern part. Lateral variations in the upper-mantle structure of Tibet are apparent from differences in travel times of S-waves from earthquakes in different parts of Tibet, in the attenuation of short-period phases, Pn and Sn, that propagate through the uppermost mantle of Tibet, and in surface-wave dispersion for different paths. The notably lower velocities and the greater attenuation in the mantle of north--central Tibet than elsewhere imply higher temperatures there and are consistent with the occurrence of active and young volcanism in roughly the same area. Surface-wave dispersion across north--central Tibet also requires a thinner crust in that area than in most of the plateau. Consequently the relatively uniform height of the plateau implies that isostatic compensation in the north--central part of Tibet occurs partly because the density of the relatively hot material in the upper mantle is lower than that elsewhere beneath Tibet, the mechanism envisioned by Pratt. Several seismological studies provide evidence consistent with a continuity of the Indian Shield, and its cold thick lithosphere, beneath the Himalaya. Fault-plane solutions and focal depths of the majority of moderate earthquakes in the Himalaya are consistent with their occurring on the top surface of the gently flexed, intact Indian plate that has underthrust the Lesser Himalaya roughly 80-100 km or more. P-waves from explosions in southern Tibet and recorded in Nepal can be interpreted as wide-angle reflections from this fault zone. P-wave delays across the Tarbela network in Pakistan from distant earthquakes indicate a gentle dip of the Moho beneath the array without pronounced later variations in upper-mantle structure. High Pn and Sn velocities beneath the Himalaya and normal to early S-wave arrival times from Himalayan earthquakes recorded at teleseismic distances are consistent with Himalaya being underlain by the same structure that underlies India. Results from explosion seismology indicate an increase in crustal thickness from the Indo--Gangetic Plain across the Himalaya to southern Tibet, but Hirn, Lepine, Sapin and their co-workers inferred that the depth of the Moho does not increase smoothly northward, as it would if the Indian Shield had been underthrust coherently beneath the Himalaya. They interpreted wide-angle reflections as evidence for steps in the Moho displaced from one another on southward-dipping faults. Although I cannot disprove this interpretation, I think that one can recognize a sequence of signals on their wide-angle reflection profiles that could be wide-angle reflections from a northward-dipping Moho. Gravity anomalies across the Himalaya show that both the Indo--Gangetic Plain and the Himalaya are not in local isostatic equilibrium. A mass deficit beneath the plain is apparently caused by the flexure of the Indian Shield and by the low density of the sedimentary rock in the basin formed by the flexure. The mass excess in the Himalaya seems to be partly supported by the strength of the Indian plate, for which the flexural rigidity is particularly large. An increase in the Bouguer gravity gradient from about 1 mGal km-1 (1 mGal = 10-3 cm s-2) over the Indo--Gangetic Plain to 2 mGal km-1 over the Himalaya implies a marked steepening of the Moho, and therefore a greater flexure of the Indian plate, beneath the Himalaya. This implies a northward decrease in the flexural rigidity of the part of the Indian plate underlying the range. Nevertheless, calculations of deflections of elastic plates with different flexural rigidities and flexed by the weight of the Himalaya show larger deflections and yield more negative gravity anomalies than are observed. Thus, some other force, besides the flexural strength of the plate, must contribute to the support of the range. A bending moment applied to the end of the Indian plate could flex the plate up beneath the range and provide the needed support. The source of this moment might be gravity acting on the mantle portion of the subducting Indian continental lithosphere with much or all of the crust detached from it. Seismological studies of the Karakoram are consistent with its being underlain by particularly cold material in the upper mantle. Intermediate-depth earthquakes occur between depths of 70 and 100 km but apparently do not define a zone of subducted oceanic lithosphere. Rayleigh-wave phase velocities are particularly high for paths across this area and imply high shear wave velocities in the upper mantle. Isostatic gravity anomalies indicate a marked low of 70 mGal over the Karakoram, which could result from a slightly thickened crust pulled down by the sinking of cold material beneath it. Geophysical constraints on the structure of Tibet, the Himalaya and the Karakoram are consistent with a dynamic uppermost mantle that includes first, the plunging of cold material into the asthenosphere beneath southern Tibet and the Karakoram, as the Indian plate slides beneath the Himalaya, and second, an upwelling of hot material beneath north--central Tibet. The structure is too poorly resolved to require such dynamic flow, but the existence for both a hot uppermost mantle beneath north--central Tibet and a relatively cold uppermost mantle beneath southern Tibet and the Karakoram seem to be required. Both group and phase velocities of Rayleigh waves and Love waves are delayed along paths crossing Tibet. The low velocities require a crustal thickness in excess of 50 km, and for most regions in excess of 60 km. Crustal thicknesses in excess of 80 km can be ruled out for all paths studied, and for most of Tibet, a crustal thickness of 65-70 km seems required. Clear evidence for lateral heterogeneity beneath Tibet is provided not only by body waves (discussed below) but also by surface waves (Brandon & Romanowicz 1986), which show an area of lower uppermost shear-wave velocity and thinner crust in north--central Tibet than elsewhere in the plateau. These variations might explain the differences in group velocities measured by different workers, and the different structures that they deduced, but if so, they also render the regionalization of surface-wave dispersion into arbitrary tectonic provinces risky. Although Rayleigh-wave phase velocities can resolve large differences in upper-mantle velocities for regions the size of Tibet, constraints on these velocities are best derived from body waves. Thus, with the exceptions of Brandon & Romanowicz's (1986) detailed investigation of north--central Tibet, the study of southernmost Tibet by Jobert et al. (1985) and that of Romanowicz (1982) for the northeasternmost part of the plateau, I do not think that surface waves have placed an important bound on the velocity in the upper mantle beneath Tibet. The seismic data are broadly consistent with partial melting of the uppermost mantle of north--central Tibet, where recent volcanism has been observed. Correspondingly, there is no suggestion of such low velocities, and such high temperatures, in the mantle elsewhere beneath Tibet, for which late-Cainozoic volcanism has not been reported. The results are also consistent with a slightly thinner crust in north--central Tibet than farther south, suggesting that both Airy and Pratt isostasy share compensation for north--central Tibet's great height. Finally, the average shear-wave velocity in the upper mantle of southern Tibet seems to be higher than that in northern Tibet, but neither is the degree of difference well determined, nor is the location of the transition from one to the other well mapped.

Archean greenstone-tonalite duality: Thermochemical mantle convection models or plate tectonics in the early Earth global dynamics?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerrich, Robert; Polat, Ali

2006-03-01

Mantle convection and plate tectonics are one system, because oceanic plates are cold upper thermal boundary layers of the convection cells. As a corollary, Phanerozoic-style of plate tectonics or more likely a different version of it (i.e. a larger number of slowly moving plates, or similar number of faster plates) is expected to have operated in the hotter, vigorously convecting early Earth. Despite the recent advances in understanding the origin of Archean greenstone-granitoid terranes, the question regarding the operation of plate tectonics in the early Earth remains still controversial. Numerical model outputs for the Archean Earth range from predominantly shallow to flat subduction between 4.0 and 2.5 Ga and well-established steep subduction since 2.5 Ga [Abbott, D., Drury, R., Smith, W.H.F., 1994. Flat to steep transition in subduction style. Geology 22, 937-940], to no plate tectonics but rather foundering of 1000 km sectors of basaltic crust, then "resurfaced" by upper asthenospheric mantle basaltic melts that generate the observed duality of basalts and tonalities [van Thienen, P., van den Berg, A.P., Vlaar, N.J., 2004a. Production and recycling of oceanic crust in the early earth. Tectonophysics 386, 41-65; van Thienen, P., Van den Berg, A.P., Vlaar, N.J., 2004b. On the formation of continental silicic melts in thermochemical mantle convection models: implications for early Earth. Tectonophysics 394, 111-124]. These model outputs can be tested against the geological record. Greenstone belt volcanics are composites of komatiite-basalt plateau sequences erupted from deep mantle plumes and bimodal basalt-dacite sequences having the geochemical signatures of convergent margins; i.e. horizontally imbricated plateau and island arc crust. Greenstone belts from 3.8 to 2.5 Ga include volcanic types reported from Cenozoic convergent margins including: boninites; arc picrites; and the association of adakites-Mg andesites- and Nb-enriched basalts. Archean cratons were intruded by voluminous norites from the Neoarchean through Proterozoic; norites are accounted for by melting of subduction metasomatized Archean continental lithospheric mantle (CLM). Deep CLM defines Archean cratons; it extends to ˜ 350 km, includes the diamond facies, and xenoliths signify a composition of the buoyant, refractory, residue of plume melting, a natural consequence of imbricated plateau-arc crust. Voluminous tonalites of Archean greenstone-granitoid terranes show a secular trend of increasing Mg#, Cr, Ni consistent with slab melts hybridizing with thicker mantle wedge as subduction angle steepens. Strike-slip faults of 1000 km scale; diachronous accretion of distinct tectonostratigraphic terranes; and broad Cordilleran-type orogens featuring multiple sutures, and oceanward migration of arcs, in the Archean Superior and Yilgarn cratons, are in common with the Altaid and Phanerozoic Cordilleran orogens. There is increasing geological evidence of the supercontinent cycle operating back to ˜ 2.7 Ga: Kenorland or Ur ˜ 2.7-2.4 Ga; Columbia ˜ 1.6-1.4 Ga; Rodinia ˜ 1100-750 Ma; and Pangea ˜ 230 Ma. High-resolution seismic reflection profiling of Archean terranes reveals a prevalence of low angle structures, and evidence for paleo-subduction zones. Collectively, the geological-geochemical-seismic records endorse the operation of plate tectonics since the early Archean.

Slab melting beneath the Cascades Arc driven by dehydration of altered oceanic peridotite

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walowski, Kristina J; Wallace, Paul J.; Hauri, E.H.; Wada, I.; Clynne, Michael A.

2015-01-01

Water is returned to Earth’s interior at subduction zones. However, the processes and pathways by which water leaves the subducting plate and causes melting beneath volcanic arcs are complex; the source of the water—subducting sediment, altered oceanic crust, or hydrated mantle in the downgoing plate—is debated; and the role of slab temperature is unclear. Here we analyse the hydrogen-isotope and trace-element signature of melt inclusions in ash samples from the Cascade Arc, where young, hot lithosphere subducts. Comparing these data with published analyses, we find that fluids in the Cascade magmas are sourced from deeper parts of the subducting slab—hydrated mantle peridotite in the slab interior—compared with fluids in magmas from the Marianas Arc, where older, colder lithosphere subducts. We use geodynamic modelling to show that, in the hotter subduction zone, the upper crust of the subducting slab rapidly dehydrates at shallow depths. With continued subduction, fluids released from the deeper plate interior migrate into the dehydrated parts, causing those to melt. These melts in turn migrate into the overlying mantle wedge, where they trigger further melting. Our results provide a physical model to explain melting of the subducted plate and mass transfer from the slab to the mantle beneath arcs where relatively young oceanic lithosphere is subducted.

Small-scale upper mantle flow during the initiation of craton destruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Liang; Wang, Kun; Xu, Xiaobing

2017-04-01

The North China Craton (NCC) is an old craton which has experienced multi-episodic tectonism with surrounding plates. Bordered to the north by Xing'an-Mongolian Orogenic Belt, to the south by Qingling-Dabie-Sulu Orogen and to the far-east by (Paleo-) Pacific plate, the NCC has lost the cratonic properties within its eastern part. Evidently, the initiation and mechanism of craton destruction attract tremendous attention and remain hot debated. During the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic, the northeastern part of the NCC has been intensively revoked, along with the transition from NE shortening to NW-SE extension. The subduction of Paleo-Pacific plate becomes the prime suspect due to the same kinematic direction. Here we present a hybrid shear wave splitting measurement to investigate the mantle deformation of the NCC, and intend to constrain geodynamic process during the initiation of craton destruction. The SKS waveform data is recorded from 60 broadband stations with an average spacing of 15 km. We employ the traditional routine method to obtain fast polarization directions (FPDs, Φ) and delay times (δt) for the teleseismic events with epicenter range in 85°-115°. One may often have troubles in delimiting SKS and S wave with regard to the events at distances <85°. Waveform modeling has the advantages through repeated compatibility tests which thus can help us acquire more accurate Φ and δt. Combining these two methods, we depict the major FPDs overlapping on the geological map. Three segments along the profile exhibit NW-SE trending, which are parallel to the extension direction recorded in Erlian Basin, Songliao Basin and metamorphic core complex in Liaoning Peninsula. However, the in-between E-W trending FPDs cannot be neglected. Our previous tomography results show a high-velocity anomaly extend to the depth greater than 200 km beneath the Yanshan belt (118°-120°E). In comparison with other SKS observations in the NCC, the east-end nearly E-W FPD is possibly owing to the fossil anisotropy in the lithosphere during the N-S shortening in Jurassic. The other is located in the Solonker suture zone beneath where the Moho and lithosphere and asthenosphere boundary (LAB) have sharp variation in depth. It suggests that the subduction of Pacific plate apparently reactivates the upper mantle of the north edge of the NCC but has minor effects westwards. The inconsistency in FPDs may result from small-scale mantle flow in the upper mantle, which could be the dominant operating mode of the Pacific subduction during the initiation of cratonic destruction.

Passive margins getting squeezed in the mantle convection vice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husson, Laurent; Yamato, Philippe; Becker, Thorsten; Pedoja, Kevin

2013-04-01

Quaternary coastal geomorphology reveals that passive margins underwent wholesale uplift at least during the glacial cycle. In addition, these not-so-passive margins often exhibit long term exhumation and tectonic inversion, which suggest that compression and tectonic shortening could be the mechanism that triggers their overall uplift. We speculate that the compression in the lithosphere gradually increased during the Cenozoic. The many mountain belts at active margins that accompany this event readily witness this increase. Less clear is how that compression increase affects passive margins. In order to address this issue, we design minimalist 2D viscous models to quantify the impact of plate collision on the stress regime. In these models, a sluggish plate is disposed on a less viscous mantle. It is driven by a "mantle conveyor belt" alternatively excited by lateral shear stresses that represent a downwelling on one side, an upwelling on the other side, or both simultaneously. The lateral edges of the plate are either free or fixed, respectively representing the cases of free convergence and collision. In practice, it dramatically changes the upper boundary condition for mantle circulation and subsequently, for the stress field. The flow pattern transiently evolves almost between two end-members, starting from a situation close to a Couette flow to a pattern that looks like a Poiseuille flow with an almost null velocity at the surface (though in the models, the horizontal velocity at the surface is not strictly null, as the lithosphere deforms). In the second case, the lithosphere is highly stressed horizontally and deforms. For an equivalent bulk driving force, compression increases drastically at passive margins if upwellings are active because they push plates towards the collision. Conversely, if only downwellings are activated, compression occurs on one half of the plate and extension on the other half, because only the downwelling is pulling the plate. Thus, active upwellings underneath oceanic plates are required to explain compression at passive margins. This conclusion is corroborated by "real-Earth" 3D spherical models, wherein the flow is alternatively driven by density anomalies inferred from seismic tomography -and therefore include both downwellings at subduction zones and upwellings above the superswells- and density anomalies that correspond to subducting slabs only. While the second scenario mostly compresses the active margins of upper plates and leave other areas at rest, the first scenario efficiently compresses passive margins where the geological record reveals their uplift, exhumation, and tectonic inversion.

The Yellowstone ‘hot spot’ track results from migrating Basin Range extension

USGS Publications Warehouse

Foulger, Gillian R.; Christiansen, Robert L.; Anderson, Don L.; Foulger, Gillian R.; Lustrino, Michele; King, Scott D.

2015-01-01

Whether the volcanism of the Columbia River Plateau, eastern Snake River Plain, and Yellowstone (western U.S.) is related to a mantle plume or to plate tectonic processes is a long-standing controversy. There are many geological mismatches with the basic plume model as well as logical flaws, such as citing data postulated to require a deep-mantle origin in support of an “upper-mantle plume” model. USArray has recently yielded abundant new seismological results, but despite this, seismic analyses have still not resolved the disparity of opinion. This suggests that seismology may be unable to resolve the plume question for Yellowstone, and perhaps elsewhere. USArray data have inspired many new models that relate western U.S. volcanism to shallow mantle convection associated with subduction zone processes. Many of these models assume that the principal requirement for surface volcanism is melt in the mantle and that the lithosphere is essentially passive. In this paper we propose a pure plate model in which melt is commonplace in the mantle, and its inherent buoyancy is not what causes surface eruptions. Instead, it is extension of the lithosphere that permits melt to escape to the surface and eruptions to occur—the mere presence of underlying melt is not a sufficient condition. The time-progressive chain of rhyolitic calderas in the eastern Snake River Plain–Yellowstone zone that has formed since basin-range extension began at ca. 17 Ma results from laterally migrating lithospheric extension and thinning that has permitted basaltic magma to rise from the upper mantle and melt the lower crust. We propose that this migration formed part of the systematic eastward migration of the axis of most intense basin-range extension. The bimodal rhyolite-basalt volcanism followed migration of the locus of most rapid extension, not vice versa. This model does not depend on seismology to test it but instead on surface geological observations.

Crust and Mantle Deformation Revealed from High-Resolution Radially Anisotropic Velocity Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, A.; Dave, R.; Yao, Y.

2017-12-01

Love wave tomography, which can achieve a similar model resolution as Rayleigh wave, so far has limited applications to the USArray data. Recently, we have developed high-resolution Love wave phase velocity maps in the Wyoming craton and Texas using data at the Transportable Array stations. 3-D, radially anisotropic velocity models are obtained by jointly inverting Love and Rayleigh wave phase velocities. A high-velocity anomaly extending to about 200 km depth beneath central Wyoming correlates with negative radial anisotropy (Vsv>Vsh), suggesting that mantle downwelling develops under the cratonic lithosphere. Surprisingly, the significantly low velocity beneath the Yellowstone hotspot, which has been interpreted as partial melting and asthenospheric upwelling, is associated with the largest radial anisotropy (Vsh>Vsv) in the area. This observation does not support mantle upwelling. Instead, it indicates that the upper mantle beneath the hotspot has experienced strong shear deformation probably by the plate motion and large-scale mantle flow. In Texas, positive radial anisotropy in the lower crust extends from the coast to the Ouachita belt, which is characterized by high velocity and negative radial anisotropy. In the upper mantle, large variations of velocity and anisotropy exit under the coastal plain. A common feature in these anisotropic models is that high-velocity anomalies in the upper mantle often correlate with negative anisotropy (Vsv>Vsh) while low-velocity anomalies are associated with positive anisotropy (Vsh>Vsv). The manifestation of mantle downweling as negative radial anisotropy is largely due to the relatively high viscosity of the high-velocity mantle block, which is less affected by the surrounding large-scale horizontal flow. However, mantle upwelling, which is often associated with low-velocity anomalies, presumably low-viscosity mantle blocks, is invisible in radial anisotropy models. Such upwelling may happen too quickly to make last effects or too slow to alter the dominant shear deformation in the asthenosphere.

Mountain Building in Central and Western Tien Shan Orogen: Insight from Joint Inversion of Surface Wave Phase Velocities and Body Wave Travel Times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, S.; Yang, Y.; Wang, K.

2017-12-01

The Tien Shan orogeny, situated in central Asia about 2000 km away from the collision boundary between Indian plate and Eurasian plate, is one of the highest, youngest, and most active intracontinental mountain belts on the earth. It first formed during the Paleozoic times and became reactivated at about 20Ma. Although many studies on the dynamic processes of the Tien Shan orogeny have been carried out before, its tectonic rejuvenation and uplift mechanism are still being debated. A high-resolution model of crust and mantle beneath Tien Shan is critical to discern among competing models for the mountain building. In this study, we collect and process seismic data recorded by several seismic arrays in the central and western Tien Shan region to generate surface wave dispersion curves at 6-140 s period using ambient noise tomography (ANT) and two-plane surface wave tomography (TPWT) methods. Using these dispersion curves, we construct a high-resolution 3-D image of shear wave velocity (Vs) in the crust and upper mantle up to 300 km depth. Our current model constrained only by surface waves shows that, under the Tien Shan orogenic belt, a strong low S-wave velocity anomaly exists in the uppermost mantle down to the depth of 200km, supporting the model that the hot upper mantle is upwelling under the Tien Shan orogenic belt, which may be responsible for the mountain building. To the west of central Tien Shan across the Talas-Fergana fault, low S-wave velocity anomalies in the upper mantle become much weaker and finally disappear beneath the Fergana basin. Because surface waves are insensitive to the structures below 300 km, body wave arrival times will be included for a joint inversion with surface waves to generate S-wave velocity structure from the surface down to the mantle transition zone. The joint inversion of both body and surface waves provide complementary constraints on structures at different depths and helps to achieve a more realistic model compared with body wave or surface wave tomography alone. The joint inversion model will be presented.

The African Lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Priestley, K.; Debayle, E.; McKenzie, D.; Pilidou, S.

2007-12-01

There have been a number of prior, large scale surface wave studies of Africa, the majority of which rely on fundamental mode observations. In this study we use a large data set of multi-mode surface waves recorded over epicentral distances most of which are shorter than 6000 km, to investigate the Sv wave speed heterogeneity of the upper mantle beneath Africa. The inclusion of the higher mode data allow us to build an upper mantle model for the African plate with a horizontal resolution of a few hundred kilometers and a vertical resolution of a few tens of kilometers extending to about 400 km depth. Our tomographic images of the upper mantle beneath Africa displays significant shear velocity features, much of which correlate with surface geology. High velocity mantle persists beneath the West African and Congo cratons to 225-250 km depth, but the high velocity root beneath Kalahari Craton extends to only about 175 km depth. Low velocity upper mantle underlies the Pan- African terranes of Africa with the exception of the Damara mobile belt separating the Congo and Kalahari Cratons. The Damara mobile belt is underlain by a thick high velocity upper mantle lid which is indistinguishable from that beneath the Congo Craton to the north and the Kalahari Craton to the south. Low velocity upper mantle underlie the Hoggar, Tebesti and Darfur volcanic areas of northern Africa, and very low velocities underlie the Afar region to at least 400 km depth. We use the relationship between shear velocity and temperature of Priestley & McKenzie (2006) to derive a model for the African thermal lithosphere. Two types of lithosphere underlie Africa. Thick lithosphere underlies most of western Africa and all of southern Africa; in the latter the extent of the thick lithosphere is significantly different from the distribution of Archean crust mapped at the surface. Thick lithosphere forms one continuous structure beneath the Congo and Kalahari Cratons. Other than the Pan-African Damara mobile belt, the only Pan-African terrane of Africa free of recent (<30 Ma) volcanism, all of the Pan- African is underlain by lithosphere whose thickness is too thin to be resolved by our current surface wave analysis.

The contemporary North Pangea supercontinent and the geodynamic causes of its formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalenko, V. I.; Yarmolyuk, V. V.; Bogatikov, O. A.

2010-11-01

The supercontinental status of the contemporary aggregation of continents called North Pangea is substantiated. This supercontinent comprises all continents with the probable exception of Antarctica. In addition to the spatial contiguity of continents, the supercontinent is characterized by the prevalence of the continental crust that combines North America and Eurasia, Eurasia and Africa, and Eurasia and Australia. Over the course of the 300-250-Ma evolution from Wegener's Pangea to contemporary North Pangea, the aggregation of continents has not lost its supercontinental status, despite modification of the supercontinent shape and opening and closure of the newly formed Paleotethys, Tethys, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. Over the last 250-300 Ma, all movements of the lithospheric plates have most likely occurred within the Indo-Atlantic segment of the Earth, whereas the Pacific segment has remained oceanic. In short, the formation of the North Pangea supercontinent can be outlined in the following terms. The long and deep subduction of the lithospheric plates beneath Eurasia and North America gave rise to the stabilization of the continents and accumulation of huge bodies of the cold lithosphere commensurable in volume with the upper mantle at the deeper mantle levels. This brought about compensation ascent of hot mantle (mantle plumes) near the convergent plate boundaries and far from them. A special geodynamic setting develops beneath the supercontinent. Due to encircling subduction of the lithospheric plates and related squeezing of the hot mantle, an ascending flow, or plume (superplume) formed beneath the central part of the supercontinent. In our view, the African superplume broke up Wegener's Pangea in the Atlantic region, caused the opening of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and migrated to the Arctic Region 53 Ma ago.

An Examination of Upper Plate Aftershocks of the Tohoku-oki Earthquake: Are They Caused by a Long-term Change in the Dip of the Subducting Plate?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oryan, B.; Buck, W. R.

2017-12-01

The Tohoku-oki earthquake was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded. 50-80 meters of lateral motion of the sloping seafloor resulted in a tsunami that exceeded predictions and caused one of the costliest natural disasters in history. It was also the first time extensional aftershocks were observed in the upper plate over a region as wide as 250km. Inspired by these findings, researchers found similar upper plate extensional earthquakes after reexamining seismic data from past earthquakes that had also produced large tsunamis. Such extensional aftershocks are difficult to explain in terms of standard subduction models. Most models assume that the dip of the subducting plate remains constant with time. However, geological evidence indicates that the dip angle of the subducting plate changes. We hypothesize that a reduction in the dip angle of the subducting plate can cause upper plate extensional earthquakes. This change in dip angle adds extensional bending stress to the upper plate. During an inter-seismic period, the interface is `locked' causing regional compression that prevents the release of extensional energy. Relief of compressional stresses during a megathrust event can trigger the release of the accumulated extensional energy, explaining why extensional earthquakes were observed after some megathrust events. Numerical models will be used to test our hypothesis. First, we will model long term subduction with a nearly constant dip angle. Then, we will impose a `mantle wind' to reduce the dip angle of the subducting plate. Eventually, we will model a full seismic cycle of the subduction resulting in a megathrust event. The generation of extensional earthquakes in the upper plate of our model following the megathrust event will allow us to determine whether a causal link exists between these earthquakes and a reduction in the dip angle of the subducting plate.

Deep Sources: New constraints on the tectonic origin of the Klyuchevskoy Group upper mantle anomaly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourke, J. R.; Nikulin, A.; Levin, V. L.

2017-12-01

Volcanoes of the Klyuchevskoy Group (KG) form one of the most active volcanic clusters on the planet, yet its position relative to the subducting Pacific Plate seems to be in violation of the understood principles of the flux-induced arc volcanism. Positioned at 170km above the accepted subduction contact, the KG is seemingly outside the maximum fluid flux release zone of 100km, as observed across global subduction zone environments. Past geophysical studies indicate presence of a planar seismic anomaly 110km below the KG, and it has been noted that the KG lavas exhibit anomalous geochemical signatures, possibly associated with two separate melt generation regions. This interpretation was largely based on receiver function analysis of seismic data recorded by 3 stations of the Partnership in International Research and Education (PIRE) network, done prior to this data becoming publically available. We present results of receiver function and a teleseismic, regional, and local source shear wave splitting study, focused on datasets obtained by the full PIRE network of 12 stations, as well as a hybrid summation of all stations. We present our findings in the form of depth migrated receiver function images convolved with a three-dimensional model of the subduction zone and shear-wave splitting measurements. Our results vastly increase the resolution of the previously identified upper mantle anomaly, further constraining its geometry both vertically and laterally. We complement our observations with a forward modeling effort aimed at assessing the geological nature of the anomaly. Specifically, we test three scenarios that were previously invoked to explain the presence of the low-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle below the KG: a 3D flow of mantle material around the corner of the subducting Pacific Plate, a sinking paleoslab left behind as a result of subduction rollback, and a plume of sediments from the subducting plate. We show that presence of remnant paleoslab material remains a likely geodynamic scenario that explains both the observed geophysical anomaly and its impact on volcanic activity of the KG.

Seismic structure of the lithosphere and upper mantle beneath the ocean islands near mid-oceanic ridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haldar, C.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, M. Ravi

2014-05-01

Deciphering the seismic character of the young lithosphere near mid-oceanic ridges (MORs) is a challenging endeavor. In this study, we determine the seismic structure of the oceanic plate near the MORs using the P-to-S conversions isolated from quality data recorded at five broadband seismological stations situated on ocean islands in their vicinity. Estimates of the crustal and lithospheric thickness values from waveform inversion of the P-receiver function stacks at individual stations reveal that the Moho depth varies between ~ 10 ± 1 km and ~ 20 ± 1 km with the depths of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) varying between ~ 40 ± 4 and ~ 65 ± 7 km. We found evidence for an additional low-velocity layer below the expected LAB depths at stations on Ascension, São Jorge and Easter islands. The layer probably relates to the presence of a hot spot corresponding to a magma chamber. Further, thinning of the upper mantle transition zone suggests a hotter mantle transition zone due to the possible presence of plumes in the mantle beneath the stations.

Lithospheric velocity structure of the Anatolian plateau-Caucasus-Caspian region

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gök, R.; Mellors, R. J.; Sandvol, E.

The Anatolian plateau-Caucasus-Caspian region is an area of complex lithospheric structure accompanied by large variations in seismic wave velocities. Despite the complexity of the region, little is known about the detailed lithospheric structure. Using data from 31 new, permanent broadband seismic stations along with results from a previous 29 temporary seismic stations and 3 existing global seismic stations in the region, a 3-D velocity model is developed using joint inversion of teleseismic receiver functions and surface waves. Both group and phase dispersion curves (Love and Rayleigh) were derived from regional and teleseismic events. Additional Rayleigh wave group dispersion curves weremore » determined using ambient noise correlation. Receiver functions were calculated using P arrivals from 789 teleseismic (30°–90°) earthquakes. The stacked receiver functions and surface wave dispersion curves were jointly inverted to yield the absolute shear wave velocity to a depth of 100 km at each station. The depths of major discontinuities (sediment-basement, crust-mantle, and lithosphere-asthenosphere) were inferred from the velocity-depth profiles at the location of each station. Distinct spatial variations in crustal and upper mantle shear velocities were observed. The Kura basin showed slow (~2.7–2.9 km/s) upper crustal (0–11 km) velocities but elevated (~3.8–3.9 km/s) velocities in the lower crust. The Anatolian plateau varied from ~3.1–3.2 in the upper crust to ~3.5–3.7 in the lower crust, while velocities in the Arabian plate (south of the Bitlis suture) were slightly faster (upper crust between 3.3 and 3.4 km/s and lower crust between 3.8 and 3.9 km/s). The depth of the Moho, which was estimated from the shear velocity profiles, was 35 km in the Arabian plate and increased northward to 54 km at the southern edge of the Greater Caucasus. Moho depths in the Kura and at the edge of the Caspian showed more spatial variability but ranged between 35 and 45 km. Upper mantle velocities were slow under the Anatolian plateau but increased to the south under the Arabian plate and to the east (4.3–4.4 km/s) under the Kura basin and Greater Caucasus. The areas of slow mantle coincided with the locations of Holocene volcanoes. Differences between Rayleigh and Love dispersions at long wavelengths reveal a pronounced variation in anisotropy between the Anatolian plateau and the Kura basin.« less

Lithospheric velocity structure of the Anatolian plateau-Caucasus-Caspian region

DOE PAGES

Gök, R.; Mellors, R. J.; Sandvol, E.; ...

2011-05-07

The Anatolian plateau-Caucasus-Caspian region is an area of complex lithospheric structure accompanied by large variations in seismic wave velocities. Despite the complexity of the region, little is known about the detailed lithospheric structure. Using data from 31 new, permanent broadband seismic stations along with results from a previous 29 temporary seismic stations and 3 existing global seismic stations in the region, a 3-D velocity model is developed using joint inversion of teleseismic receiver functions and surface waves. Both group and phase dispersion curves (Love and Rayleigh) were derived from regional and teleseismic events. Additional Rayleigh wave group dispersion curves weremore » determined using ambient noise correlation. Receiver functions were calculated using P arrivals from 789 teleseismic (30°–90°) earthquakes. The stacked receiver functions and surface wave dispersion curves were jointly inverted to yield the absolute shear wave velocity to a depth of 100 km at each station. The depths of major discontinuities (sediment-basement, crust-mantle, and lithosphere-asthenosphere) were inferred from the velocity-depth profiles at the location of each station. Distinct spatial variations in crustal and upper mantle shear velocities were observed. The Kura basin showed slow (~2.7–2.9 km/s) upper crustal (0–11 km) velocities but elevated (~3.8–3.9 km/s) velocities in the lower crust. The Anatolian plateau varied from ~3.1–3.2 in the upper crust to ~3.5–3.7 in the lower crust, while velocities in the Arabian plate (south of the Bitlis suture) were slightly faster (upper crust between 3.3 and 3.4 km/s and lower crust between 3.8 and 3.9 km/s). The depth of the Moho, which was estimated from the shear velocity profiles, was 35 km in the Arabian plate and increased northward to 54 km at the southern edge of the Greater Caucasus. Moho depths in the Kura and at the edge of the Caspian showed more spatial variability but ranged between 35 and 45 km. Upper mantle velocities were slow under the Anatolian plateau but increased to the south under the Arabian plate and to the east (4.3–4.4 km/s) under the Kura basin and Greater Caucasus. The areas of slow mantle coincided with the locations of Holocene volcanoes. Differences between Rayleigh and Love dispersions at long wavelengths reveal a pronounced variation in anisotropy between the Anatolian plateau and the Kura basin.« less

Structure of the European upper mantle revealed by adjoint tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Hejun; Bozdağ, Ebru; Peter, Daniel; Tromp, Jeroen

2012-07-01

Images of the European crust and upper mantle, created using seismic tomography, identify the Cenozoic Rift System and related volcanism in central and western Europe. They also reveal subduction and slab roll back in the Mediterranean-Carpathian region. However, existing tomographic models are either high in resolution, but cover only a limited area, or low in resolution, and thus miss the finer-scale details of mantle structure. Here we simultaneously fit frequency-dependent phase anomalies of body and surface waveforms in complete three-component seismograms with an iterative inversion strategy involving adjoint methods, to create a tomographic model of the European upper mantle. We find that many of the smaller-scale structures such as slabs, upwellings and delaminations that emerge naturally in our model are consistent with existing images. However, we also derive some hitherto unidentified structures. Specifically, we interpret fast seismic-wave speeds beneath the Dinarides Mountains, southern Europe, as a signature of northeastward subduction of the Adria plate; slow seismic-wave speeds beneath the northern part of the Rhine Graben as a reservoir connected to the Eifel hotspot; and fast wave-speed anomalies beneath Scandinavia as a lithospheric drip, where the lithosphere is delaminating and breaking away. Our model sheds new light on the enigmatic palaeotectonic history of Europe.

Isotopic Evidence For Chaotic Imprint In The Upper Mantle Heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armienti, P.; Gasperini, D.

2006-12-01

Heterogeneities of the asthenospheric mantle along mid-ocean ridges have been documented as the ultimate effect of complex processes dominated by temperature, pressure and composition of the shallow mantle, in a convective regime that involves mass transfer from the deep mantle, occasionally disturbed by the occurrence of hot spots (e.g. Graham et al., 2001; Agranier et al., 2005; Debaille et al., 2006). Alternatively, upper mantle heterogeneity is seen as the natural result of basically athermal processes that are intrinsic to plate tectonics, such as delamination and recycling of continental crust and of subducted aseismic ridges (Meibom and Anderson, 2003; Anderson, 2006). Here we discuss whether the theory of chaotic dynamical systems applied to isotopic space series along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and the East Pacific Rise (EPR) can delimit the length-scale of upper mantle heterogeneities, then if the model of marble-cake mantle (Allègre and Turcotte, 1986) is consistent with a fractal distribution of such heterogeneity. The correlations between the isotopic (Sr, Nd, Hf, Pb) composition of MORB were parameterized as a function of the ridge length. We found that the distribution of isotopic heterogenity along both the MAR and EPR is self- similar in the range of 7000-9000 km. Self-similarity is the imprint of chaotic mantle processes. The existence of strange attractors in the distribution of isotopic composition of the asthenosphere sampled at ridge crests reveals recursion of the same mantle process(es), endured over long periods of time, up to a stationary state. The occurrence of the same fractal dimension for both the MAR and EPR implies independency of contingent events, suggesting common mantle processes, on a planetary scale. We envisage the cyclic route of "melting, melt extraction and recycling" as the main mantle process which could be able to induce scale invariance. It should have happened for a significant number of times over the Earth's mantle history before it acquired a chaotic structure, thus calling for ancient mantle events. The dimension of 7000 km might be related to the common size of the mantle region which has been affected by these processes.

Profiling the robustness, efficiency and limits of the forward-adjoint method for 3-D mantle convection modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, M. G.; Davies, J. H.

2018-02-01

Knowledge of Earth's past mantle structure is inherently unknown. This lack of knowledge presents problems in many areas of Earth science, including in mantle circulation modelling (MCM). As a mathematical model of mantle convection, MCMs require boundary and initial conditions. While boundary conditions are readily available from sources such as plate reconstructions for the upper surface, and as free slip at the core-mantle boundary, the initial condition is not known. MCMs have historically `created' an initial condition using long `spin up' processes using the oldest available plate reconstruction period available. While these do yield good results when models are run to present day, it is difficult to infer with confidence results from early in a model's history. Techniques to overcome this problem are now being studied in geodynamics, such as by assimilating the known internal structure (e.g. from seismic tomography) of Earth at present day backwards in time. One such method is to use an iterative process known as the forward-adjoint method. While this is an efficient means of solving this inverse problem, it still strains all but the most cutting edge computational systems. In this study we endeavour to profile the effectiveness of this method using synthetic test cases as our known data source. We conclude that savings in terms of computational expense for forward-adjoint models can be achieved by streamlining the time-stepping of the calculation, as well as determining the most efficient method of updating initial conditions in the iterative scheme. Furthermore, we observe that in the models presented, there exists an upper limit on the time interval over which solutions will practically converge, although this limit is likely to be linked to Rayleigh number.

Full-waveform Inversion for Localized 3-D S-velocity Structure in D" Beneath the Caribbean using US-Array Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borgeaud, A. F. E.; Konishi, K.; Kawai, K.; Geller, R. J.

2015-12-01

The region beneath Central America is known to have significant lateral velocity heterogeneities from the upper mantle down to the lowermost mantle. It is also known for its long history of subducting oceanic plates and fragmented plate remnants that sunk to the lowermost mantle (e.g., Ren et al., 2007). In this study, we use localized full-waveform inversion to invert for the 3-D S-velocity beneath the Caribbean. We use the DSM (Kawai et al., 2006) to compute 1-D synthetic seismograms and the first-order Born approximation to compute the partial derivatives for 3-D structure. We use a larger dataset with better coverage than Kawai et al. (2014), consisting of S and ScS phases from US-Array data for events in South America. The resulting 3-D model can contribute to understanding whether the cause of the velocity anomalies is thermal, chemical, or due to phase transitions.

Inverse methods-based estimation of plate coupling in a plate motion model governed by mantle flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratnaswamy, V.; Stadler, G.; Gurnis, M.

2013-12-01

Plate motion is primarily controlled by buoyancy (slab pull) which occurs at convergent plate margins where oceanic plates undergo deformation near the seismogenic zone. Yielding within subducting plates, lateral variations in viscosity, and the strength of seismic coupling between plate margins likely have an important control on plate motion. Here, we wish to infer the inter-plate coupling for different subduction zones, and develop a method for inferring it as a PDE-constrained optimization problem, where the cost functional is the misfit in plate velocities and is constrained by the nonlinear Stokes equation. The inverse models have well resolved slabs, plates, and plate margins in addition to a power law rheology with yielding in the upper mantle. Additionally, a Newton method is used to solve the nonlinear Stokes equation with viscosity bounds. We infer plate boundary strength using an inexact Gauss-Newton method with line search for backtracking. Each inverse model is applied to two simple 2-D scenarios (each with three subduction zones), one with back-arc spreading and one without. For each case we examine the sensitivity of the inversion to the amount of surface velocity used: 1) full surface velocity data and 2) surface velocity data simplified using a single scalar average (2-D equivalent to an Euler pole) for each plate. We can recover plate boundary strength in each case, even in the presence of highly nonlinear flow with extreme variations in viscosity. Additionally, we ascribe an uncertainty in each plate's velocity and perform an uncertainty quantification (UQ) through the Hessian of the misfit in plate velocities. We find that as plate boundaries become strongly coupled, the uncertainty in the inferred plate boundary strength decreases. For very weak, uncoupled subduction zones, the uncertainty of inferred plate margin strength increases since there is little sensitivity between plate margin strength and plate velocity. This result is significant because it implies we can infer which plate boundaries are more coupled (seismically) for a realistic dynamic model of plates and mantle flow.

Olivine water contents in the continental lithosphere and the longevity of cratons.

PubMed

Peslier, Anne H; Woodland, Alan B; Bell, David R; Lazarov, Marina

2010-09-02

Cratons, the ancient cores of continents, contain the oldest crust and mantle on the Earth (>2 Gyr old). They extend laterally for hundreds of kilometres, and are underlain to depths of 180-250 km by mantle roots that are chemically and physically distinct from the surrounding mantle. Forming the thickest lithosphere on our planet, they act as rigid keels isolated from the flowing asthenosphere; however, it has remained an open question how these large portions of the mantle can stay isolated for so long from mantle convection. Key physical properties thought to contribute to this longevity include chemical buoyancy due to high degrees of melt-depletion and the stiffness imparted by the low temperatures of a conductive thermal gradient. Geodynamic calculations, however, suggest that these characteristics are not sufficient to prevent the lithospheric mantle from being entrained during mantle convection over billions of years. Differences in water content are a potential source of additional viscosity contrast between cratonic roots and ambient mantle owing to the well-established hydrolytic weakening effect in olivine, the most abundant mineral of the upper mantle. However, the water contents of cratonic mantle roots have to date been poorly constrained. Here we show that olivine in peridotite xenoliths from the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary region of the Kaapvaal craton mantle root are water-poor and provide sufficient viscosity contrast with underlying asthenosphere to satisfy the stability criteria required by geodynamic calculations. Our results provide a solution to a puzzling mystery of plate tectonics, namely why the oldest continents, in contrast to short-lived oceanic plates, have resisted recycling into the interior of our tectonically dynamic planet.

Slab-controlled Tectonomagmatism of the Pacific Northwest: A Holistic view of Columbia River, High Lava Plains, and Snake River Plain/Yellowstone Volcanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

James, D. E.; Fouch, M. J.; Long, M. D.; Druken, K. A.; Wagner, L. S.; Chen, C.; Carlson, R. W.

2012-12-01

We interpret post-20 Ma tectonomagmatism across the U.S. Pacific Northwest in the context of subduction related processes. While mantle plume models have long enjoyed favor as an explanation for the post 20-Ma magmatism in the region, conceptually their support has hinged almost entirely on two major features: (1) Steens/Columbia River flood basalt volcanism (plume head); and (2) The Snake River Plain/Yellowstone hotspot track (plume tail). Recent work, synthesized in this presentation, suggests that these features are more plausibly the result of mantle dynamical processes driven by southerly truncation of the Farallon/Juan de Fuca subduction zone and slab detachment along the evolving margin of western North America (Long et al., 2012; James et al., 2011). Plate reconstructions indicate that shortening of the subduction zone by the northward migration of the Mendocino triple junction resulted in a significant increase in the rate of trench retreat and slab rollback ca 20 Ma. Both numerical modeling and physical tank experiments in turn predict large-scale mantle upwelling and flow around the southern edge of the rapidly retreating slab, consistent both with the observed Steens/Columbia River flood volcanism and with the strong E-W mantle fabric observed beneath the region of the High Lava Plains of central and eastern Oregon. The High Lava Plains and Snake River Plain time-progressive volcanism began concurrently about 12 Ma, but along highly divergent tracks and characterized by strikingly different upper mantle structure. Crustal and upper mantle structure beneath the High Lava Plains exhibits evidence typical of regional extension; i.e. thin crust, flat and sharp Moho, and an uppermost mantle with low velocities but otherwise largely devoid of significant vertical structure. In contrast, the Snake River Plain exhibits ultra-low mantle velocities to depths of about 180 km along the length of the hotspot track. Seismic images of the upper mantle in the depth range 300-600 km show that a northern segment of the orphaned Farallon plate lies sub-horizontally in the mantle transition zone parallel to and along the length of the SRP. The images also provide evidence for present-day upwelling from the deep upper mantle around the northern edge of the remnant slab beneath SRP as well as around its leading tip beneath Yellowstone. These results, coupled with petrologic and geochemical constraints, provide compelling support for a subduction model that accounts for virtually all post-20 Ma Cenozoic volcanism and structural deformation in the Cascadian back arc. James, D.E., Fouch, M.J., Carlson, R.W., Roth, J.B., 2011. Slab fragmentation, edge flow, and the origin of the Yellowstone hotspot track. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 311, 124-135. Long, M.D., Till, C.B., Druken, K.A., Carlson, R.W., Wagner, L.S., Fouch, M.J., James, D.E., Grove, T.L., Schmerr, N., Kincaid, C., 2012. Mantle dynamics beneath the Pacific Northwest and generation of voluminous back-arc volcanism. G-cubed in press.

Shear wave velocity structure of the Anatolian Plate and surrounding regions using Ambient Noise Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delph, J. R.; Beck, S. L.; Zandt, G.; Biryol, C. B.; Ward, K. M.

2013-12-01

The Anatolian Plate consists of various lithospheric terranes amalgamated during the closure of the Tethys Ocean, and is currently extruding to the west in response to a combination of the collision of the Arabian plate in the east and the roll back of the Aegean subduction zone in the west. We used Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) at periods <= 40s to investigate the crust and uppermost mantle structure of the Anatolian Plate. We computed a total of 13,779 unique cross-correlations using one sample-per-second vertical component broadband seismic data from 215 stations from 8 different networks over a period of 7 years to compute fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave dispersion curves following the method of Benson et al. (2007). We then inverted the dispersion data to calculate phase velocity maps for 11 periods from 8 s - 40 s throughout Anatolia and the Aegean regions (Barmin et al. 2001). Using smoothed Moho values derived from Vanacore et al. (2013) in our starting models, we inverted our dispersion curves using a linear least-squares iterative inversion scheme (Herrmann & Ammon 2004) to produce a 3-D shear-wave velocity model of the crust and uppermost mantle throughout Anatolia and the Aegean. We find a good correlation between our seismic shear wave velocities and paleostructures (suture zones) and modern deformation (basin formation and fault deformation). The most prominent crustal velocity contrasts occur across intercontinental sutures zones, resulting from the juxtaposition of the compositionally different basements of the amalgamated terranes. At shallow depths, seismic velocity contrasts correspond closely with surficial features. The Thrace, Cankiri and Tuz Golu basins, and accretionary complexes related to the closure of the Neotethys are characterized by slow shear wave velocities, while the Menderes and Kirsehir Massifs, Pontides, and Istanbul Zone are characterized by fast velocities. We find that the East Anatolia Plateau has slow shear-wave velocities, as expected due to high heat flow and active volcanism. The Tuz Golu fault has a visible seismic signal down to ~15 km below sea level, and the eastern Inner-Tauride Suture corresponding to the Central Anatolian Fault Zone may extend into the mantle. The Isparta Angle separates the actively extending portion of western Anatolia from the plateau regions in the east, and the largest anomaly (slow velocities) extending into the upper mantle is observed under the western flank of the Isparta Angle, corresponding to the Fethiye-Burdur fault zone. We attribute these slow shear-wave velocities to the effects of complex deformations within the crust as a result of the interactions of the African and Anatolian Plates. In the upper mantle, slow shear-wave velocities are consistent with a slab tear along a STEP fault corresponding to the extensions of the Pliny and Strabo Transform faults, allowing asthenosphere to rise to very shallow depths. The upper mantle beneath the Taurides exhibits very slow shear-wave velocities, in agreement with possible delamination or slab-breakoff (Cosentino et al. 2012) causing rapid uplift in the last 8 million years.

Evolution of the Archean Mohorovičić discontinuity from a synaccretionary 4.5 Ga protocrust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, Warren B.

2013-12-01

This review evaluates and rejects the currently dominant dogmas of geodynamics and geochemistry, which are based on 1950s-1970s assumptions of a slowly differentiating Earth. Evidence is presented for evolution of mantle, crust, and early Moho that began with fractionation of most crustal components, synchronously with planetary accretion, into mafic protocrust by ~ 4.5 Ga. We know little about Hadean crustal geology (> 3.9 Ga) except that felsic rocks were then forming, but analogy with Venus, and dating from the Moon, indicate great shallow disruption by large and small impact structures, including huge fractionated impact-melt constructs, throughout that era. The mantle sample and Archean (< 3.9 Ga) crustal geology integrate well. The shallow mantle was extremely depleted by early removal of thick mafic protocrust, which was the primary source of the tonalite, trondhjemite, and granodiorite (TTG) that dominate preserved Archean crust to its base, and of the thick mafic volcanic rocks erupted on that crust. Lower TTG crust, kept mobile by its high radioactivity and by insulating upper crust, rose diapirically into the upper crust as dense volcanic rocks sagged synformally. The mobile lower crust simultaneously flowed laterally to maintain subhorizontal base and surface, and dragged overlying brittler granite-and-greenstone upper crust. Petrologically required garnet-rich residual protocrust incrementally delaminated, sank through low-density high-mantle magnesian dunite, and progressively re-enriched upper mantle, mostly metasomatically. Archean and earliest Proterozoic craton stabilization and development of final Mohos followed regionally complete early delamination of residual protocrust, variously between ~ 2.9 and 2.2 Ga. Where some protocrust remained, Proterozoic basins, filled thickly by sedimentary and volcanic rocks, developed on Archean crust, beneath which delamination of later residual protocrust continued top-down enrichment of upper mantle. That reenrichment enabled modern-style plate tectonics after ~ 600 Ma, with a transition regime beginning ~ 850 Ma.

Relationship between the upper mantle high velocity seismic lid and the continental lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Priestley, Keith; Tilmann, Frederik

2009-04-01

The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary corresponds to the base of the "rigid" plates - the depth at which heat transport changes from advection in the convecting deeper upper mantle to conduction in the shallow upper mantle. Although this boundary is a fundamental feature of the Earth, mapping it has been difficult because it does not correspond to a sharp change in temperature or composition. Various definitions of the lithosphere and asthenosphere are based on the analysis of different types of geophysical and geological observations. The depth to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary determined from these different observations often shows little agreement when they are applied to the same region because the geophysical and geological observations (i.e., seismic velocity, strain rate, electrical resistivity, chemical depletion, etc.) are proxies for the change in rheological properties rather than a direct measure of the rheological properties. In this paper, we focus on the seismic mapping of the upper mantle high velocity lid and low velocity zone and its relationship to the lithosphere and asthenosphere. We have two goals: (a) to examine the differences in how teleseismic body-wave travel-time tomography and surface-wave tomography image upper mantle seismic structure; and (b) to summarise how upper mantle seismic velocity structure can be related to the structure of the lithosphere and asthenosphere. Surface-wave tomography provides reasonably good depth resolution, especially when higher modes are included in the analysis, but lateral resolution is limited by the horizontal wavelength of the long-period surface waves used to constrain upper mantle velocity structure. Teleseismic body-wave tomography has poor depth resolution in the upper mantle, particularly when no strong lateral contrasts are present. If station terms are used, features with large lateral extent and gradual boundaries are attenuated in the tomographic image. Body-wave models are not useful in mapping the thickness of the high velocity upper mantle lid because this type of analysis often determines wave speed perturbations from an unknown horizontal average and not absolute velocities. Thus, any feature which extends laterally across the whole region beneath a seismic network becomes invisible in the teleseismic body-wave tomographic image. We compare surface-wave and body-wave tomographic results using southern Africa as an example. Surface-wave tomographic images for southern Africa show a strong, high velocity upper mantle lid confined to depths shallower than ~ 200 km, whereas body-wave tomographic images show weak high velocity in the upper mantle extending to depths of ~ 300 km or more. However, synthetic tests show that these results are not contradictory. The absolute seismic velocity structure of the upper mantle provided by surface wave analysis can be used to map the thermal lithosphere. Priestley and McKenzie (Priestley, K., McKenzie, D., 2006. The thermal structure of the lithosphere from shear wave velocities. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 244, 285-301.) derive an empirical relationship between shear wave velocity and temperature. This relationship is used to obtain temperature profiles from the surface-wave tomographic models of the continental mantle. The base of the lithosphere is shown by a change in the gradient of the temperature profiles indicative of the depth where the mode of heat transport changes from conduction to advection. Comparisons of the geotherms determined from the conversion of surface-wave wave speeds to temperatures with upper mantle nodule-derived geotherms demonstrate that estimates of lithospheric thickness from Vs and from the nodule mineralogy agree to within about 25 km. The lithospheric thickness map for Africa derived from the surface-wave tomographic results shows that thick lithosphere underlies most of the Archean crust in Africa. The distribution of diamondiferous kimberlites provides an independent estimate of where thick lithosphere exists. Diamondiferous kimberlites generally occur where the lower part of the thermal lithosphere as indicated by seismology is in the diamond stability field.

The controversy over plumes: Who is actually right?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puchkov, V. N.

2009-01-01

The current state of the theory of mantle plumes and its relation to classic plate tectonics show that the “plume” line of geodynamic research is in a period of serious crisis. The number of publications criticizing this concept is steadily increasing. The initial suggestions of plumes’ advocates are disputed, and not without grounds. Questions have been raised as to whether all plumes are derived from the mantle-core interface; whether they all have a wide head and a narrow tail; whether they are always accompanied by uplifting of the Earth’s surface; and whether they can be reliably identified by geochemical signatures, e.g., by the helium-isotope ratio. Rather convincing evidence indicates that plumes cannot be regarded as a strictly fixed reference frame for moving lithospheric plates. More generally, the very existence of plumes has become the subject of debate. Alternative ideas contend that all plumes, or hot spots, are directly related to plate-tectonic mechanisms and appear as a result of shallow tectonic stress, subsequent decompression, and melting of the mantle enriched in basaltic material. Attempts have been made to explain the regular variation in age of volcanoes in ocean ridges by the crack propagation mechanism or by drift of melted segregations of enriched mantle in a nearly horizontal asthenospheric flow. In the author’s opinion, the crisis may be overcome by returning to the beginnings of the plume concept and by providing an adequate specification of plume attributes. Only mantle flows with sources situated below the asthenosphere should be referred to as plumes. These flows are not directly related to such plate-tectonic mechanisms as passive rifting and decompression melting in the upper asthenosphere and are marked by time-progressive volcanic chains; their subasthenospheric roots are detected in seismic tomographic images. Such plumes are mostly located at the margins of superswells, regions of attenuation of seismic waves at the mantle-core interface.

Experimental Deformation of Olivine Crystals at Mantle P and T: Evidences for a Pressure-Induced Slip Transition and Implications for Upper-Mantle Seismic Anisotropy and Low Viscosity Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raterron, P.; Chen, J.; Geenen, T.; Girard, J.

2009-04-01

Recent developments in high-pressure deformation devices coupled with synchrotron radiation allow investigating the rheology of mantle minerals and aggregates at the extreme pressure (P) and temperature (T) of their natural occurrence in the Earth. This is particularly true in the case of olivine, which rheology has been recently investigated in the Deformation-DIA apparatus (D-DIA, see Wang et al., 2003, Rev. Scientific Instr., 74, 3002) at upper-mantle P and T conditions. Olivine deforms by dislocation creep in the shallow upper-mantle, as revealed by the seismic velocity anisotropy observed in this region. The attenuation of seismic anisotropy at depth greater than 200 km is interpreted as a pressure-induced change in olivine main deformation mechanism. It was first attributed to a transition from dislocation creep to diffusion creep (Karato and Wu, 1993, Science, 260, 771). This interpretation has been challenged by deformation data obtained at high pressure (P > 3 GPa) in the dislocation creep regime (Couvy et al., 2004, EJM, 16, 877; Raterron et al., 2007, Am. Miner., 92, 1436; Raterron et al., 2009, PEPI, 72, 74), which support a second interpretation: a transition in olivine dominant dislocation slip, from [100] slip at low P to [001] slip at high P (e.g., Mainprice et al., 2005, Nature, 433, 731). Such a P -induced [100]/[001] slip transition is also supported by recent theoretical studies based on first-principle calculations of olivine dislocation slips (Durinck et al., 2005, PCM, 32, 646; Durinck et al., 2007, Eur. J. Mineral., 19, 631). In order to further constrain the effect of pressure on olivine slip system activities, deformation experiments were carried out in poor water condition at P > 5 GPa and T =1400˚ C, on pure forsterite (Fo100) and San Carlos olivine crystals, using the D-DIA at the X17B2 beamline of the NSLS (Upton, NY, USA). Crystals were oriented in order to active either [100] slip alone or [001] slip alone in (010) plane, or both [100](001) and [001](100) systems together. Constant applied stress < 300 MPa and specimen strain rates were monitored in situ using time-resolved X-ray diffraction and radiography, respectively. Run products were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to verify the actual activation of the tested dislocation slip systems. The obtained data were compared with rheological data previously obtained at comparable T and conditions, but at room P (Darot and Gueguen, 1981, JGR, 86, 6219; Bai et al., 1991, JGR, 96, 2441), resulting in creep power laws which quantify the effect of P on olivine rheology. The new data confirm the occurrence of a P -induced [100]/[001] slip transition, and suggest that [001](010) system dominates olivine deformation in the deep upper mantle. Extrapolation of the obtained rheological laws to natural condition along upper-mantle geotherms, shows that the [100] / [001] slip transition should occur in the Earth at ~ 200 km depth, thus can explain the attenuation of seismic anisotropy in the deep upper mantle. The obtained rheological laws were also integrated into a straightforward olivine aggregate model, then extrapolated to mantle condition using a 2-D geodynamic modeling application (Van den Berg et al., 1993, Geophys. J. International, 115, 62), which is the simplest approach to investigate upper-mantle steady-state deformation. In the application, the velocity of the lower boundary (the transition-zone boundary at 410-km depth) was set to 0, while that at the Earth's surface was set to 2 cm/year. Results from this modeling suggest that the combine activity of [100] and [001] slips in olivine aggregates may significantly decrease mantle viscosity below the oceanic lithosphere, thus, may contribute to the low viscosity zone (LVZ) required in plate tectonics to decouple rigid plates from the more ductile asthenophere underneath.

Mantle plume influence on the Neogene uplift and extension of the US western Cordillera?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parsons, T.; Thompson, G.A.; Sleep, Norman H.

1994-01-01

Despite its highly extended and thinned crust, much of the western Cordillera in the United States is elevated more than 1km above sea level. Therefore, this region cannot be thought of as thick crust floating isostatically in a uniform mantle; rather, the lithospheric mantle and/or the upper asthenosphere must vary in thickness or density across the region. Utilizing crustal thickness and density constraints, the residual mass defcicit that must occur in the mantle lithosphere and asthenosphere beneath the western Cordillera was modelled. A major hot spot broke out during a complex series of Cenozoic tectonic events that included lithospheric thickening, back-arc extension, and transition from subduction to a transform plate boundary. It is suggested that many of the characteristics that make the western Cordillera unique among extensional provinces can be attributed to the mantle plume that created the Yellowstone hot spot. -Authors

Rheology of the lithosphere and the folding caused by horizontal compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birger, B. I.

2015-05-01

The laboratory tests of rock specimens show that transient creep, at which deformations increase with time whereas strain rate decreases occurs when creep strains are sufficiently small. Since plate tectonics only permits small deformations in the lithospheric plates, the creep of the lithosphere is transient (non-steady-state). In this work, we study how the rheology of the lithosphere that possesses elasticity, brittleness (pseudo-plasticity), and creep affects the folding in the Earth's crust. Folding is caused by horizontal compression that results from the collision between the lithospheric plates. The effective viscosity characterizing the transient creep is lower than in the case of a steady-state creep and depends on the characteristic time of the considered process. The allowance for transient creep gives the distribution of the rheological properties of the horizontally compressed lithosphere in which the upper crust is brittle, whereas the lower crust and mantle lithosphere are dominated by transient creep. It is shown that the flows that arise in the lithosphere due to the instability under horizontal compression and cause folding are small-scale. These flows are concentrated in the upper brittle crust, they determine the short-wave Earth's surface topography, penetrate into the lower, creep-dominated crust to a shallow depth, and do not penetrate into the mantle. Therefore, these flows do not deform the Moho.

Lateral heterogeneity and azimuthal anistropy of the upper mantle: Love and Rayleigh waves 100-250 sec

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tanimoto, T.; Anderson, D. L.

1983-01-01

The lateral heterogeneity and apparent anisotropy of the upper mantle are studied by measuring Rayleigh and Love wave phase velocities in the period range 100-250 sec. Spherical harmonic descriptions of the lateral heterogeneity are obtained for order and degree up to 1=m=10. Slow regions are evident at the East Pacific rise, northeast Africa, Tibet, Tasman sea, southwestern North America and triple junctions in the Northern Atlantic and Indian oceans. Fast regions occur in Australia, western Pacific and the eastern Atlantic. Details which are not evident in previous studies include two fast regions in the central Pacific and the subduction zone in the Scotia Arc region. Inversion for azimuthal dependence showed (1) little correlation between the fast phase velocity directions and the plate motion vector in plate interiors, but (2) correlation of the fast direction with the perpendicular direction to trenches and ridges. Phase velocity is high when waves propagate perpendicular to these structures. Severe tradeoffs exist between heterogeneity and azimuthal dependence because of the yet unsatisfactory path coverage.

Lateral heterogeneity and azimuthal anisotropy of the upper mantle - Love and Rayleigh waves 100-250 sec

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tanimoto, T.; Anderson, D. L.

1985-01-01

The lateral heterogeneity and apparent anisotropy of the upper mantle are studied by measuring Rayleigh and Love wave phase velocities in the period range 100-250 sec. Spherical harmonic descriptions of the lateral heterogeneity are obtained for order and degree up to 1=m=10. Slow regions are evident at the East Pacific rise, northeast Africa, Tibet, Tasman sea, southwestern North America and triple junctions in the Northern Atlantic and Indian oceans. Fast regions occur in Australia, western Pacific and the eastern Atlantic. Details which are not evident in previous studies include two fast regions in the central Pacific and the subduction zone in the Scotia Arc region. Inversion for azimuthal dependence showed (1) little correlation between the fast phase velocity directions and the plate motion vector in plate interiors, but (2) correlation of the fast direction with the perpendicular direction to trenches and ridges. Phase velocity is high when waves propagate perpendicular to these structures. Severe tradeoffs exist between heterogeneity and azimuthal dependence because of the yet unsatisfactory path coverage.

Evolution of the central Atlantic hot spots cluster in the last 100 Myr: interaction between plate tectonics, a lower mantle thermochemical instability and upper mantle secondary plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sibrant, A.; Davaille, A.; Marques, F. O.; Hildenbrand, A.

2014-12-01

Born 200 Ma ago, the central Atlantic presents nowadays a large low seismic velocity anomaly in the lower mantle, a cluster of "hot" spots (Azores, Cape Verde, Madeira, Canary, Great Meteor), a mid-ocean ridge, and a triple junction located in the Azores. We carried out laboratory experiments to examine the possible links between mantle instabilities, plate boundary migration, and the
development of the volcanism on various spatial and temporal scales. Coupled with the current knowledge of these volcanic areas (tomography, tectonics and K/Ar dating), our fluid mechanics
experiments suggest that: (1) The Azores, as Canary, Cape Verde, Madeira Islands and Great Meteor seamounts might be the surface expression of a cluster of mantle instabilities rising from the top of a large thermochemical dome located in the lower mantle. However, such secondary plumes present a strong
time-dependence 5-40 Myr time scale. (2) These secondary instabilities could be sufficiently weak to adapt their motions to the pre-existing force
balance, and morphology and mechanical properties of the lithosphere. Based on current knowledge and modelling, we present a scenario of the Central Atlantic area evolution in the last 100 Ma combining a triple junction and decompression melting-generated buoyant material (i.e. such in volatiles and/or
temperature) under a cooling and thickening lithosphere.

Thermal Aging of Oceanic Asthenosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulson, E.; Jordan, T. H.

2013-12-01

To investigate the depth extent of mantle thermal aging beneath ocean basins, we project 3D Voigt-averaged S-velocity variations from an ensemble of global tomographic models onto a 1x1 degree age-based regionalization and average over bins delineated by equal increments in the square-root of crustal age. From comparisons among the bin-averaged S-wave profiles, we estimate age-dependent convergence depths (minimum depths where the age variations become statistically insignificant) as well as S travel times from these depths to a shallow reference surface. Using recently published techniques (Jordan & Paulson, JGR, doi:10.1002/jgrb.50263, 2013), we account for the aleatory variability in the bin-averaged S-wave profiles using the angular correlation functions of the individual tomographic models, we correct the convergence depths for vertical-smearing bias using their radial correlation functions, and we account for epistemic uncertainties through Bayesian averaging over the tomographic model ensemble. From this probabilistic analysis, we can assert with 90% confidence that the age-correlated variations in Voigt-averaged S velocities persist to depths greater than 170 km; i.e., more than 100 km below the mean depth of the G discontinuity (~70 km). Moreover, the S travel time above the convergence depth decays almost linearly with the square-root of crustal age out to 200 Ma, consistent with a half-space cooling model. Given the strong evidence that the G discontinuity approximates the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) beneath ocean basins, we conclude that the upper (and probably weakest) part of the oceanic asthenosphere, like the oceanic lithosphere, participates in the cooling that forms the kinematic plates, or tectosphere. In other words, the thermal boundary layer of a mature oceanic plate appears to be more than twice the thickness of its mechanical boundary layer. We do not discount the possibility that small-scale convection creates heterogeneities in the oceanic upper mantle; however, the large-scale flow evidently advects these small-scale heterogeneities along with the plates, allowing the upper part of the asthenosphere to continue cooling with lithospheric age. The dominance of this large-scale horizontal flow may be related to the high stresses associated with its channelization in a thin (~100 km) asthenosphere, as well as the possible focusing of the subtectospheric strain in a low-viscosity channel immediately above the 410-km discontinuity. These speculations aside, the observed thermal aging of oceanic asthenosphere is inconsistent with a tenet of plate tectonics, the LAB hypothesis, which states that lithospheric plates are decoupled from deeper mantle flow by a shear zone in the upper part of the asthenosphere.

Equatorial Pacific gravity lineaments: interpretations with basement topography along seismic reflection lines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Neil C.; Davies, Huw

2018-03-01

The central equatorial Pacific is interesting for studying clues to upper mantle processes, as the region lacks complicating effects of continental remnants or major volcanic plateaus. In particular, the most recently produced maps of the free-air gravity field from satellite altimetry show in greater detail the previously reported lineaments west of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) that are aligned with plate motion over the mantle and originally suggested to have formed from mantle convection rolls. In contrast, the gravity field 600 km or farther west of the EPR reveals lineaments with varied orientations. Some are also parallel with plate motion over the mantle but others are sub-parallel with fracture zones or have other orientations. This region is covered by pelagic sediments reaching 500-600 m thickness so bathymetry is not so useful for seeking evidence for plate deformation across the lineaments. We instead use depth to basement from three seismic reflection cruises. In some segments of these seismic data crossing the lineaments, we find that the co-variation between gravity and basement depth is roughly compatible with typical densities of basement rocks (basalt, gabbro or mantle), as expected for some explanations for the lineaments (e.g., mantle convection rolls, viscous asthenospheric inter-fingering or extensional deformation). However, some other lineaments are associated with major changes in basement depth with only subtle changes in the gravity field, suggesting topography that is locally supported by varied crustal thickness. Overall, the multiple gravity lineament orientations suggest that they have multiple origins. In particular, we propose that a further asthenospheric inter-fingering instability mechanism could occur from pressure variations in the asthenosphere arising from regional topography and such a mechanism may explain some obliquely oriented gravity lineaments that have no other obvious origin.

Mantle wedge exhumation beneath the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome unravelled by local earthquake tomography (Western Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solarino, Stefano; Malusà, Marco G.; Eva, Elena; Guillot, Stéphane; Paul, Anne; Schwartz, Stéphane; Zhao, Liang; Aubert, Coralie; Dumont, Thierry; Pondrelli, Silvia; Salimbeni, Simone; Wang, Qingchen; Xu, Xiaobing; Zheng, Tianyu; Zhu, Rixiang

2018-01-01

In continental subduction zones, the behaviour of the mantle wedge during exhumation of (ultra)high-pressure [(U)HP] rocks provides a key to distinguish among competing exhumation mechanisms. However, in spite of the relevant implications for understanding orogenic evolution, a high-resolution image of the mantle wedge beneath the Western Alps is still lacking. In order to fill this gap, we perform a detailed analysis of the velocity structure of the Alpine belt beneath the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome, based on local earthquake tomography independently validated by receiver function analysis. Our results point to a composite structure of the mantle wedge above the subducted European lithosphere. We found that the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome lays directly above partly serpentinized peridotites (Vp 7.5 km/s; Vp/Vs = 1.70-1.72), documented from 10 km depth down to the top of the eclogitized lower crust of the European plate. These serpentinized peridotites, possibly formed by fluid release from the subducting European slab to the Alpine mantle wedge, are juxtaposed against dry mantle peridotites of the Adriatic upper plate along an active fault rooted in the lithospheric mantle. We propose that serpentinized mantle-wedge peridotites were exhumed at shallow crustal levels during late Eocene transtensional tectonics, also triggering the rapid exhumation of (U)HP rocks, and were subsequently indented under the Alpine metamorphic wedge in the early Oligocene. Our findings suggest that mantle-wedge exhumation may represent a major feature of the deep structure of exhumed continental subduction zones. The deep orogenic levels here imaged by seismic tomography may be exposed today in older (U)HP belts, where mantle-wedge serpentinites are commonly associated with coesite-bearing continental metamorphic rocks.

Sandbox Simulations of the Evolution of a Subduction Wedge following Subduction Initiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandon, M. T.; Ma, K. F.; DeWolf, W.

2012-12-01

Subduction wedges at accreting subduction zones are bounded by a landward dipping pro-shear zone (= subduction thrust) and a seaward-dipping retro-shear zone in the overriding plate. For the Cascadia subduction zone, the surface trace of the retro-shear zone corresponds to the east side of the Coast Ranges of Oregon and Washington and the Insular Mountains of Vancouver Island. This coastal high or forearc high shows clear evidence of long-term uplift and erosion along its entire length, indicating that it is an active part of the Cascadia subduction wedge. The question addressed here is what controls the location of the retro-shear zone? In the popular double-sided wedge model of Willet et al (Geology 1993), the retro-shear zone remains pinned to the S point, which is interpreted to represent where the upper-plate Moho intersects the subduction zone. For this interpretation, the relatively strong mantle is considered to operate as a flat backstop. That model, however. is somewhat artificial in that the two plates collide in a symmetric fashion with equal crustal thicknesses on both sides. Using sandbox experiments, we explore a more realistic configuration where the upper and lower plate are separated by a gentle dipping (10 degree) pro-shear zone, to simulate the initial asymmetric geometry of the subduction thrust immediately after initiation of subduction. The entire lithosphere must fail along some plane for subduction to begin and this failure plane must dip in the direction of subduction. Thus, the initial geometry of the overriding plate is better approximated as a tapered wedge than as a layer of uniform thickness, as represented in the Willett et al models. We demonstrate this model using time-lapse movies of a sand wedge above a mylar subducting plate. We use particle image velocimetry (PIV) to show the evolution of strain and structure within the overriding plate. Material accreted to the tapered end of the overriding plate drives deformation and causes the retro-shear zone to propagate rearward with time. The main conclusion is that the rearward propagation will cease only when 1) the retro shear zone reaches the S point (i.e. the mantle cutoff in the upper plate) or 2) the erosion outflux from the subduction wedge matches the accretionary influx. Given the location of the upper plate Moho at Cascadia, it seems that erosion is the control factor in pinning the retro shear zone there.

Regional P wave velocity structure of the Northern Cascadia Subduction Zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ramachandran, K.; Hyndman, R.D.; Brocher, T.M.

2006-01-01

This paper presents the first regional three-dimensional, P wave velocity model for the Northern Cascadia Subduction. Zone (SW British Columbia and NW Washington State) constructed through tomographic inversion of first-arrival traveltime data from active source experiments together with earthquake traveltime data recorded at permanent stations. The velocity model images the structure of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate, megathrust, and the fore-arc crust and upper mantle. Beneath southern Vancouver Island the megathrust above the Juan de Fuca plate is characterized by a broad zone (25-35 km depth) having relatively low velocities of 6.4-6.6 km/s. This relative low velocity zone coincides with the location of most of the episodic tremors recently mapped beneath Vancouver Island, and its low velocity may also partially reflect the presence of trapped fluids and sheared lower crustal rocks. The rocks of the Olympic Subduction Complex are inferred to deform aseismically as evidenced by the lack of earthquakes withi the low-velocity rocks. The fore-arc upper mantle beneath the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound is characterized by velocities of 7.2-7.6 km/s. Such low velocities represent regional serpentinization of the upper fore-arc mantle and provide evidence for slab dewatering and densification. Tertiary sedimentary basins in the Strait of Georgia and Puget Lowland imaged by the velocity model lie above the inferred region of slab dewatering and densification and may therefore partly result from a higher rate of slab sinking. In contrast, sedimentary basins in the Strait of Juan de Fuca lie in a synclinal depression in the Crescent Terrane. The correlation of in-slab earthquake hypocenters M>4 with P wave velocities greater than 7.8 km/s at the hypocenters suggests that they originate near the oceanic Moho of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the eastern Gulf of Aden conjugate passive margins: Narrowness and asymmetry in oblique rifting context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nonn, Chloé; Leroy, Sylvie; Khanbari, Khaled; Ahmed, Abdulhakim

2017-11-01

Here, we focus on the yet unexplored eastern Gulf of Aden, on Socotra Island (Yemen), Southeastern Oman and offshore conjugate passive margins between the Socotra-Hadbeen (SHFZ) and the eastern Gulf of Aden fracture zones. Our interpretation leads to onshore-offshore stratigraphic correlation between the passive margins. We present a new map reflecting the boundaries between the crustal domains (proximal, necking, hyper-extended, exhumed mantle, proto-oceanic and oceanic domains) and structures using bathymetry, magnetic surveys and seismic reflection data. The most striking result is that the magma-poor conjugate margins exhibit asymmetrical architecture since the thinning phase (Upper Rupelian-Burdigalian). Their necking domains are sharp ( 40-10 km wide) and their hyper-extended domains are narrow and asymmetric ( 10-40 km wide on the Socotra margin and 50-80 km wide on the Omani margin). We suggest that this asymmetry is related to the migration of the rift center producing significant lower crustal flow and sequential faulting in the hyper-extended domain. Throughout the Oligo-Miocene rifting, far-field forces dominate and the deformation is accommodated along EW to N110°E northward-dipping low angle normal faults. Convection in the mantle near the SHFZ may be responsible of change in fault dip polarity in the Omani hyper-extended domain. We show the existence of a northward-dipping detachment fault formed at the beginning of the exhumation phase (Burdigalien). It separates the northern upper plate (Oman) from southern lower plate (Socotra Island) and may have generated rift-induced decompression melting and volcanism affecting the upper plate. We highlight multiple generations of detachment faults exhuming serpentinized subcontinental mantle in the ocean-continent transition. Associated to significant decompression melting, final detachment fault may have triggered the formation of a proto-oceanic crust at 17.6 Ma and induced late volcanism up to 10 Ma. Finally, the setting up of a steady-state oceanic spreading center occurs at 17 Ma.

The mantle transition zone beneath the Afar Depression and adjacent regions: implications for mantle plumes and hydration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reed, C. A.; Gao, S. S.; Liu, K. H.; Yu, Y.

2016-06-01

The Afar Depression and its adjacent areas are underlain by an upper mantle marked by some of the world's largest negative velocity anomalies, which are frequently attributed to the thermal influences of a lower-mantle plume. In spite of numerous studies, however, the existence of a plume beneath the area remains enigmatic, partially due to inadequate quantities of broad-band seismic data and the limited vertical resolution at the mantle transition zone (MTZ) depth of the techniques employed by previous investigations. In this study, we use an unprecedented quantity (over 14 500) of P-to-S receiver functions (RFs) recorded by 139 stations from 12 networks to image the 410 and 660 km discontinuities and map the spatial variation of the thickness of the MTZ. Non-linear stacking of the RFs under a 1-D velocity model shows robust P-to-S conversions from both discontinuities, and their apparent depths indicate the presence of an upper-mantle low-velocity zone beneath the entire study area. The Afar Depression and the northern Main Ethiopian Rift are characterized by an apparent 40-60 km depression of both MTZ discontinuities and a normal MTZ thickness. The simplest and most probable interpretation of these observations is that the apparent depressions are solely caused by velocity perturbations in the upper mantle and not by deeper processes causing temperature or hydration anomalies within the MTZ. Thickening of the MTZ on the order of 15 km beneath the southern Arabian Plate, southern Red Sea and western Gulf of Aden, which comprise the southward extension of the Afro-Arabian Dome, could reflect long-term hydration of the MTZ. A 20 km thinning of the MTZ beneath the western Ethiopian Plateau is observed and interpreted as evidence for a possible mantle plume stem originating from the lower mantle.

Fluid and mass transfer into the cold mantle wedge of subduction zones: budgets and seismic constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abers, G. A.; Hacker, B. R.; Van Keken, P. E.; Nakajima, J.; Kita, S.

2015-12-01

Dehydration of subducting plates should hydrate the shallow overlying mantle wedge where mantle is cold. In the shallow mantle wedge hydrous phases, notably serpentines, chlorite, brucite and talc should be stable to form a significant reservoir for H2O. Beneath this cold nose thermal models suggest only limited slab dehydration occurs at depths less than ca. 80 km except in warm subduction zones, but fluids may flow updip from deeper within the subducting plate to hydrate the shallow mantle. We estimate the total water storage capacity in cold noses, at temperatures where hydrous phases are stable, to be roughly 2-3% the mass of the global ocean. At modern subduction flux rates its full hydration could be achieved in 50-100 Ma if all subducting water devolatilized in the upper 100 km flows into the wedge; these estimates have at least a factor of two uncertainty. To investigate the extent to which wedge hydration actually occurs we compile and generate seismic images of forearc mantle regions. The compilation includes P- and S-velocity images with good sampling below the Moho and above the downgoing slab in forearcs, from active-source imaging, local earthquake tomography and receiver functions, while avoiding areas of complex tectonics. Well-resolved images exist for Cascadia, Alaska, the Andes, Central America, North Island New Zealand, and Japan. We compare the observed velocities to those predicted from thermal-petrologic models. Among these forearcs, Cascadia stands out as having upper-mantle seismic velocities lower than overriding crust, consistent with high (>50%) hydration. Most other forearcs show Vp close to 8.0 km/s and Vp/Vs of 1.73-1.80. We compare these observations to velocities predicted from thermal-mineralogical models. Velocities are slightly slower than expected for dry peridotite and allow 10-20% hydration, but also could also be explained as relict accreted rock, or delaminated, relaminated, or offscraped crustal material mixed with mantle. The absence of wholesale hydration of forearcs globally can be taken as evidence that most forearcs are too young to be substantially hydrated, that most subducted water bypasses the forearc and is released deeper, or that most fluid passing through the mantle nose does not react with the mantle.

Xenon isotopic composition of the Mid Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB) source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peto, M. K.; Mukhopadhyay, S.

2012-12-01

Although convection models do not preclude preservation of smaller mantle regions with more pristine composition throughout Earth's history, it has been widely assumed that the moon forming giant impact likely homogenizes the whole mantle following a magma ocean that extended all the way to the bottom of the mantle. Recent findings of tungsten and xenon heterogeneities in the mantle [1,2,3,4], however, imply that i) the moon forming giant impact may not have homogenized the whole mantle and ii) plate tectonics was inefficient in erasing early formed compositional differences, particularly for the xenon isotopes. Therefore, the xenon isotope composition in the present day mantle still preserves a memory of early Earth processes. However, determination of the xenon isotopic composition of the mantle source is still scarce, since the mantle composition is overprinted by post-eruptive atmospheric contamination in basalts erupted at ocean islands and mid ocean ridges. The xenon composition of the depleted upper mantle has been defined by the gas rich sample, 2πD43 (also known as "popping rock"), from the North Atlantic (13° 469`N). However, the composition of a single sample is not likely to define the composition of the upper mantle, especially since popping rock has an "enriched" trace element composition. We will present Ne, Ar and Xe isotope data on MORB glass samples with "normal" helium isotope composition (8±1 Ra) from the Southeast Indian Ridge, the South Atlantic Ridge, the Sojourn Ridge, the Juan de Fuca, the East Pacific Rise, and the Gakkel Ridge. Following the approach of [1], we correct for syn- and post-eruptive atmosphere contamination, and determine the variation of Ar and Xe isotope composition of the "normal" MORB source. We investigate the effect of atmospheric recycling in the variation of MORB mantle 40Ar/36Ar and 129Xe/130Xe ratios, and attempt to constrain the average upper mantle argon and xenon isotopic compositions. [1] Mukhopadhyay, Nature 2012; [2] Tucker et al., EPSL (in review); [3] Moreira et al., Nature 1998 [4] Touboul et al., Science 2012.

Absolute Plate Motion Control Since the Triassic from the Cocos Slab and its Associated Subduction Record in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boschman, L.; Van Hinsbergen, D. J. J.; Langereis, C. G.; Molina-Garza, R. S.; Kimbrough, D. L.; Spakman, W.

2017-12-01

A positive wave speed anomaly interpreted as the Cocos slab stretches from the uppermost mantle at the Middle America trench in the west, to the lowermost mantle below the Atlantic in the east. The length and continuity of this slab indicates long-lived, uninterrupted eastward subduction of the attached Cocos Plate and its predecessor, the Farallon Plate. The geological record of Mexico contains Triassic to present day evidence of subduction, of which the post-Late Cretaceous phase is of continental margin-style. Interpretations of the pre-Upper Cretaceous subduction-related rock assemblages are under debate, and vary from far-travelled exotic intra-oceanic island arc character to in-situ extended continental margin origin. We present new paleomagnetic data that show that Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous subduction-related rocks from the Vizcaíno Peninsula and the Guerrero terrane have a paleolatitudinal plate motion history that is equal to that of the North American continent. This suggests that these rock assemblages were part of the overriding plate and were perhaps only separated from the North American continent by temporal fore- or back-arc spreading. The entire Triassic-present day subduction record, and hence, reconstructed trench location, can therefore be linked to the Cocos slab, which provides control on longitudinal plate motion of North America since the time of Pangea. Compared to the latest state of the art mantle frames, in which longitudes are essentially unconstrained for pre-Cretaceous times, our reconstructed absolute position of North America requires a significant westward longitudinal shift for Mesozoic times.

Azimuthal anisotropy layering and plate motion in the Pacific Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, H.; Romanowicz, B. A.

2012-12-01

We recently developed a three dimensional radially and azimuthally anisotropic model of the upper mantle in north America, using a combination of long-period 3-component surface and overtone waveforms, and SKS splitting measurements (Yuan and Romanowicz, 2010, Yuan et al., 2011). We showed that azimuthal anisotropy is a powerful tool to detect layering in the upper mantle, revealing two domains in the cratonic lithosphere, separated by a sharp laterally varying boundary in the depth range 100-150 km, which seems to coincide with the mid-lithospheric boundary (MLD) found in receiver function studies. Contrary to receiver functions, azimuthal anisotropy also detects the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) as manifested by a change in the fast axis direction, which becomes quasi-parallel to the absolute plate motion below ~250 km depth. A zone of stronger azimuthal anisotropy is found below the LAB both in the western US (peaking at depths of 100-150km) and in the craton (peaking at a depth of about 300 km). Here we show preliminary attempts at expanding our approach to the global scale, with a specific goal of determining whether such an anisotropic LAB can also be observed in the Pacific ocean. We started with our most recent global upper mantle radially anisotropic shear velocity model, determined using the Spectral Element Method (SEMum2; French et al., this meeting). We augment the corresponding global surface wave and overtone dataset (period range 60 to 400 s) with deep events and shorter period body waves, in order to ensure optimal deeper depth (>250km) anisotropy recovery due to the paucity of shear wave splitting measurements in the oceans. Our preliminary results, which do not yet incorporate SKS splitting measurements, look promising as they confirm the layering found previously in North America, using a different, global dataset and starting model. In the Pacific, our study confirms earlier azimuthal anisotropy results in the region (e.g. Smith et al. 2004; Maggi et al. 2006) that the shallow upper mantle beneath the ocean basin is strongly stratified. Our results further illustrate that 1) a shallow anisotropy domain (~100 km) is present, which is high in velocity and has in general a northward anisotropy direction where the plate is old (>80 Ma); and 2) there is a deeper domain (100-200 km) with stronger anisotropy, which correlates spatially with the low velocity zone and has a fast axis direction in good agreement with the absolute plate motion direction (HS3 NUVEL-1A). The boundary between the anisotropy domains clearly follows the age progressive deepening of the fast velocity in the shallow domain, suggesting an oceanic LAB that separates the Pacific lithosphere and the underlying asthenosphere.

Migrating Toward Fully 4-D Geodynamical Models of Asthenospheric Circulation and Melt Production at Mid-Ocean Ridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Dam, L.; Kincaid, C. R.; Pockalny, R. A.; Sylvia, R. T.; Hall, P. S.

2017-12-01

Lateral migration of mid-ocean ridge spreading centers is a well-documented phenomenon leading to asymmetric melt production and the surficial expressions thereof. This form of plate motion has been difficult to incorporate into both numerical and analogue geodynamical models, and consequently, current estimates of time-dependent flow, material transport, and melting in the mantle beneath ridges are lacking. To address this, we have designed and built an innovative research apparatus that allows for precise and repeatable simulations of mid-ocean ridge spreading and migration. Three pairs of counter-rotating belts with adjustable lateral orientations are scaled to simulate spreading at, and flow beneath, three 600km wide ridge segments with up to 300km transform offsets. This apparatus is attached to a drive system that allows us to test a full range of axis-parallel to axis-normal migration directions, and is suspended above a reservoir of viscous glucose syrup, a scaled analogue for the upper mantle, and neutrally buoyant tracers. We image plate-driven flow in the syrup with high-resolution digital cameras and use particle image velocimetry methods to obtain information about transport pathlines and flow-induced anisotropy. Suites of experiments are run with and without ridge migration to determine the overall significance of migration on spatial and temporal characteristics of shallow mantle flow. Our experiments cover an expansive parameter space by including various spreading rates, migration speeds and directions, degrees of spreading asymmetry, transform-offset lengths, and upper mantle viscosity conditions. Preliminary results highlight the importance of modeling migratory plate forces. Mantle material exhibits a significant degree of lateral transport, particularly between ridge segments and towards the melt triangle. Magma supply to the melting region is highly complex; parcels of material do not necessarily move along fixed streamlines, rather, they can be perturbed upwards and left behind as spreading centers continue to move laterally. These results emphasize that observations of seismic anisotropy should be interpreted in light of intricate flow pathlines, and that melt transport models should consider different paths for melt relative to the solid matrix.

Yellowstone Hotspot Geodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, R. B.; Farrell, J.; Massin, F.; Chang, W.; Puskas, C. M.; Steinberger, B. M.; Husen, S.

2012-12-01

The Yellowstone hotspot results from the interaction of a mantle plume with the overriding N. America plate producing a ~300-m high topographic swell centered on the Late Quaternary Yellowstone volcanic field. The Yellowstone area is dominated by earthquake swarms including a deadly M7.3 earthquake, extraordinary high heat flow up to ~40,000 mWm-2, and unprecedented episodes of crustal deformation. Seismic tomography and gravity data reveal a crustal magma reservoir, 6 to 15 km deep beneath the Yellowstone caldera but extending laterally ~20 km NE of the caldera and is ~30% larger than previously hypothesized. Kinematically, deformation of Yellowstone is dominated by regional crustal extension at up to ~0.4 cm/yr but with superimposed decadal-scale uplift and subsidence episodes, averaging ~2 cm/yr from 1923. From 2004 to 2009 Yellowstone experienced an accelerated uplift episode of up to 7 cm/yr whose source is modeled as magmatic recharge of a sill at the top of the crustal magma reservoir at 8-10-km depth. New mantle tomography suggest that Yellowstone volcanism is fed by an upper-mantle plume-shaped low velocity body that is composed of melt "blobs", extending from 80 km to 650 km in depth, tilting 60° NW, but then reversing tilt to ~60° SE to a depth of ~1500 km. Moreover, images of upper mantle conductivity from inversion of MT data reveal a high conductivity annulus around the north side of the plume in the upper mantle to resolved depths of ~300 km. On a larger scale, upper mantle flow beneath the western U.S. is characterized by eastward flow beneath Yellowstone at 5 cm/yr that deflects the plume to the west, and is underlain by a deeper zone of westerly return flow in the lower mantle reversing the deflection of the plume body to the SE. Dynamic modeling of the Yellowstone plume including a +15 m geoid anomaly reveals low excess plume temperatures, up to 150°K, consistent with a weak buoyancy flux of ~0.25 Mg/s. Integrated kinematic modeling of GPS, Quaternary fault slip, and seismic data suggest that the gravitational potential of the Yellowstone swell creates a regional extension affecting much of the western U.S. Overall, the Yellowstone hotspot swell is the vertex of tensional stress axes rotation from E-W in the Basin-Range to NE-SW at the Yellowstone Plateau as well as the cause of edge faulting, nucleating the nearby Teton and Centennial faults. We extrapolate the original location of the Yellowstone mantle-source southwestward 800 km to an initial position at 17 million years ago beneath eastern Oregon and Washington suggesting a common origin for the YSRP and Columbia Plateau volcanism. We propose that the original plume head ascended vertically behind the subducting Juan de Fuca plate, but was entrained ~12 Ma ago in a faster mantle flow beneath the continental lithosphere and tilted into its present configuration.

Crust and upper-mantle structure of Wanganui Basin and southern Hikurangi margin, North Island, New Zealand as revealed by active source seismic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tozer, B.; Stern, T. A.; Lamb, S. L.; Henrys, S. A.

2017-11-01

Wide-angle reflection and refraction data recorded during the Seismic Array HiKurangi Experiment (SAHKE) are used to constrain the crustal P-wave velocity (Vp) structure along two profiles spanning the length and width of Wanganui Basin, located landwards of the southern Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. These models provide high-resolution constraints on the structure and crustal thickness of the overlying Australian and subducted Pacific plates and plate interface geometry. Wide-angle reflections are modelled to show that the subducted oceanic Pacific plate crust is anomalously thick (∼10 km) below southern North Island and is overlain by a ∼1.5-4.0 km thick, low Vp (4.8-5.4 km s-1) layer, interpreted as a channel of sedimentary material, that persists landwards at least as far as Kapiti Island. Distinct near vertical reflections from onshore shots identify a ∼4 km high mound of low-velocity sedimentary material that appears to underplate the overlying Australian plate crust and is likely to contribute to local rock uplift along the Axial ranges. The overriding Australian plate Moho beneath Wanganui Basin is imaged as deepening southwards and reaches a depth of at least 36.4 km. The Moho shape approximately mirrors the thickening of the basin sediments, suggestive of crustal downwarping. However, the observed crustal thickness variation is insufficient to explain the large negative Bouguer gravity anomaly (-160 mGal) centred over the basin. Partial serpentinization within the upper mantle with a concomitant density decrease is one possible way of reconciling this anomaly.

An 1-2-1 Cyclic Model for the Evolution of Mantle Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, S.; Zhang, N.

2006-12-01

The present-day Earth`s mantle is predominated by long-wavelength structures including circum-Pacific subducted slabs and Africa and Pacific super-plumes. These long-wavelength structures are largely controlled by the history of plate tectonic motion. Although it dictates the evolution of mantle structure, global plate tectonic history prior to 120 Ma is poorly constrained except for continental motions that can be reliably traced back to >1 Ga. An important observation of continental motions in the last 1 Ga is the two episodes of formation and breakup of super-continents Pangea and Rodinia. We formulated 3D global models of mantle convection with temperature- and depth-dependent viscosity to study the formation of mantle structure. We found that for the upper mantle with 30 times smaller viscosity than the lower mantle, in the absence of continents, mantle convection is characterized by a hemispherically asymmetric structure in which one hemisphere is largely upwellings, while the other hemisphere contains downwellings (i.e., degree-1 convection). This is the first study in which degree-1 mantle convection is observed in mobile-lid/plate-tectonic convection regime at high Rayleigh number. This result suggests that degree-1 convection is a dynamically preferred state for the Earth`s mantle. We suggest that the evolution of mantle structure is controlled by a cyclic process of formation and breakdown of degree-1 convection modulated strongly by continents. The formation and breakup of supercontinents are surface manifestation of this cyclic process. During the degree-1 convection state, the upwellings in one hemisphere push all continents into the other hemisphere with the downwellings to form a supercontinent. The non-subducting nature of continents dictates that subduction in the downwelling hemisphere occurs along the edge of the supercontinent upon its formation. The insulating effect of a supercontinent and return flow from the circum-supercontinent subduction should heat up sub-continental mantle and lead to formation of another upwelling system below the supercontinent and eventually to breakup of the supercontinent. After the breakup of a supercontinent, the mantle with two large upwellings, similar to that for the present-day Earth, is then evolved back to degree-1 convection state. We will also discuss the geological and geophysical consequences of our proposed model.

Deep Structure of Northern Apennines Subduction Orogen (Italy) as Revealed by a Joint Interpretation of Passive and Active Seismic Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piana Agostinetti, Nicola; Faccenna, Claudio

2018-05-01

The Apennines is a well-studied orogeny formed by the accretion of continental slivers during the subduction of the Adriatic plate, but its deep structure is still a topic of controversy. Here we illuminated the deep structure of the Northern Apennines belt by combining results from the analysis of active seismic (CROP03) and receiver function data. The result from combining these two approaches provides a new robust view of the structure of the deep crust/upper mantle, from the back-arc region to the Adriatic subduction zone. Our analysis confirms the shallow Moho depth beneath the back-arc region and defines the top of the downgoing plate, showing that the two plates separate at depth about 40 km closer to the trench than reported in previous reconstructions. This spatial relationship has profound implications for the geometry of the shallow subduction zone and of the mantle wedge, by the amount of crustal material consumed at trench.

Mantle Flow and Dehydration Beneath the Juan de Fuca Plate Revealed by Shear Velocity and Attenuation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruan, Y.; Forsyth, D. W.; Bell, S. W.

2017-12-01

At mid-ocean-ridge spreading centers, it is still unclear to what extent the upwelling is purely passive, driven by viscous drag of the separating plates, or dynamically driven by the buoyancy induced by melt retention and depletion of the mantle matrix. The distinct sensitivities of seismic wavespeed and attenuation to temperature, melt porosity, water content and major element composition yield some of the primary constraints on mid-ocean ridge processes and the associated flow pattern, melt distribution, and the interaction of spreading centers with hotspots. Extensive arrays of ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) with better quality, longer deployment periods, and the application of noise-removal techniques together provided higher quality data in this study than in any previous regional study of velocity and attenuation of the upper mantle beneath a spreading center. Based on the fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves, we imaged shear wave attenuation and velocity models in the vicinity of the Juan de Fuca plate with the best resolution to date of any spreading center. There is strong attenuation centered at depths of 70-80 km, just below the expected dry solidus and somewhat deeper than predicted for a model of passive mantle upwelling beneath the spreading center. The shear velocity structure shows lowest velocities west of the spreading center, particularly near Axial Seamount and high velocities east of the axis extending to a greater depth than predicted by the passive flow model. Together, these observations support a model in which buoyant upwelling west of the spreading center first depletes and dehydrates the mantle above the dry solidus by melt removal and then the associated downwelling carries depleted, melt-free, residual mantle downward beneath the Juan de Fuca plate. This depleted, dehydrated, melt-free layer can explain why the average attenuation is lower than expected and the velocity is higher than expected in the 30 to 70 km depth range. The compositional buoyancy of the depleted mantle may in most places limit downwelling to the vicinity of the spinel peridotite to garnet peridotite transition at a depth of 80 km.

Upper mantle seismic structure beneath southwest Africa from finite-frequency P- and S-wave tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Youssof, Mohammad; Yuan, Xiaohui; Tilmann, Frederik; Heit, Benjamin; Weber, Michael; Jokat, Wilfried; Geissler, Wolfram; Laske, Gabi; Eken, Tuna; Lushetile, Bufelo

2015-04-01

We present a 3D high-resolution seismic model of the southwestern Africa region from teleseismic tomographic inversion of the P- and S- wave data recorded by the amphibious WALPASS network. We used 40 temporary stations in southwestern Africa with records for a period of 2 years (the OBS operated for 1 year), between November 2010 and November 2012. The array covers a surface area of approximately 600 by 1200 km and is located at the intersection of the Walvis Ridge, the continental margin of northern Namibia, and extends into the Congo craton. Major questions that need to be understood are related to the impact of asthenosphere-lithosphere interaction, (plume-related features), on the continental areas and the evolution of the continent-ocean transition that followed the break-up of Gondwana. This process is supposed to leave its imprint as distinct seismic signature in the upper mantle. Utilizing 3D sensitivity kernels, we invert traveltime residuals to image velocity perturbations in the upper mantle down to 1000 km depth. To test the robustness of our tomographic image we employed various resolution tests which allow us to evaluate the extent of smearing effects and help defining the optimum inversion parameters (i.e., damping and smoothness) used during the regularization of inversion process. Resolution assessment procedure includes also a detailed investigation of the effect of the crustal corrections on the final images, which strongly influenced the resolution for the mantle structures. We present detailed tomographic images of the oceanic and continental lithosphere beneath the study area. The fast lithospheric keel of the Congo Craton reaches a depth of ~250 km. Relatively low velocity perturbations have been imaged within the orogenic Damara Belt down to a depth of ~150 km, probably related to surficial suture zones and the presence of fertile material. A shallower depth extent of the lithospheric plate of ~100 km was observed beneath the ocean, consistent with plate-cooling models. In addition to tomographic images, the seismic anisotropy measurements within the upper mantle inferred from teleseismic shear waves indicate a predominant NE-SW orientation for most of the land stations. Current results indicate no evidence for a consistent signature of fossil plume.

Sublithospheric flows in the mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trifonov, V. G.; Sokolov, S. Yu.

2017-11-01

The estimated rates of upper mantle sublithospheric flows in the Hawaii-Emperor Range and Ethiopia-Arabia-Caucasus systems are reported. In the Hawaii-Emperor Range system, calculation is based on motion of the asthenospheric flow and the plate moved by it over the branch of the Central Pacific plume. The travel rate has been determined based on the position of variably aged volcanoes (up to 76 Ma) with respect to the active Kilauea Volcano. As for the Ethiopia-Arabia-Caucasus system, the age of volcanic eruptions (55-2.8 Ma) has been used to estimate the asthenospheric flow from the Ethiopian-Afar superplume in the northern bearing lines. Both systems are characterized by variations in a rate of the upper mantle flows in different epochs from 4 to 12 cm/yr, about 8 cm/yr on average. Analysis of the global seismic tomographic data has made it possible to reveal rock volumes with higher seismic wave velocities under ancient cratons; rocks reach a depth of more than 2000 km and are interpreted as detached fragments of the thickened continental lithosphere. Such volumes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were submerged at an average velocity of 0.9-1.0 cm/yr along with its opening. The estimated rates of the mantle flows clarify the deformation properties of the mantle and regulate the numerical models of mantle convection.

Dehydration-driven stress transfer triggers intermediate-depth earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrand, T. P.; Schubnel, A.; Hilairet, N.; Incel, S.; Deldicque, D.; Labrousse, L.; Gasc, J.; Renner, J.; Wang, Y.; Green, H. W., II

2016-12-01

Intermediate-depth earthquakes (30-300 km) have been extensively documented within subducting oceanic slabs but their physical mechanisms remain enigmatic. Earthquakes occur both in the upper and lower Wadati-Benioff planes of seismicity (UBP and LBP). The LBP is located in the mantle of the subducted oceanic lithosphere, 20-40 km below the plate interface. Several mechanisms have been proposed: dehydration embrittlement of antigorite, shear heating instabilities, and the reactivation of pre-existing shear zones. We dehydrated synthetic antigorite-olivine aggregates, a proxy for serpentinized mantle, during deformation at upper mantle conditions. Acoustic emissions (AEs) were recorded during dehydration of samples with antigorite contents as low as 5 vol.% and with up to 50 vol.%, deformed at pressures of 1.1 GPa and 3.5 GPa, respectively. Source characteristics of these AEs are compatible with faults sealed by fluid-bearing micro-pseudotachylytes in recovered samples, demonstrating that antigorite dehydration triggered dynamic shear failure of the olivine load-bearing network. These intermediate-depth earthquake analogs reconcile the apparent contradictions of previous laboratory studies and confirm that little mantle hydration, as suggested by seismic imaging, may suffice to generate LBP seismicity. We propose an alternative model to dehydration-embrittlement in which dehydration-induced stress transfer, rather than fluid overpressure, is the trigger of mantle rocks embrittlement.

Structure and Deformation of the Hikurangi-Kermadec Subduction Zone - Transitions Revealed by Seismic Wide-angle Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherwath, M.; Kopp, H.; Flueh, E. R.; Henrys, S. A.; Sutherland, R.

2008-12-01

The Hikurangi-Kermadec subduction zone northeast of New Zealand represents an ideal target to study lateral variations of subduction zone processes. The incoming Pacific plate changes from being a large igneous province, called the Hikurangi Plateau, in the south to normal oceanic plate north of the Rapuhia Scarp. The overriding Australian plate of continental character in the south, forming the North Island of New Zealand, and changes to an island arc in the north. Further lateral variability exists in changes in volcanic and hydro-thermal activity, transitions from accretion to subduction erosion, backarc spreading and rifting, and is accompanied by northward increasing seismicity. As part of the MANGO project (Marine Geoscientific Investigations on the Input and Output of the Kermadec Subduction Zone), four marine geophysical transects of largely seismic reflection and refraction data provide constraints on the upper lithospheric structures across the Hikurangi-Kermadec Trench between 29-38 deg S. On MANGO profile 1 in the south, the initially shallow subduction of the incoming plateau coincides with crustal underplating beneath the East Cape ridge. To the west lies the 100 km wide and over 10 km deep Raukumara Basin. Seismic velocities of the upper mantle of both plates are around 8 km/s and are considered normal. In contrast, on MANGO profile 4, about 1000 km to the north around the volcanically active Raoul Island, the incoming oceanic crust appears to bend considerably steeper and thus causes a 50 km narrower forearc with a smaller forearc basin. Furthermore, the upper mantle velocities in both plates are relatively low (7.4-7.7 km/s), likely indicating strong bending related deformation of the incoming plate and thermal activity within the arc possibly due to spreading. The central two transects MANGO 2 and 3, though without data coverage of the structure of the incoming plate, are more similar to MANGO 4. The arc regions appear to be strongly affected by the activity of the arc. The arc crust of the northern MANGO 3 becomes significantly thinner in the backarc region due to extension, whereas the data from MANGO 2 likely show thermal activity from the adjacent arc volcanism.

The Cascadia Paradox: Understanding Mantle Flow in the Cascadia Subduction System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, M. D.

2015-12-01

The pattern of mantle flow in subduction systems, and the processes that control the mantle flow field, is a fundamental but still poorly understood aspect of subduction dynamics. Mantle flow plays a key role in controlling the transport of volatiles and melt in the wedge, deformation of the overriding plate, mass transfer between the upper and lower mantle, and the morphology and dynamics of slabs. The Cascadia subduction zone provides a compelling system in which to understand the controls on mantle flow, particularly given the dense geophysical observations provided by EarthScope, GeoPRISMS, the Cascadia Initiative, and related efforts. Cascadia is a particularly intriguing system because observations of seismic anisotropy, which provide relatively direct constraints on mantle flow, seem to yield contradictory views of the mantle flow field in different parts of the system. Observations of seismic anisotropy on the overriding plate apparently require a significant component of three-dimensional, toroidal flow around the slab edge, while new observations from offshore stations are compellingly explained with a simple two-dimensional entrained flow model. Recent evidence from seismic tomography for the fragmentation of the Cascadia slab at depth provides a further puzzle: how can a fragmented slab provide a driving force for either two-dimensional entrained flow or three-dimensional toroidal flow due to slab rollback? I will present a synthesis of recent observations of seismic anisotropy in the Cascadia subduction system, and how they can be integrated with constraints from geodynamical modeling, geochemistry, and the history and timing of Pacific Northwest volcanism. I will discuss the compelling but contradictory evidence for each of the endmember mantle flow models (two-dimensional entrained flow vs. three-dimensional toroidal flow) and explore possible avenues for resolving the Cascadia Paradox.

Constraints from Xenoliths on Cenozoic Deformation and Rheology of the Western North American Mantle Lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behr, W. M.; Smith, D.; Bernard, R. E.

2015-12-01

We investigate xenoliths from several volcanic centers in the western US Cordillera, including the Navajo Volcanic Field in the Four Corners region of the Colorado Plateau, the San Carlos Volcanic Field in Arizona, and the Cima and Dish Hill volcanic fields in the western Mojave. We use these xenolith suites to determine to what extent and by what mechanisms the western North American lithospheric mantle has deformed during Cenozoic tectonic events, including Laramide flat-slab subduction, Basin-and-Range extension, and Quaternary strike-slip faulting associated with the San Andreas Fault System. We find the following. 1) Laramide flat-slab subduction substantially and heterogeneously deformed the North American lithospheric mantle. Despite some serpentinization, deformation along the plate interface was accommodated primarily by olivine dislocation creep, and was cold enough that the mantle lithosphere was strong and could transmit basal shear tractions into the upper plate crust, generating high topography. 2) During B&R extension, the mantle lithosphere was thinned and heated, and Laramide-age shear zone foliations were obliterated by grain growth, even in mixed phase lithologies. Despite annealing, LPO in olivine is preserved in several samples. This fossil LPO may control present-day mantle lid seismic anisotropy in the Basin and Range and may also provide an important source of viscous anisotropy. 3) The mantle lithosphere is actively deforming in localized zones beneath faults of the San Andreas system, but high sub-Moho temperatures render it very weak such that most of the strength of the lithosphere resides in the crust. Because deformation is localized, mantle lid anisotropy in the Mojave region is likely controlled by a fossil LPO, despite present-day deformation in the lithospheric mantle.

Array-Based Receiver Function Analysis of the Subducting Juan de Fuca Plate Beneath the Mount St. Helens Region and its Implications for Subduction Geometry and Metamorphism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, M. E.; Abers, G. A.; Creager, K. C.; Ulberg, C. W.; Crosbie, K.

2017-12-01

Mount St. Helens (MSH) is unusual as a prolific arc volcano located 50 km towards the forearc of the main Cascade arc. The iMUSH (imaging Magma Under mount St. Helens) broadband deployment featured 70 seismometers at 10-km spacing in a 50-km radius around MSH, spanning a sufficient width for testing along-strike variation in subsurface geometry as well as deep controls on volcanism in the Cascade arc. Previous estimates of the geometry of the subducting Juan de Fuca (JdF) slab are extrapolated to MSH from several hundred km to the north and south. We analyze both P-to-S receiver functions and 2-D Born migrations of the full data set to locate the upper plate Moho and the dip and depth of the subducting slab. The strongest coherent phase off the subducting slab is the primary reverberation (Ppxs; topside P-to-S reflection) from the Moho of the subducting JdF plate, as indicated by its polarity and spatial pattern. Migration images show a dipping low velocity layer at depths less than 50 km that we interpret as the subducting JdF crust. Its disappearance beyond 50 km depth may indicate dehydration of subducting crust or disruption of high fluid pressures along the megathrust. The lower boundary of the low velocity zone, the JdF Moho, persists in the migration image to depths of at least 90 km and is imaged at 74 km beneath MSH, dipping 23 degrees. The slab surface is 68 km beneath MSH and 85 km beneath Mount Adams volcano to the east. The JdF Moho exhibits 10% velocity contrasts as deep as 85 km, an observation difficult to reconcile with simple models of crustal eclogitization. The geometry and thickness of the JdF crust and upper plate Moho is consistent with similar transects of Cascadia and does not vary along strike beneath iMUSH, indicating a continuous slab with no major disruption. The upper plate Moho is clear on the east side of the array but it disappears west of MSH, a feature we interpret as a result of both serpentinization of the mantle wedge and a westward increase in wavespeed of the continental crust. The seismically-imaged surface of the subducting JdF slab at 68 km beneath MSH is the shallowest yet documented beneath an arc volcano. Combined with the inference of serpentinization in the mantle wedge, this geometry presents a problem in that vertical mantle melt migration seems unfeasible, yet mantle melts contribute to erupted MSH magmas.

Trench-parallel variations in Pacific and Indo-Australian crustal velocity structure due to Louisville Ridge seamount subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stratford, W. R.; Knight, T. P.; Peirce, C.; Watts, A. B.; Grevemeyer, I.; Paulatto, M.; Bassett, D.; Hunter, J.; Kalnins, L. M.

2012-12-01

Variations in trench and forearc morphology, and lithospheric velocity structure are observed where the Louisville Ridge seamount chain subducts at the Tonga-Kermadec Trench. Subduction of these seamounts has affected arc and back-arc processes along the trench for the last 5 Myr. High subduction rates (80 mm/yr in the north, 55 mm/yr in the south), a fast southwards migrating collision zone (~180 km/myr), and the obliquity of the subducting plate and the seamount chain to the trench, make this an ideal location to study the effects of seamount subduction on lithospheric structure. The "before and after" subduction regions have been targeted by several large-scale geophysical projects in recent years; the most recent being the R/V Sonne cruise SO215 in 2011. The crust and upper mantle velocity structure observed in profiles along strike of the seamount chain and perpendicular to the trench from this study, are compared to a similar profile from SO195, recorded ~100 km to the north. The affects of the passage of the seamounts through the subduction system are indicated by velocity anomalies in the crust and mantle of the overriding plate. Preliminary results indicate that in the present collision zone, mantle velocities (Pn) are reduced by ~5%. Around 100 km to the north, where seamounts are inferred to have subducted ~1 Myr ago, a reduction of 7% in mantle P-wave velocity is observed. The width of the trench slope and elevation of the forearc also vary along strike. At the collision zone a >100 km wide collapse region of kilometre-scale block faults comprise the trench slope, while the forearc is elevated. The elevated forearc has a 5 km think upper crust with a Vp of 2.5-5.5 km/s and the collapse zone also has upper crustal velocities as low as 2.5 km/s. To the east in the Pacific Plate, lower P-wave velocities are also observed and attributed to serpentinization due to deep fracturing in the outer trench high. Large bending faults permeate the crust and the Osbourn Seamount, currently on the verge of subduction, is fractured stepwise down into the trench. Pn velocities in the hinge zone of the Pacific Plate are as low as 7.3 km/s indicating that fracturing and serpentinization may also extend to sub-crustal depths. Finally, trench-parallel variations in subduction zone velocity structure are used to infer the degree to which seamount subduction has altered the physical state of the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates both pre- and post subduction.

Electrically Anisotropic 35 Ma Pacific Lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chesley, C. J.; Key, K.; Constable, S.; Behrens, J.; MacGregor, L.

2017-12-01

Geophysical studies of anisotropy in the oceanic lithosphere and asthenosphere can yield crucial insights into the processes of plate formation and evolution as the plate cools and thickens. While most previous studies have employed seismic methods to investigate anisotropy, here we examine the electrical conductivity anisotropy as constrained by controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) data collected during the Anisotropy and Physics of the Pacific Lithosphere Experiment (APPLE). Unlike passive magnetotelluric data, which are not particularly sensitive to the resistive part of the lithosphere or its anisotropy, CSEM data are highly sensitive to anisotropy in both the resistive crust and uppermost mantle. The APPLE data include a 30 km radius circular deep-tow of a Horizontal Electric Dipole (HED) transmitter around orthogonal pairs of HED receivers. The circular tow was optimized to measure azimuthal anisotropy, while radially oriented data at ranges from 14 to 70 km provided constraints on depth dependence of bulk conductivity. We inverted these data with a nonlinear anisotropic inversion that allows for laterally transverse isotropy, with the vertical plane of isotropy aligned orthogonal to the paleo-spreading direction. Our best model shows at least an order of magnitude resistivity difference between the paleo-spreading and paleo-ridge strike directions in both the crust and upper mantle. In the crust, conductivity is higher in the paleo-ridge and vertical directions. The opposite is true in the upper mantle, where conductivity is ten times higher in the paleo-spreading direction. Since the study area is centered on 35 Ma lithosphere, it is unlikely that melt plays a role in the observed anisotropy. Instead we propose that the crustal anisotropy is due to conductive clay minerals in normal faults promoted by hydration during paleo-extension close to the mid-ocean ridge. The upper mantle anisotropy potentially results from a crystal preferred orientation of olivine induced by shear deformation. These findings offer clues about the processes associated with oceanic spreading and may be of import to ophiolite studies.

Seismological observations at the Northern Andean region of Colombia: Evidence for a shallowly subducting Caribbean Slab and an extensional regime in the upper plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monsalve, G.; Cardona, A.; Yarce, J.; Alvira, D.; Poveda, E.

2013-05-01

A number of seismological observations, among which we can mention teleseismic travel time residuals, P to S receiver functions and Pn velocity quantification, suggest a clear distinction between the seismic structure of the crust and uppermost mantle between the plains on the Caribbean coast of Colombia and the mountains at the Northern Andean region. Absolute and relative travel time residuals indicate the presence of a seismically fast material in the upper mantle beneath northern Colombia; preliminary results of Pn studies show a region of relatively slow Pn velocities (between 7.8 and 7.9 km/s) underneath the Caribbean coast, contrasting with values greater than 8 km/s beneath the Central and Western cordilleras of Colombia, and the Pacific coast; receiver functions suggest a significantly thinner crust beneath the Caribbean coast, with a crustal thickness between 25 and 30 km, than beneath the Northern Andean zone at the cordilleras of Colombia, where it exceeds 40 km and reaches about 57 km at the location of Bogota. Besides the obviuos discrepancies that appear in response to different topography, we think that the seismological observations are a consequence of the presence of two very distinct slab segments beneath Colombia and contrasting behaviors of the upper plate, which correspond to Caribbean and Nazca subductions. Our seismic observations can be explained by a shallowly subducting Caribbean Plate, in the absence of an asthenospheric wedge, that steepens at about the location of the Bucaramanga nest, and a thinned continental crust that reflects an extensional component linked to oblique convergence of the Caribbean, which contrasts with the crustal thickening in the Andean Cordillera linked to crustal shortening and Nazca plate subuction. These new data are consistent with the idea of of a relatively warm Nazca slab of Neogene age which seems to have a relatively frontal convergence, and a colder, more buoyant Caribbean slab which represents an oceanic plateau of Cretaceous age that is characterized by an oblique convergence relation that has promoted extensional tectonics in the upper plate.

The Elephants' Graveyard: Constraints from Mantle Plumes on the Fate of Subducted Slabs and Implications for the Style of Mantle Convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lassiter, J. C.

2007-12-01

The style of mantle convection (e.g., layered- vs. whole-mantle convection) is one of the most hotly contested questions in the Geological Sciences. Geochemical arguments for and against mantle layering have largely focused on mass-balance evidence for the existence of "hidden" geochemical reservoirs. However, the size and location of such reservoirs are largely unconstrained, and most geochemical arguments for mantle layering are consistent with a depleted mantle comprising most of the mantle mass and a comparatively small volume of enriched, hidden material either within D" or within seismically anomalous "piles" beneath southern Africa and the South Pacific. The mass flux associated with subduction of oceanic lithosphere is large and plate subduction is an efficient driver of convective mixing in the mantle. Therefore, the depth to which oceanic lithosphere descends into the mantle is effectively the depth of the upper mantle in any layered mantle model. Numerous geochemical studies provide convincing evidence that many mantle plumes contain material which at one point resided close to the Earth's surface (e.g., recycled oceanic crust ± sediments, possibly subduction-modified mantle wedge material). Fluid dynamic models further reveal that only the central cores of mantle plumes are involved in melt generation. The presence of recycled material in the sources of many ocean island basalts therefore cannot be explained by entrainment of this material during plume ascent, but requires that recycled material resides within or immediately above the thermo-chemical boundary layer(s) that generates mantle plumes. More recent Os- isotope studies of mantle xenoliths from OIB settings reveal the presence not only of recycled crust in mantle plumes, but also ancient melt-depleted harzburgite interpreted to represent ancient recycled oceanic lithosphere [1]. Thus, there is increasing evidence that subducted slabs accumulate in the boundary layer(s) that provide the source of mantle plumes, as suggested 25 years ago by Hofmann & White [2]. Determination of the depth of origin of mantle plumes would provide a 1st-order constraint on the depth of plate subduction and the volume of the "upper" mantle. Improved seismic techniques and deployment of OBS arrays may soon allow robust imaging of mantle plumes in the deep mantle, although preliminary results are controversial [3]. Detection of a conclusive geochemical signature of core/mantle interaction would also provide strong evidence for a deep origin of mantle plumes, although there is considerable debate as to what such a signature would entail. In summary, determination of the depth of origin of mantle plumes may provide the key to deciphering the fate of subducted slabs and the overall style of mantle convection. Although this problem remains unresolved after several decades of work, recent developments in both geophysics and geochemistry provide hope for a final resolution within the next 10 years. [1] M Bizimis, M Griselin, JC Lassiter, VJM Salters, G Sen, EPSL 257, 259-293, 2007. [2] AW Hofmann, WM White, EPSL 57, 421-436, 1982. [3] R Montelli, G Nolet, F Dahlens, G Masters, E Engdahl, S-H Hung, Science 303, 338-343, 2004.

Geophysical study of the structure and processes of the continental convergence zones: Alpine-Himalayan Belt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toksoez, M. N.

1981-01-01

The seismic wave velocity structure in the crust and upper mantle region beneath the Tibetan plateau was studied in detail. Also, a preliminary study of the uppermost mantle P wave velocity beneath Iran and Turkey was carried out, and the results are compared with those for the Tibetan plateau. These two studies compose the bulk of the efforts on the observational aspects of continental collision zones in addition to satellite derived data. On the theoretical aspects the thermal evolution of converging plate boundaries was explored using a finite difference scheme.

Mars Geological Province Designations for the Interpretation of GRS Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dohm, J. M.; Kerry, K.; Baker, V. R.; Boynton, W.; Maruyama, Shige; Anderson, R. C.

2005-01-01

Introduction: An overarching geologic theory, GEOMARS, coherently explains many otherwise anomalous aspects of the geological history of Mars. Premises for a theory of martian geologic evolution include: (1) Mars is a water-rich terrestrial planet, (2) terrestrial planets should evolve through progressive stages of dynamical history (accretion, differentiation, tectonism) and mantle convection (magma ocean, plate tectonism, stagnant lid), and (3) the early history of Earth affords an analogue to the evolution of Mars. The theory describes the following major stages of evolution for Mars (from oldest to youngest): Stage 1 - shortly after accretion, Mars differentiates to a liquid metallic core, a mantle boundary (MBL) of high-pressure silicate mineral phases, upper mantle, magma ocean, thin komatiic crust, and convecting steam atmosphere; Stage 2- Mars cools to condense its steam atmosphere and transform its mode of mantle convection to plate tectonism; subduction of waterrich oceanic crust initiates arc volcanism and transfers water, carbonates and sulfates to the mantle; Stage 3 - the core dynamo initiates, and the associated magnetosphere leads to conditions conducive to the development of near-surface life and photosynthetic production of oxygen; Stage 4 - accretion of thickened, continental crust and subduction of hydrated oceanic crust to the mantle boundary layer and lower mantle of Mars occurs; Stage 5 - the core dynamo stops during Noachian heavy bombardment while plate tectonism continues; Stage 6 - initiation of the Tharsis superplume (approx. between 4.0 and 3.8Ga) occurs, and Stage 7 - the superlume phase (stagnant-lid regime) of martian planetary evolution with episodic phases of volcanism and water outflows continues into the present. The GEOMARS Theory is testable through a multidisciplinary approach, including utilizing GRS-based information. Based on a synthesis of published geologic, paleohydrologic, topographic, geophysical, spectral, and elemental information, we have defined geologic provinces that represent significant windows into the geological evolution of Mars, unfolding the GEOMARS Theory and forming the basis for interpreting GRS data.

Forearc structure beneath southwestern British Columbia: A three-dimensional tomographic velocity model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ramachandran, K.; Dosso, S.E.; Spence, G.D.; Hyndman, R.D.; Brocher, T.M.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a three-dimensional compressional wave velocity model of the forearc crust and upper mantle and the subducting Juan de Fuca plate beneath southwestern British Columbia and the adjoining straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca. The velocity model was constructed through joint tomographic inversion of 50,000 first-arrival times from earthquakes and active seismic sources. Wrangellia rocks of the accreted Paleozoic and Mesozoic island arc assemblage underlying southern Vancouver Island in the Cascadia forearc are imaged at some locations with higher than average lower crustal velocities of 6.5-7.2 km/s, similar to observations at other island arc terranes. The mafic Eocene Crescent terrane, thrust landward beneath southern Vancouver Island, exhibits crustal velocities in the range of 6.0-6.7 km/s and is inferred to extend to a depth of more than 20 km. The Cenozoic Olympic Subduction Complex, an accretionary prism thrust beneath the Crescent terrane in the Olympic Peninsula, is imaged as a low-velocity wedge to depths of at least 20 km. Three zones with velocities of 7.0-7.5 km/s, inferred to be mafic and/or ultramafic units, lie above the subducting Juan de Fuca plate at depths of 25-35 km. The forearc upper mantle wedge beneath southeastern Vancouver Island and the Strait of Georgia exhibits low velocities of 7.2-7.5 km/s, inferred to correspond to ???20% serpentinization of mantle peridotites, and consistent with similar observations in other warm subduction zones. Estimated dip of the Juan de Fuca plate beneath southern Vancouver Island is ???11??, 16??, and 27?? at depths of 30, 40, and 50 km, respectively. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

Revisit of Criteria and Evidence for the Tectonic Erosion vs Accretion in East Asian Margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, G.; Hamahashi, M.

2015-12-01

Accretionary and erosive margins provide tectonic end-members in subduction zone and how these tectonic processes might be recorded and recognizable in ancient subduction complexes remains a challenging issue. Tectonic erosion includes sediment subduction and basal erosion along the plate boundary megathrust and drags down the crust of the upper plate into the mantle. Geologic evidence for the erosion is commonly based on lost geological tectono-stratigraphic data, i.e. gaps in the record and indirect phenomena such as subsidence of the forearc slopes. A topographically rough surface such as seamount has been suggested to work like an erosive saw carving the upper plate. Another mechanism of basal erosion has been suggested to be hydrofracturing of upper plate materials due to dehydration-induced fluid pressures, resulting in entrainment of upper plate materials into the basal décollement. Considering the interaction between the ~30 km thick crust of the upper plate and subducting oceanic plate, a subduction dip angle of ~15°, and convergent rate of ~10 cm/year, at least ~1 Ma of continuous basal erosion is necessary to induce clear subsidence of the forearc because the width of plate interface between the upper crustal and subducting plates is about 115 km (30/cos15°). In several examples of subduction zones, for example the Japan Trench and the Middle America Trench off Costa Rica, the subsidence of a few thousand metres of the forearc, combined with a lack of accretionary prism over a period of several million years, suggest that the erosive condition needs to be maintained for several to tens of million years.Such age gaps in the accretionary complex, however, do not automatically imply that tectonic erosion has taken place, as other interpretations such as no accretion, cessation of subduction, and/or later tectonic modification, are also possible. Recent drilling in the forearc of the Nankai Trough suggests that the accretion was ceased between ~12 Ma to ~8 Ma due to the transference of subduction from the Pacific Plate to the Philippine Sea Plate, as opposed to the continuous subduction of the Phillipine Sea Plate with subduction erosion.

Generation of mantle heterogeneity by oceanic crust recycling: how well can we match geochemical and geophysical observations? (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Keken, P. E.; Brandenburg, J. P.; Hauri, E. H.; Ballentine, C. J.

2009-12-01

The heterogeneity of the Earth's mantle is expressed in complementary geochemical and geophysical signatures, where the geochemistry provides a time-integrated signal and the geophysics tends to see a recent snapshot of the Earth's interior. While the geophysical evidence tends to support a form of whole mantle convection that is moderated by rheological and phase changes below the transition zone, the geochemical observations have been generally used to support the presence of long-lived and isolated reservoirs. Recent dynamical modeling (Brandenburg et al., EPSL, 2008) employed high resolution finite modeling of mantle convection using an energetically consistent simulation of tectonic plates. A suite of models was developed with a dynamic vigor similar to that of the present day earth. The recycling of oceanic crust combined with a two-stage formation of the continental crust leads to a satisfactory match to the observed spread between HIMU-DMM-EM1 in multiple isotope systems without invoking recycling of continental crust. Due to the rheological contrast between upper and lower mantle there is a natural occurrence of a well-mixed upper mantle overlaying a chemically more heterogeneous lower mantle. The pooling of dense oceanic crust provides the formation of dense piles at the base of the mantle. Together with the occurrence of slabs that thicken and/or stagnate at the 670 discontinuity we find reasonable correspondance with the present day tomographic signatures. At present the models fail to explain noble gas systematics, even when taking the suggested high compatibility of helium into account.

Upper mantle structure of the Tonga-Lau-Fiji region from Rayleigh wave tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, S. Shawn; Zha, Yang; Shen, Weisen; Wiens, Douglas A.; Conder, James A.; Webb, Spahr C.

2016-11-01

We investigate the upper mantle seismic structure in the Tonga-Lau-Fiji region by jointly fitting the phase velocities of Rayleigh waves from ambient-noise and two-plane-wave tomography. The results suggest a wide low-velocity zone beneath the Lau Basin, with a minimum SV-velocity of about 3.7 ± 0.1 km/s, indicating upwelling hot asthenosphere with extensive partial melting. The variations of velocity anomalies along the Central and Eastern Lau Spreading Centers suggest varying mantle porosity filled with melt. In the north where the spreading centers are distant from the Tonga slab, the inferred melting commences at about 70 km depth, and forms an inclined zone in the mantle, dipping to the west away from the arc. This pattern suggests a passive decompression melting process supplied by the Australian plate mantle from the west. In the south, as the supply from the Australian mantle is impeded by the Lau Ridge lithosphere, flux melting controlled by water from the nearby slab dominates in the back-arc. This source change results in the rapid transition in geochemistry and axial morphology along the spreading centers. The remnant Lau Ridge and the Fiji Plateau are characterized by a 60-80 km thick lithosphere underlain by a low-velocity asthenosphere. Our results suggest the removal of the lithosphere of the northeastern Fiji Plateau-Lau Ridge beneath the active Taveuni Volcano. Azimuthal anisotropy shows that the mantle flow direction rotates from trench-perpendicular beneath Fiji to spreading-perpendicular beneath the Lau Basin, which provides evidence for the southward flow of the mantle wedge and the Samoan plume.

Volatiles in the Earth and Moon: Constraints on planetary formation and evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parai, Rita

The volatile inventories of the Earth and Moon reflect unique histories of volatile acquisition and loss in the early Solar System. The terrestrial volatile inventory was established after the giant impact phase of accretion, and the planet subsequently settled into a regime of long-term volatile exchange between the mantle and surface reservoirs in association with plate tectonics. Therefore, volatiles in the Earth and Moon shed light on a diverse array of processes that shaped planetary bodies in the Solar System as they evolved to their present-day states. Here we investigate new constraints on volatile depletion in the early Solar System, early outgassing of the terrestrial mantle, and the long-term evolution of the deep Earth volatile budget. We develop a Monte Carlo model of long-term water exchange between the mantle and surface reservoirs. Previous estimates of the deep Earth return flux of water are up to an order of magnitude too large, and incorporation of recycled slabs on average rehydrates the upper mantle but dehydrates the plume source. We find evidence for heterogeneous recycling of atmospheric argon and xenon into the upper mantle from noble gases in Southwest Indian Ridge basalts. Xenon isotope systematics indicate that xenon budgets of mid-ocean ridge and plume-related mantle sources are dominated by recycled atmospheric xenon, though the two sources have experienced different degrees of degassing. Differences between the mid-ocean ridge and plume sources were initiated within the first 100 million years of Earth history, and the two sources have never subsequently been homogenized. New high-precision xenon isotopic data contribute to an emerging portrait of two mantle reservoirs with distinct histories of outgassing and incorporation of recycled material in association with plate tectonics. Xenon isotopes indicate that the Moon likely formed within ˜70 million years of the start of the Solar System. To further investigate early Solar System chronology, we determined strontium isotopic compositions in a suite of planetary materials. If the Moon is derived from proto-Earth material, then rubidium-strontium systematics in the lunar anorthosite 60025 and Moore County plagioclase indicate that Moon formation occurred within ~62 million years of the start of the Solar System.

Upper mantle anisotropy from long-period P polarization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schulte-Pelkum, Vera; Masters, Guy; Shearer, Peter M.

2001-10-01

We introduce a method to infer upper mantle azimuthal anisotropy from the polarization, i.e., the direction of particle motion, of teleseismic long-period P onsets. The horizontal polarization of the initial P particle motion can deviate by >10° from the great circle azimuth from station to source despite a high degree of linearity of motion. Recent global isotropic three-dimensional mantle models predict effects that are an order of magnitude smaller than our observations. Stations within regional distances of each other show consistent azimuthal deviation patterns, while the deviations seem to be independent of source depth and near-source structure. We demonstrate that despite this receiver-side spatial coherence, our polarization data cannot be fit by a large-scale joint inversion for whole mantle structure. However, they can be reproduced by azimuthal anisotropy in the upper mantle and crust. Modeling with an anisotropic reflectivity code provides bounds on the magnitude and depth range of the anisotropy manifested in our data. Our method senses anisotropy within one wavelength (250 km) under the receiver. We compare our inferred fast directions of anisotropy to those obtained from Pn travel times and SKS splitting. The results of the comparison are consistent with azimuthal anisotropy situated in the uppermost mantle, with SKS results deviating from Pn and Ppol in some regions with probable additional deeper anisotropy. Generally, our fast directions are consistent with anisotropic alignment due to lithospheric deformation in tectonically active regions and to absolute plate motion in shield areas. Our data provide valuable additional constraints in regions where discrepancies between results from different methods exist since the effect we observe is local rather than cumulative as in the case of travel time anisotropy and shear wave splitting. Additionally, our measurements allow us to identify stations with incorrectly oriented horizontal components.

Efficient cooling of rocky planets by intrusive magmatism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lourenço, Diogo L.; Rozel, Antoine B.; Gerya, Taras; Tackley, Paul J.

2018-05-01

The Earth is in a plate tectonics regime with high surface heat flow concentrated at constructive plate boundaries. Other terrestrial bodies that lack plate tectonics are thought to lose their internal heat by conduction through their lids and volcanism: hotter planets (Io and Venus) show widespread volcanism whereas colder ones (modern Mars and Mercury) are less volcanically active. However, studies of terrestrial magmatic processes show that less than 20% of melt volcanically erupts, with most melt intruding into the crust. Signatures of large magmatic intrusions are also found on other planets. Yet, the influence of intrusive magmatism on planetary cooling remains unclear. Here we use numerical magmatic-thermo-mechanical models to simulate global mantle convection in a planetary interior. In our simulations, warm intrusive magmatism acts to thin the lithosphere, leading to sustained recycling of overlying crustal material and cooling of the mantle. In contrast, volcanic eruptions lead to a thick lithosphere that insulates the upper mantle and prevents efficient cooling. We find that heat loss due to intrusive magmatism can be particularly efficient compared to volcanic eruptions if the partitioning of heat-producing radioactive elements into the melt phase is weak. We conclude that the mode of magmatism experienced by rocky bodies determines the thermal and compositional evolution of their interior.

Numerical modeling of Farallon Plate flat-slab subduction: Influence of lithosphere structure and rheology on slab dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, X.; Currie, C. A.

2017-12-01

The subducted Farallon plate is believed to have evolved to a flat geometry underneath North America plate during Late Cretaceous, triggering Laramide deformation within the continental interior. However, the mechanism that caused the oceanic slab to flatten and the factors that control the flat-slab depth remain uncertain. In this work, we use 2D thermal-mechanical models using the SOPALE code to study the subduction dynamics from 90 Ma to 50 Ma. During this period, an oceanic plateau (Shatsky Conjugate) is inferred to have subducted beneath western North America and interacted with the continental lithosphere, including areas of thicker lithosphere such as the Colorado Plateau and Wyoming Craton. Based on seismic tomography and plate reconstruction data sets, we built a set of models to examine the influence of the structure and rheology of the oceanic and continental plates on slab dynamics. Models include a 600 km wide oceanic plateau consisting of 18 km thick crust and a 36 km thick underlying harzburgite layer, and we ran a series of model experiments to test different continental thicknesses (80 km, 120 km, & 180 km) and continental mantle lithosphere strengths (approximating conditions from wet olivine to dry olivine). Consistent with earlier studies, we find that creation of a long flat slab requires a buoyant oceanic plateau (i.e., non-eclogitized crust) and trenchward motion of the continent. In addition, our models demonstrate the upper plate has an important control on slab dynamics. A flat slab requires either a thin continent or, if the continent is thick, its mantle lithosphere must be relatively weak so that it can be displaced by the flattening slab. The depth of the flat slab is mainly controlled by two factors: (1) the continental thickness and (2) the strength of the continental mantle lithosphere. For the same initial lithosphere thickness (120 km), a shallower flat slab ( 90 km depth) occurs for the weakest mantle lithosphere ( wet olivine) compared to 120 km depth for strong ( dry) mantle lithosphere because the flat slab removes the lowermost weak lithosphere. Moreover, an even deeper slab ( 130 km) can be found underneath the weakest but thicker continental lithosphere (180 km). Future models will focus on how the flat slab may induce hydration and deformation for the overriding continental plate.

Evidence of multifaceted SKS/SKKS splitting directions in the Sikkim Himalaya, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Narendra; Kumar, Sushil

2018-06-01

We have investigated the anisotropy strength and fast-axis orientation using an SKS/SKKS splitting technique of seismic phases at Sikkim Himalaya, which is a seismically active zone situated in the central portion of the Great Himalyan Arc in the Indian region. This region lies between two major plate boundary faults, the Main Central Thrust (MCT) and the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) at its north and south respectively, along with a few regional lineaments. In this study we deployed eight broadband seismic stations and acquired two years of tele-seismic earthquake data, from which we derived 66 good quality anisotropic measurements. In general, the splitting results from both the SKS and SKKS phases show a complex pattern of fast-axis orientation along the northern periphery of the MCT. However, at the central part of the Sikkim between the MBT and the MCT, both results are consistent with the upper mantle deformation of the Indian Plate. We also observed that the anisotropic strength varies between 0.6 s to 3 s and is skewed towards higher anisotropy with orthogonal polarization, which indicate the presence of a two-layer anisotropy. Results of the modelling of 66 anisotropic measurements indicate that the bottom-layer fast-axis orientations are towards N180E with higher anisotropic strength of ∂t = 1.3 s, which elucidates the pristine nature of the upper mantle deformation as a result of asthenospheric flow. But the tectonic deformation of the upper mantle within the lithosphere is prominently observed in the top layer, where the fast axis orientations are towards N480E with lower anisotropic strength of ∂t = 0.6 s.

Mantle convection patterns reveal the enigma of the Red Sea rifting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrunin, Alexey; Kaban, Mikhail; El Khrepy, Sami; Al-Arifi, Nassir

2017-04-01

Initiation and further development of the Red Sea rift (RSR) is usually associated with the Afar plume at the Oligocene-Miocene separating the Arabian plate from the rest of the continent. Usually, the RSR is divided into three parts with different geological, tectonic and geophysical characteristics, but the nature of this partitioning is still debatable. To understand origin and driving forces responsible for the tectonic partitioning of the RSR, we have developed a global mantle convection model based on the refined density model and viscosity distribution derived from tectonic, rheological and seismic data. The global density model of the upper mantle is refined for the Middle East based on the high-resolution 3D model (Kaban et al., 2016). This model based on a joint inversion of the residual gravity and residual topography provides much better constraints on the 3D density structure compared to the global model based on seismic tomography. The refined density model and the viscosity distribution based on a homologous temperature approach provide an initial setup for further numerical calculations. The present-day snapshot of the mantle convection is calculated by using the code ProSpher 3D that allows for strong lateral variations of viscosity (Petrunin et al., 2013). The setup includes weak plate boundaries, while the measured GPS velocities are used to constrain the solution. The resulting mantle flow patterns show clear distinctions among the mantle flow patterns below the three parts of the RSR. According to the modeling results, tectonics of the southern part of the Red Sea is mainly determined by the Afar plume and the Ethiopian rift opening. It is characterized by a divergent mantle flow, which is connected to the East African Rift activity. The rising mantle flow is traced down to the transition zone and continues in the lower mantle for a few thousand kilometers south-west of Afar. The hot mantle anomaly below the central part of the RSR can be explained either by the asthenospheric upwelling due to the Red Sea floor spreading or by a secondary plume rising from the transition zone. According to our model, there is no obvious evidence for a direct connection of the hot anomaly below the central part of the RSR and the Afar plume in the upper mantle. In the northern part of the RSR, we found the ridge-axis aligned downstream flow contradicting the hypothesis of the intra-continental rifting in this area. Likely, the tectonics of this area implies a complex interplay of the Dead Sea transform fault development and the Sinai and Mediterranean tectonics. Kaban, M. K., S. El Khrepy, N. Al-Arifi, M. Tesauro, and W. Stolk (2016), Three dimensional density model of the upper mantle in the Middle East: Interaction of diverse tectonic processes, J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 121, doi:10.1002/2015JB012755. Petrunin, A. G.; Kaban, M. K.; Rogozhina, I.; Trubitsyn, V. (2013). Revising the spectral method as applied to modeling mantle dynamics. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems (G3), EDOC: 21048.

Upper mantle and crustal structure of southwestern Scandinavia: Results of the TopoScandiaDeep project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köhler, A.; Balling, N.; Ebbing, J.; England, R.; Frassetto, A.; Gradmann, S.; Jacobsen, B. H.; Kvarven, T.; Maupin, V.; Medhus, A. Bondo; Mjelde, R.; Ritter, J.; Schweizer, J.; Stratford, W.; Thybo, H.; Wawerzinek, B.; Weidle, C.

2012-04-01

The origin of the Scandinavian mountains, located far away from any presently active plate margin, is still not well understood. In particular, it is not clear if the mountains are sustained isostatically either by crustal thickening or by light upper mantle material. Within the TopoScandiaDeep project (a collaborative research project within the ESF TOPO-EUROPE programme), we therefore analyse recently collected passive seismological and active seismic data in the southern Scandes and surrounding regions. We infer crustal and upper mantle (velocity) structures and relate them to results of gravity and temperature-composition modelling. The Moho under the high topography of southern Norway appears from controlled source seismic refraction and Receiver Functions as relatively shallow (<= 45 km) compared to the deeper conversion (>55 km) imaged beneath the low topography in Sweden and elsewhere in the Baltic Shield area outside Norway. The Receiver Function modeling as well as the active seismic results suggest that the differences in the observed Moho response may represent the transition between tectonically reworked Moho under southern Norway and an intact, cratonic crust-mantle boundary beneath the Baltic Shield. Furthermore, the 410km-discontinuity and the LAB is imaged, the latter one suggesting a lithospheric thickening in NE direction. Upper mantle P-wave and S-wave velocities in southern Sweden and southern Norway east of the Oslo Graben are correspondingly relatively high while lower velocities are observed in the southwestern part of Norway and northern Denmark. The lateral velocity gradient, interpreted as the southwestern boundary of thick Baltic Shield lithosphere, is remarkably sharp. Differences in upper mantle velocities are found at depths of 100-400 km and amount to ± 2-3%. S-to-P wave conversions, interpreted to originate from the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, are preliminary estimated to 90-120 km depth. Inversion of Rayleigh and Love surface wave phase velocity dispersion curves from observations of ambient noise and earthquakes yield another independent model of the crust and upper mantle structure below southern Norway. Inverted crustal velocities and Moho depths are consistent with the results of seismic refraction and receiver functions. Additionally, indications for radial crustal anisotropy of up to about 3% are found. The inferred upper mantle S-wave velocities show that the lithosphere under southern Norway has characteristics usually found under continental platforms and changes towards a cratonic-like velocity structure in the East, in agreement with the body wave tomography. All in all, these separate investigations give a very consistent and stable picture of the crust and upper mantle configuration. Integrated geophysical modeling of the results shows that a lateral transition from thinner, warmer lithosphere under southern Norway towards thicker, colder lithosphere under Sweden results in a density distribution that significantly adds to the isostatic support of Norway's high topography.

Reconciling surface plate motions with rapid three-dimensional mantle flow around a slab edge.

PubMed

Jadamec, Margarete A; Billen, Magali I

2010-05-20

The direction of tectonic plate motion at the Earth's surface and the flow field of the mantle inferred from seismic anisotropy are well correlated globally, suggesting large-scale coupling between the mantle and the surface plates. The fit is typically poor at subduction zones, however, where regional observations of seismic anisotropy suggest that the direction of mantle flow is not parallel to and may be several times faster than plate motions. Here we present three-dimensional numerical models of buoyancy-driven deformation with realistic slab geometry for the Alaska subduction-transform system and use them to determine the origin of this regional decoupling of flow. We find that near a subduction zone edge, mantle flow velocities can have magnitudes of more than ten times the surface plate motions, whereas surface plate velocities are consistent with plate motions and the complex mantle flow field is consistent with observations from seismic anisotropy. The seismic anisotropy observations constrain the shape of the eastern slab edge and require non-Newtonian mantle rheology. The incorporation of the non-Newtonian viscosity results in mantle viscosities of 10(17) to 10(18) Pa s in regions of high strain rate (10(-12) s(-1)), and this low viscosity enables the mantle flow field to decouple partially from the motion of the surface plates. These results imply local rapid transport of geochemical signatures through subduction zones and that the internal deformation of slabs decreases the slab-pull force available to drive subducting plates.

Effects of subduction and slab gaps on mantle flow beneath the Lesser Antilles based on observations of seismic anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlaphorst, David; Kendall, J.-Michael; Baptie, Brian; Latchman, Joan L.; Bouin, Marie-Paule

2016-04-01

Subduction is a key process in the formation of continental crust. However, the interaction of the mantle with the subducting slab is not fully understood and varies between subduction zones. The flow geometry and stress patterns influence seismic anisotropy; since anisotropic layers lead to variations in the speed of seismic waves as a function of the direction of wave propagation, mantle flow can be constrained by investigating the structure of these anisotropic layers. In this study we investigate seismic anisotropy in the eastern Greater and the Lesser Antilles along a subduction environment, including the crust and the upper mantle as regions of interest. We use a combination of teleseismic and local events recorded at three-component broadband seismic stations on every major island in the area to observe and distinguish between anisotropy in the crust, the mantle wedge and the sub-slab mantle. Local event delay times (0.21±0.12s) do not increase with depth, indicating a crustal origin and an isotropic mantle wedge. Teleseismic delay times are larger (1.34±0.47s), indicating sub-slab anisotropy. The results suggest trench-parallel mantle flow, with the exception of trench-perpendicular alignment in narrow regions east of Puerto Rico and south of Martinique, suggesting mantle flow through gaps in the slab. This agrees with the continuous northward mantle flow that is caused by the subducting slab proposed by previous studies of that region. We were able to identify a pattern previously unseen by other studies; on St. Lucia a trench-perpendicular trend also indicated by the stations around can be observed. This pattern can be explained by a mantle flow through a gap induced by the subduction of the boundary zone between the North and South American plates. This feature has been proposed for that area using tomographic modelling (van Benthem et al., 2013). It is based on previous results by Wadge & Shepherd (1984), who observed a vertical gap in the Wadati-Benioff zone at that location using a seismicity catalogue from local seismic networks. This work strengthens the argument for that location to be the plate boundary between the North and South American plates.

AniTomo - New Anisotropic Teleseismic Body-Wave Tomography Code to Unravel Structure of the Upper Mantle: Impact of Inversion Settings on Inferences of the Output Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munzarova, H.; Plomerova, J.; Kissling, E. H.

2015-12-01

Consideration of only isotropic wave propagation and neglecting anisotropy in tomography studies is a simplification obviously incongruous with current understanding of mantle-lithosphere plate dynamics. Both fossil anisotropy in the mantle lithosphere and anisotropy due to the present-day flow in the asthenosphere may significantly influence propagation of seismic waves. We present a novel code for anisotropic teleseismic tomography (AniTomo) that allows to invert relative P-wave travel time residuals simultaneously for coupled isotropic-anisotropic P-wave velocity models of the upper mantle. We have modified frequently-used isotropic teleseismic tomography code Telinv by assuming weak hexagonal anisotropy with symmetry axis oriented generally in 3D to be, together with heterogeneities, a source of the observed P-wave travel-time residuals. Careful testing of the new code with synthetics, concentrating on strengths and limitations of the inversion method, is a necessary step before AniTomo is applied to real datasets. We examine various aspects of anisotropic tomography and particularly influence of ray coverage on resolvability of individual model parameters and of initial models on the result. Synthetic models are designed to schematically represent heterogeneous and anisotropic structures in the upper mantle. Several synthetic tests mimicking a real tectonic setting, e.g. the lithosphere subduction in the Northern Apennines in Italy (Munzarova et al., G-Cubed, 2013), allow us to make quantitative assessments of the well-known trade-off between effects of seismic anisotropy and heterogeneities. Our results clearly document that significant distortions of imaged velocity heterogeneities may result from neglecting anisotropy.

Upper Mantle Texture Patterns In Eastern North America From Seismic Anisotropy And Global Mantle Flow Calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levin, V. L.; Moucha, R.; Yuan, H.

2013-12-01

Global seismic models show gradual and systematic changes in upper mantle seismic properties beneath North America. Faster and thicker lithosphere of the interior thins eastward. Upper mantle rock fabric reflected in observations of seismic anisotropy also varies. Near the coast apparent fast directions of split shear waves are nearly east-west, with considerable scatter. Further inland they are more uniform and align SW-NE, close to the absolute plate motion direction of North America. Mantle convection simulations driven by density inferred from global joint seismic-geodynamic tomography models exhibit complex flow beneath the eastern edge of the North American continent due to the ongoing descent of the Farallon slab deep beneath it (figure 1). Flow predicted beneath the coast is nearly horizontal with a small, though dynamically important, vertical component, while west of the Appalachians it turns downward. Long records of teleseismic observations accumulated at permanent seismic stations HRV, PAL and SSPA (figure 2) are inverted for vertical distribution of anisotropic parameters. We find preference for more than one layer of anisotropy beneath all sites, with significantly different parameters that could reflect either lateral variations in the lithospheric thickness, variations in the asthenospheric flow field, or both. Since we find considerable consistency in directional patterns of P-to-S mode converted waves associated with the lower part of the lithosphere, variations of asthenospheric flow seem to be a more plausible explanation. We explore the links between predicted flow and inferences from seismic data with additional observations of anisotropy and calculations of flow-induced rock fabric.

Origin and Evolution of the Yellowstone Hotspot from Seismic-GPS Imaging and Geodynamic Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, R. B.; Jordan, M.; Puskas, C. M.; Farrell, J.; Waite, G. P.

2006-12-01

The Yellowstone hotspot resulted from interaction of a mantle plume with the overriding North America plate. This feature and related processes have influenced a large part of the western U.S., producing the 16 Ma Yellowstone-Snake River Plain-Newberry silicic-basalt volcanic field (YSRPN). We integrate results from a multi-institution experiment that deployed 80 seismic stations and 160 campaign and 21 permanent GPS stations for 1999-2003. Crust and mantle velocity models were derived from inversion of teleseismic and local earthquake data. Kinematic and dynamic models were derived from inversion of GPS velocities constrained by stresses associated the topography and the +15 m geoid anomaly. Tomography revealed a P- and S-wave low-velocity body at depths of 8-16 km beneath the caldera that is interpreted as partial melt of 8-15% that feeds the youthful Yellowstone volcanic field. Volume changes in the magma chamber are responsible for GPS-measured episodes of uplift and subsidence of the caldera at decadal scales with average rates of ~20 mm/yr but much higher short-term rates of up to 80 mm/yr. An upper-mantle low-velocity body was imaged by inverting teleseismic data constrained by the geoid structure, crustal structure, and the upper mantle discontinuities. This low P and S velocity body extends from 80 km to ~250 km directly beneath Yellowstone and then continues to 650 km with unexpected tilt to the west at ~60°. The tilt is consistent with the ascent of the buoyant magma entrained in eastward return-flow of the upper mantle. We estimate this body has an excess temperature from 85K to 120K, depending on the water content and with up to 1.5% melt. Using the inclined plume-geometry and plate motion history, we extrapolate the Yellowstone mantle source southwestward ~800 km as a plume-head in oceanic lithosphere centered beneath the Columbia Plateau basalt field at 16 Ma. Magma ascent was truncated there by the passage of thicker continental lithosphere over the plume beginning at 12 Ma, reducing the rate of large-scale volcanic eruptions in the YSRP. The decapitated plume head beneath Oregon underwent mantle return flow above the subducting Juan de Fuca plate and was responsible for the NW transgressive magmatism of the Newberry system. We then model the overall kinematics of the western U.S. from GPS data as SW motion for the YSRP, ~2 mm/yr, rotating into E-W motion in the Basin-Range, with a cumulative rate of ~4 mm/yr, and rotating to the northwest at rates of up to ~5 mm/yr in the Pacific Northwest, totaling ~10 mm/yr. Geodynamic models employing the GPS data and geometry of the crust-mantle structure suggests that southwest motion of the YSRP is dominated by stresses produced by the high potential energy of the Yellowstone hotspot while westward motion of the Basin-Range is driven by stress differences associated with the high topography of the Rocky Mountains.

Origin of the lithospheric stress field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lithgow-Bertelloni, Carolina; Guynn, Jerome H.

2004-01-01

An understanding of the tectonic stress field is geologically important because it is the agent that preserves in the crust a memory of dynamical processes. In an effort to elucidate the origin of the present state of stress of the lithosphere we use a finite element model of the Earth's lithosphere to calculate stresses induced by mantle flow, crustal heterogeneity, and topography and compare these to observations of intraplate stresses as given by the World Stress Map. We explore two models of lithospheric heterogeneity, one based directly on seismic and other observational constraints (Crust 2.0), and another that assumes isostatic compensation. Mantle tractions are computed from two models of mantle density heterogeneity: a model based on the history of subduction of the last 180 Myr, which has proved successful at accurately reproducing the present-day geoid and Cenozoic plate velocities, and a model inferred from seismic tomography. We explore the effects of varying assumptions for the viscosity structure of the mantle, and the effects of lateral variations in viscosity in the form of weak plate boundaries. We find that a combined model that includes both mantle and lithospheric sources of stress yields the best match to the observed stress field (˜60% variance reduction), although there are many regions where agreement between observed and predicted stresses is poor. The stress field produced by mantle tractions alone shows a greater degree of long-wavelength structure than is apparent in the stress observations but agrees very well with observations in some areas where radial mantle tractions are particularly strong such as in southeast Asia and the western Pacific. The stress field produced by lithospheric heterogeneity alone depends strongly on the assumed crustal model: Whereas the isostatically compensated model yields very poor agreement with observations, the model based on Crust 2.0 matches the observations about as well as mantle tractions alone and matches very well in certain areas where the influence of high topography is very important (e.g., Andes, East Africa). A possible interpretation of our results is that the stress field is significantly influenced by lateral variations in the viscosity of the mantle, which leads to variable amounts of decoupling between lithosphere and mantle, allowing the mantle signature to dominate in some areas and the crustal signature to dominate in others. The poor fit between the isostatically compensated crustal model and observations and the large differences between the two crustal models point toward the importance of dynamic topography and remaining uncertainties in crustal structure and rheology. We also consider the possibility that observations of stress from the shallow crust may not reflect the state of stress of the entire plate; stresses in the upper plate may be at least partially decoupled from broader-scale plate driving forces by lateral and vertical variations in lithospheric rheology.

Pulsing of a focused mantle plume: Evidence from the distribution of foundation chain hotspot volcanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connor, John M.; Stoffers, Peter; Wijbrans, Jan R.

2002-05-01

Using the rare case of a hotspot chain crossing a fossil microplate, we reveal fundamental mantle plume characteristics by comparing hotspot volcanism in a sequence of contrasting tectonic settings. Key new 40Ar/39Ar ages show that the Foundation mantle plume pulses hot masses from depth with an apparent periodicity of one Myr. Synchronous magmatism over large distances indicates that masses associated with individual pulses are focused initially into similarly sized zones under the Pacific plate. Since the plume, spreading on impact with the lithosphere, influences a very wide area, apparently unconnected hotspot volcanism can be produced simultaneously across wide swaths, often crosscutting seamount chains. Our model might explain in part much of the midplate volcanism scattered across the Pacific seafloor indicating the episodic addition of significantly greater masses of plume material into the upper mantle than suggested by the narrowness of major seamount chains.

Geoid, topography, and convection-driven crustal deformation on Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, Mark; Hager, Bradford H.; Solomon, Sean C.

1993-01-01

High-resolution Magellan images and altimetry of Venus reveal a wide range of styles and scales of surface deformation that cannot readily be explained within the classical terrestrial plate tectonic paradigm. The high correlation of long-wavelength topography and gravity and the large apparent depths of compensation suggest that Venus lacks an upper-mantle low-viscosity zone. A key difference between Earth and Venus may be the degree of coupling between the convecting mantle and the overlying lithosphere. Mantle flow should then have recognizable signatures in the relationships between the observed surface topography, crustal deformation, and the gravity field. Therefore, comparison of model results with observational data can help to constrain such parameters as crustal and thermal boundary layer thicknesses as well as the character of mantle flow below different Venusian features. We explore in this paper the effects of this coupling by means of a finite element modelling technique.

A fictitious domain method for lithosphere-asthenosphere interaction: Application to periodic slab folding in the upper mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerpa, Nestor G.; Hassani, Riad; Gerbault, Muriel; Prévost, Jean-Herve

2014-05-01

We present a new approach for the lithosphere-asthenosphere interaction in subduction zones. The lithosphere is modeled as a Maxwell viscoelastic body sinking in the viscous asthenosphere. Both domains are discretized by the finite element method, and we use a staggered coupling method. The interaction is provided by a nonmatching interface method called the fictitious domain method. We describe a simplified formulation of this numerical technique and present 2-D examples and benchmarks. We aim at studying the effect of mantle viscosity on the cyclicity of slab folding at the 660 km depth transition zone. Such cyclicity has previously been shown to occur depending on the kinematics of both the overriding and subducting plates, in analog and numerical models that approximate the 660 km depth transition zone as an impenetrable barrier. Here we applied far-field plate velocities corresponding to those of the South-American and Nazca plates at present. Our models show that the viscosity of the asthenosphere impacts on folding cyclicity and consequently on the slab's dip as well as the stress regime of the overriding plate. Values of the mantle viscosity between 3 and 5 × 1020 Pa s are found to produce cycles similar to those reported for the Andes, which are of the order of 30-40 Myr (based on magmatism and sedimentological records). Moreover, we discuss the episodic development of horizontal subduction induced by cyclic folding and, hence, propose a new explanation for episodes of flat subduction under the South-American plate.

Uppermost Mantle Deformation and Hydration Beneath the Gorda Plate Inferred from Pn Travel-times

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

VanderBeek, B. P.; Toomey, D. R.

2017-12-01

Deformation of the uppermost oceanic mantle is thought to occur primarily in response to divergence beneath mid-ocean ridges with little subsequent deformation off-axis. A notable exception to this is the Gorda plate where sinuous magnetic anomalies and numerous intra-plate earthquakes indicate diffuse, plate-wide deformation. Thus, the Gorda region provides a natural laboratory to investigate the non-rigid behavior of tectonic plates. We invert Pn (the seismic head wave refracted below the Moho) arrival times from 770 local earthquakes for epicentral and mantle anisotropic velocity parameters to understand how the surficial pattern of deformation translates into the uppermost 10 km of the mantle. Specifically, we ask does the pattern of seismic anisotropy reflect spreading-induced fabrics or has it been re-worked by extensive deformation of the Gorda plate? If it has been re-worked, does it reflect pervasive faulting of the uppermost mantle or plate-scale ductile deformation? And, are isotropic velocities anomalously slow suggesting significant mantle hydration? Preliminary results show that the average mantle velocity beneath Gorda is 7.55 km/s. Velocities vary azimuthally by 4% and the fast-propagation direction is sub-parallel to Pacific absolute plate motion (APM). In comparison, the uppermost mantle beneath the Juan de Fuca (JdF) plate is characterized by 4.6% anisotropy with a mean velocity of 7.85 km/s [VanderBeek and Toomey, 2017]; the fast propagation direction trends between the paleo-spreading direction and JdF APM. The reduced Gorda velocities may indicate a greater extent of fault-controlled hydration of the shallow mantle compared to the JdF plate. In both regions, the anisotropic structure argues against the notion that shallow mantle deformation ceases away from the ridge. Instead, shearing across Gorda due to differential motion between the Pacific and JdF plates [e.g. Bodmer et al., 2015] may cause broad scale ductile deformation and the realignment of shallow mantle fabrics. Beneath the JdF plate, the anisotropic signal is inferred to track the evolution of mantle flow as it evolves from divergence at the ridge to simple shear that is more closely aligned with APM. We discuss the rheologic implications of these observations and the patterns of mantle flow and deformation in Cascadia.

Geology is the Key to Explain Igneous Activity in the Mediterranean Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lustrino, M.

2014-12-01

Igneous activity in tectonically complex areas can be interpreted in many different ways, producing completely different petrogenetic models. Processes such as oceanic and continental subduction, lithospheric delamination, changes in subduction polarity, slab break-off and mantle plumes have all been advocated as causes for changes in plate boundaries and magma production, including rate and temporal distribution, in the circum-Mediterranean area. This region thus provides a natural laboratory to investigate a range of geodynamic and magmatic processes. Although many petrologic and tectonic models have been proposed, a number of highly controversial questions still remain. No consensus has yet been reached about the capacity of plate-tectonic processes to explain the origin and style of the magmatism. Similarly, there is still not consensus on the ability of geochemical and petrological arguments to reveal the geodynamic evolution of the area. The wide range of chemical and mineralogical magma compositions produced within and around the Mediterranean, from carbonatites to strongly silica-undersaturated silico-carbonatites and melilitites to strongly silica-oversaturated rhyolites, complicate models and usually require a large number of unconstrained assumptions. Can the calcalkaline-sodic alkaline transition be related to any common petrogenetic point? Is igneous activity plate-tectonic- (top-down) or deep-mantle-controlled (bottom-up)? Do the rare carbonatites and carbonate-rich igneous rocks derive from the deep mantle or a normal, CO2-bearing upper mantle? Do ultrapotassic compositions require continental subduction? Understanding chemically complex magmas emplaced in tectonically complex areas require open minds, and avoiding dogma and assumptions. Studying the geology and shallow dynamics, not speculating about the deep lower mantle, is the key to understanding the igneous activity.

Mantle convection with plates and mobile, faulted plate margins.

PubMed

Zhong, S; Gurnis, M

1995-02-10

A finite-element formulation of faults has been incorporated into time-dependent models of mantle convection with realistic rheology, continents, and phase changes. Realistic tectonic plates naturally form with self-consistent coupling between plate and mantle dynamics. After the initiation of subduction, trenches rapidly roll back with subducted slabs temporarily laid out along the base of the transition zone. After the slabs have penetrated into the lower mantle, the velocity of trench migration decreases markedly. The inhibition of slab penetration into the lower mantle by the 670-kilometer phase change is greatly reduced in these models as compared to models without tectonic plates.

The mineralogical and chronological evidences of subducted continent material in deep mantle: diamond, zircon and rutile separated from the Horoman peridotite of Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Y.; Yang, J.; Nida, K.; Yamamoto, S.; Lin, Y.; Li, Q.; Tian, M.; Kon, Y.; Komiya, T.; Maruyama, S.

2017-12-01

The Horoman peridotite complex is an Alpine-type orogenic lherzolite massif of upper-mantle in the Hidaka metamorphic belt, Hokkaido, Japan. The peridotite complex is composed of dunite, harzburgite, spinel lherzolite and plagioclase lherzolite, exhibits a conspicuous layered structure, which is a product of a Cretaceous to early Paleogene arc-trench system formed by westward subduction of an oceanic plate between the paleo-Eurasian and paleo-North American Plates. Various combinations of diamond, corundum, moissanite, zircon, monazite, rutile, and kyanite have been separated from spinel harzburgite (700 kg) and lherzolite (500 kg), respectively. The carbon isotopes analyses of diamond grains by Nano-SIMS yielded significant light carbon isotopes feature as δ13 CPDB values ranging from -29.2 ‰ to -17.2 ‰, with an average of -22.8±0.32 ‰. Zircon grains occur as sub-angular to round in morphological characteristics, similar to zircons of crustal sedimentary rocks. Many zircons contain small inclusions, comprise of quartz, apatite, rutile and muscovite. The U-Pb age of zircon grains analyzed using LA-ICP-MS and SIMS gave a wide age range, from the Jurassic to Archean (ca 159 - 3131 Ma). In the zircon age histogram, four age groups were identified; the age peaks are 2385 Ma, 1890 Ma, 1618 Ma and 1212 Ma, respectively. On the other hand, U-Pb ages of rutile grains analyzed using SIMS gave a peak of 370 Ma in age histogram. The mineralogical and chronological evidences of numerous crustal minerals in peridotite of Horoman suggest that the ancient continent material was subducted in deep mantle and recycled through the upper mantle by multicycle subduction processes.

The plume head-continental lithosphere interaction using a tectonically realistic formulation for the lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burov, E.; Guillou-Frottier, L.

2005-05-01

Current debates on the existence of mantle plumes largely originate from interpretations of supposed signatures of plume-induced surface topography that are compared with predictions of geodynamic models of plume-lithosphere interactions. These models often inaccurately predict surface evolution: in general, they assume a fixed upper surface and consider the lithosphere as a single viscous layer. In nature, the surface evolution is affected by the elastic-brittle-ductile deformation, by a free upper surface and by the layered structure of the lithosphere. We make a step towards reconciling mantle- and tectonic-scale studies by introducing a tectonically realistic continental plate model in large-scale plume-lithosphere interaction. This model includes (i) a natural free surface boundary condition, (ii) an explicit elastic-viscous(ductile)-plastic(brittle) rheology and (iii) a stratified structure of continental lithosphere. The numerical experiments demonstrate a number of important differences from predictions of conventional models. In particular, this relates to plate bending, mechanical decoupling of crustal and mantle layers and tension-compression instabilities, which produce transient topographic signatures such as uplift and subsidence at large (>500 km) and small scale (300-400, 200-300 and 50-100 km). The mantle plumes do not necessarily produce detectable large-scale topographic highs but often generate only alternating small-scale surface features that could otherwise be attributed to regional tectonics. A single large-wavelength deformation, predicted by conventional models, develops only for a very cold and thick lithosphere. Distinct topographic wavelengths or temporarily spaced events observed in the East African rift system, as well as over French Massif Central, can be explained by a single plume impinging at the base of the continental lithosphere, without evoking complex asthenospheric upwelling.

Trench-parallel flow beneath the nazca plate from seismic anisotropy.

PubMed

Russo, R M; Silver, P G

1994-02-25

Shear-wave splitting of S and SKS phases reveals the anisotropy and strain field of the mantle beneath the subducting Nazca plate, Cocos plate, and the Caribbean region. These observations can be used to test models of mantle flow. Two-dimensional entrained mantle flow beneath the subducting Nazca slab is not consistent with the data. Rather, there is evidence for horizontal trench-parallel flow in the mantle beneath the Nazca plate along much of the Andean subduction zone. Trench-parallel flow is attributale utable to retrograde motion of the slab, the decoupling of the slab and underlying mantle, and a partial barrier to flow at depth, resulting in lateral mantle flow beneath the slab. Such flow facilitates the transfer of material from the shrinking mantle reservoir beneath the Pacific basin to the growing mantle reservoir beneath the Atlantic basin. Trenchparallel flow may explain the eastward motions of the Caribbean and Scotia sea plates, the anomalously shallow bathymetry of the eastern Nazca plate, the long-wavelength geoid high over western South America, and it may contribute to the high elevation and intense deformation of the central Andes.

Global geodynamic models constrained by tectonic reconstructions including plate deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurnis, M.; Flament, N.; Spasojevic, S.; Williams, S.; Seton, M.; Müller, R. D.

2011-12-01

In order to investigate the effect of mantle flow on the Earth's surface, imposing the kinematics predicted by plate reconstructions in global convection models has become common practice. Such models are valuable to investigate the effect of the mantle flow beneath the lithosphere on surface topography. Changes in surface topography due to lithospheric deformation are so far not part of top-down tectonic models in which plates are treated as rigid in traditional tectonic reconstructions. We introduce a new generation of geodynamic models that are based on tectonic reconstructions with deforming plates at both passive and convergent margins. These models allow us to investigate the relationships between lithospheric deformation and mantle flow, and their combined effects on surface topography. In traditional tectonic reconstructions, continents are represented as rigid blocks that either overlap or are separated by gaps in full-fit reconstructions. Reconstructions that include a global network of topological plate polygons avoid continental overlaps and gaps, but velocities are still derived on the basis of the Euler poles for rigid blocks. To resolve these issues, we developed a series of deforming plate models using the open source plate modeling software GPlates. For a given area, our methodology requires the relative motions between major rigid continental blocks, and a definition of the regions in which continental lithosphere deformed between these blocks. We use geophysical and geological data to define the limit between rigid and deforming areas, and the deformation history of non-rigid blocks. The velocity field predicted by these reconstructions is then used as a time-dependent surface boundary condition in global 3-D geodynamic models. To incorporate the continental lithosphere in our global models, we embed compositionally distinct crust and continental lithosphere within the thermal lithosphere. We define three isostatic columns of different thickness and buoyancy based on the tectonothermal age of the continents: Archean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. In the fourth isostatic column, the oceans, the thickness of the thermal lithosphere is assimilated using the half-space cooling model. We also use this capacity to define the thickness of the thermal lithosphere for different continental types, with the exception of the deforming areas that are fully dynamic. Finally, we introduce a new slab assimilation method in which the thermal structure of the slab, derived analytically, is progressively assimilated in the upper mantle into the dynamic models. This method not only improves the continuity of slabs in our models, but it also allows us to model flat slab segments that are particularly relevant for dynamic topography. This new generation of models allows us to analyse the contributions of continental deformation and of mantle flow to surface topography. We compare our results to geological and geophysical data, including stratigraphy, paleo-altimetry, paleo-environment and mantle tomography. This allows us to place constraints on key model parameters and to refine our knowledge of plate-mantle interactions during continental deformation.

Mantle convection and plate tectonics: toward an integrated physical and chemical theory

PubMed

Tackley

2000-06-16

Plate tectonics and convection of the solid, rocky mantle are responsible for transporting heat out of Earth. However, the physics of plate tectonics is poorly understood; other planets do not exhibit it. Recent seismic evidence for convection and mixing throughout the mantle seems at odds with the chemical composition of erupted magmas requiring the presence of several chemically distinct reservoirs within the mantle. There has been rapid progress on these two problems, with the emergence of the first self-consistent models of plate tectonics and mantle convection, along with new geochemical models that may be consistent with seismic and dynamical constraints on mantle structure.

Crustal structure and evolution of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian belt: A review and new interpretations from recent concepts and data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teixell, A.; Labaume, P.; Ayarza, P.; Espurt, N.; de Saint Blanquat, M.; Lagabrielle, Y.

2018-01-01

This paper provides a synthesis of current data and interpretations on the crustal structure of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian orogenic belt, and presents new tectonic models for representative transects. The Pyrenean orogeny lasted from Santonian ( 84 Ma) to early Miocene times ( 20 Ma), and consisted of a spatial and temporal succession of oceanic crust/exhumed mantle subduction, rift inversion and continental collision processes at the Iberia-Eurasia plate boundary. A good coverage by active-source (vertical-incidence and wide-angle reflection) and passive-source (receiver functions) seismic studies, coupled with surface data have led to a reasonable knowledge of the present-day crustal architecture of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian belt, although questions remain. Seismic imaging reveals a persistent structure, from the central Pyrenees to the central Cantabrian Mountains, consisting of a wedge of Eurasian lithosphere indented into the thicker Iberian plate, whose lower crust is detached and plunges northwards into the mantle. For the Pyrenees, a new scheme of relationships between the southern upper crustal thrust sheets and the Axial Zone is here proposed. For the Cantabrian belt, the depth reached by the N-dipping Iberian crust and the structure of the margin are also revised. The common occurrence of lherzolite bodies in the northern Pyrenees and the seismic velocity and potential field record of the Bay of Biscay indicate that the precursor of the Pyrenees was a hyperextended and strongly segmented rift system, where narrow domains of exhumed mantle separated the thinned Iberian and Eurasian continental margins since the Albian-Cenomanian. The exhumed mantle in the Pyrenean rift was largely covered by a Mesozoic sedimentary lid that had locally glided along detachments in Triassic evaporites. Continental margin collision in the Pyrenees was preceded by subduction of the exhumed mantle, accompanied by the pop-up thrust expulsion of the off-scraped sedimentary lid above. To the west, oceanic subduction of the Bay of Biscay under the North Iberian margin is supported by an upper plate thrust wedge, gravity and magnetic anomalies, and 3D inclined sub-crustal reflections. However, discrepancies remain for the location of continent-ocean transitions in the Bay of Biscay and for the extent of oceanic subduction. The plate-kinematic evolution during the Mesozoic, which involves issues as the timing and total amount of opening, as well as the role of strike-slip drift, is also under debate, discrepancies arising from first-order interpretations of the adjacent oceanic magnetic anomaly record.

Intraplate mafic magmatism: New insights from Africa and N. America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebinger, C. J.; van der Lee, S.; Tepp, G.; Pierre, S.

2017-12-01

Plate tectonic concepts consider that continental interiors are stable, with magmatism and strain localized to plate boundaries. We re-evaluate the role of pre-existing and evolving lithospheric heterogeneities in light of perspectives afforded by surface to mantle results from active and ancient rift zones in Africa and N. America. Our process-oriented approach addresses the localization of strain and magmatism and stability of continental plate interiors. In both Africa and N. America, geophysical imaging and xenolith studies reveal that thick, buoyant, and chemically distinct Archaean cratons with deep roots may deflect mantle flow, and localize magmatism and strain over many tectonic cycles. Studies of the Colorado Plateau and East African rift reveal widespread mantle metasomatism, and high levels of magma degassing along faults and at active volcanoes. The volcanoes and magmatic systems show a strong dependence on pre-existing heterogeneities in plate structure. Syntheses of the EarthScope program ishow that lateral density contrasts and migration of volatiles that accumulated during subduction can refertilize mantle lithosphere, and enable volatile-rich magmatism beneath relatively thick continental lithosphere. For example, the passive margin of eastern N. America shows uplift and magmatism long after the onset of seafloor spreading, demonstrating the dynamic nature of coupling between the lithosphere, asthenosphere, and deeper mantle. As demonstrated by the East African Rift, the Mid-Continent Rift, and other active and ancient rift zones, the interiors of continents, including thick, cold Archaean cratons are not immune to mafic magmatism and tectonism. Recent studies in N. America and Africa reveal ca. 1000 km-wide zones of dynamic uplift, low upper mantle velocities, and broadly distributed strain. The distribution of magmatism and volatile release, in combination with geophysical signals, indicates a potentially convective origin for widespread intraplate earthquakes and magmatism, across areas broader than the surface expression of rifting. Integrated geophysical, geological and geochemical studies reveal large volumes and rates of magmatism at rift zones, provoking re-evaluation of crustal accretion and carbon and water cycles, as well as earthquake and volcanic hazards.

Seafloor age dependence of Rayleigh wave phase velocities in the Indian Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godfrey, Karen E.; Dalton, Colleen A.; Ritsema, Jeroen

2017-05-01

Variations in the phase velocity of fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves across the Indian Ocean are determined using two inversion approaches. First, variations in phase velocity as a function of seafloor age are estimated using a pure-path age-dependent inversion method. Second, a two-dimensional parameterization is used to solve for phase velocity within 1.25° × 1.25° grid cells. Rayleigh wave travel time delays have been measured between periods of 38 and 200 s. The number of measurements in the study area ranges between 4139 paths at a period of 200 s and 22,272 paths at a period of 40 s. At periods < 100 s, the phase velocity variations are strongly controlled by seafloor age and shown to be consistent with temperature variations predicted by the half-space-cooling model for a mantle potential temperature of 1400°C. The inferred thermal structure beneath the Indian Ocean is most similar to the structure of the Pacific upper mantle, where phase velocities can also be explained by a half-space-cooling model. The thermal structure is not consistent with that of the Atlantic upper mantle, which is best fit by a plate-cooling model and requires a thin plate. Removing age-dependent phase velocity from the 2-D maps of the Indian Ocean highlights anomalously high velocities at the Rodriguez Triple Junction and the Australian-Antarctic Discordance and anomalously low velocities immediately to the west of the Central Indian Ridge.

Deep Roots of Cratons From Surface-wave Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cara, M.; Debayle, E.; Lévêque, J. J.

Thanks to the application of multimode waveform inversion techniques to various sets of surface wave seismograms recorded on global networks of broad-band seismome- ters, either permanent (IRIS, Geoscope) or temporary (PASSCAL, INSU), unprece- dented lateral- and depth-resolution can be achieved in upper-mantle surface-wave tomography. With a depth-resolution around 50 km and a lateral resolution around 250 km in the upper mantle, Sv velocity models beneath Australia, South-America, Eurasia and East-Africa show fast velocity anomalies associated with shield generally confined to the uppermost 200 km of the mantle. We show on cross-sections taken across different continents that there is no evidence so far for "thermal and/or com- positional" lithospheric roots extending deeper than 300 km in the continental regions we have investigated. In addition, surface wave azimuthal anisotropy can be used as an indicator of the me- chanical thickness of the lithosphere when a clear change in the pattern of anisotropic directions is observed with depth. The fast moving Australian plate shows the clear- est example of such a change occuring at relatively shallow depths (150 km) within the high seismic velocity lid. This suggests that seismic anisotropy defines a "me- chanical" lithosphere that does not coincide with the "thermal and/or compositional" lithosphere probably imaged by velocity anomalies. However, beneath other slowly moving plates, such a change in pattern is less clear and there is a tendency of seismic anisotropy to disappear at the bottom of the lid.

Structure of Lithospheric and Upper Mantle Discontinuities beneath Central Mongolia from Receiver Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Z.; Meltzer, A.; Fischer, K. M.; Stachnik, J. C.; Munkhuu, U.; Tsagaan, B.; Russo, R. M.

2017-12-01

The origin and preservation of high-elevation low-relief surfaces in continental interiors remains an open questions. Central Mongolia constitutes a major portion of the Mongolian Plateau and is an excellent place to link deep earth and surface processes. The lithosphere of Mongolia was constructed through accretionary orogenesis associated with the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) from the late Paleozoic to the early Triassic. Alkaline volcanic basalt derived from sublithospheric sources has erupted sporadically in Mongolia since 30 Ma. Constraining the depth variation of lithospheric and upper mantle discontinuities is crucial for understanding the interaction between upper mantle structure and surface topography. We conducted receiver functions (RF) analyses suitable data recorded at112 seismic broadband stations in central Mongolia to image the LAB and mantle transition zone beneath Central Mongolia. A modified H-κ stacking was performed to determine crustal average thickness (H) and Vp/Vs ratio (κ). Central Mongolia is characterized by thick crust (43-57 km) enabling use of both P wave RF and to S wave RF to image the LAB. The PRF traces in the depth domain are stacked based on piercing point locations for the 410 and 660 discontinuities using 0.6 ° × 0.6 ° bins in a grid. From south to north, the average lithospheric thickness is 85km in Gobi Altai gradually thinning northeastward to 78km in the southern Hangay Dome, 72 km in the northern Hangay Dome then increases to 75km in Hovsgol area. While there is overall thinning of the lithosphere from SW to NE, beneath the Hangay, there is a slight increase beneath the highest topography. The thickness of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) beneath central Mongolia is similar to global averages. This evidence argues against the hypothesis that a mantle plume exists beneath Central Mongolia causing low velocity anomalies in the upper mantle. To the east of the Hovsgol area in northern Mongolia, the MTZ thickens 10-15 km mainly due to depression in the 660-km discontinuity, perhaps representing a relict of subducted plate during CAOB.

Interaction Between Downwelling Flow and the Laterally-Varying Thickness of the North American Lithosphere Inferred from Seismic Anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behn, M. D.; Conrad, C. P.; Silver, P. G.

2005-12-01

Shear flow in the asthenosphere tends to align olivine crystals in the direction of shear, producing a seismically anisotropic asthenosphere that can be detected using a number of seismic techniques (e.g., shear-wave splitting (SWS) and surface waves). In the ocean basins, where the asthenosphere has a relatively uniform thickness and lithospheric anisotropy appears to be small, observed azimuthal anisotropy is well fit by asthenospheric shear flow in global flow models driven by a combination of plate motions and mantle density heterogeneity. In contrast, beneath the continents both the lithospheric ceiling and asthenospheric thickness may vary considerably across cratonic regions and ocean-continent boundaries. To examine the influence of a continental lithosphere with variable thickness on predictions of continental seismic anisotropy, we impose lateral variations in lithospheric viscosity in global models of mantle flow driven by plate motions and mantle density heterogeneity. For the North American continent, the Farallon slab descends beneath a deep cratonic root, producing downwelling flow in the upper mantle and convergent flow beneath the cratonic lithosphere. We evaluate both the orientation of the predicted azimuthal anisotropy and the depth dependence of radial anisotropy for this downwelling flow and find that the inclusion of a strong continental root provides an improved fit to observed SWS observations beneath the North American craton. Thus, we hypothesize that at least some continental anisotropy is associated with sub-lithospheric viscous shear, although fossil anisotropy in the lithospheric layer may also contribute significantly. Although we do not observe significant variations in the direction of predicted anisotropy with depth, we do find that the inclusion of deep continental roots pushes the depth of the anisotropy layer deeper into the upper mantle. We test several different models of laterally-varying lithosphere and asthenosphere viscosity. These models can be used to separate the contributions of asthenospheric flow and lithospheric fossil fabric in observations of continental anisotropy.

Influence of obliquely subducting slab on Pacific-North America shear motion inferred from seismic anisotropy along the Queen Charlotte margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, L.; Kao, H.; Wang, K.; Wang, Z.

2016-12-01

Haida Gwaii is located along the transpressive Queen Charlotte margin between the Pacific (PA) and North America (NA) plates. The highly oblique relative plate motion is partitioned, with the strike-slip component accommodated by the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF) and the convergent component by a thrust fault offshore. To understand how the presence of a obliquely subducting slab influences shear deformation of the plate boundary, we investigate mantle anisotropy by analyzing shear-wave splitting of teleseismic SKS phases recorded at 17 seismic stations in and around Haida Gwaii. We used the MFAST program to determine the polarization direction of the fast wave (φ) and the delay time (δt) between the fast and slow phases. The fast directions derived from stations on Haida Gwaii and two stations to the north on the Alaska Panhandle are predominantly margin-parallel (NNW). However, away from the plate boundary, the fast direction transitions to WSW-trending, very oblique or perpendicular to the plate boundary. Because the average delay time of 0.6-2.45 s is much larger than values based on an associated local S phase splitting analysis in the same study area, it is reasonable to infer that most of the anisotropy from our SKS analysis originates from the upper mantle and is associated with lattice-preferred orientation of anisotropic minerals. The margin-parallel fast direction within about 100 km of the QCF (average φ = -40º and δt = 1.2 s) is likely induced by the PA-NA shear motion. The roughly margin-normal fast directions farther away, although more scatterd, are consistent with that previously observed in the NA continent and are attributed to the absolute motion of the NA plate. However, the transition between the two regimes based on our SKS analysis appears to be gradual, suggesting that the plate boundary shear influences a much broader region at mantle depths than would be inferred from the surface trace of the QCF. We think this is due to the presence of a subducted portion of the Pacific plate. Because the slab travels mostly in the strike direction, it is expected to induce margin-parallel shear deformation of the mantle material. This result has importance implications to the geodynamics of transpressive plate margins.

Complex Anisotropic Structure of the Mantle Wedge Beneath Kamchatka Volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levin, V.; Park, J.; Gordeev, E.; Droznin, D.

2002-12-01

A wedge of mantle material above the subducting lithospheric plate at a convergent margin is among the most dynamic environments of the Earth's interior. Deformation and transport of solid and volatile phases within this region control the fundamental process of elemental exchange between the surficial layers and the interior of the planet. A helpful property in the study of material deformation and transport within the upper mantle is seismic anisotropy, which may reflect both microscopic effects of preferentialy aligned crystals of olivine and orthopyroxene and macroscopic effects of systematic cracks, melt lenses, layering etc. Through the mapping of anisotropic properties within the mantle wedge we can establish patterns of deformation. Volatile content affects olivine alignment, so regions of anomalous volatile content may be evident. Indicators of seismic anisotropy commonly employed in upper mantle studies include shear wave birefringence and mode-conversion between compressional and shear body waves. When combined together, these techniques offer complementary constraints on the location and intensity of anisotropic properties. The eastern coast of southern Kamchatka overlies a vigorous convergent margin where the Pacific plate descends at a rate of almost 80 mm/yr towards the northwest. We extracted seismic anisotropy indicators from two data sets sensitive to the anisotropic properties of the uppermost mantle. Firstly, we evaluated teleseismic receiver functions for a number of sites, and found ample evidence for anisotropicaly-influenced P-to-S mode conversion. Secondly, we measured splitting in S waves of earthquakes with sources within the downgoing slab. The first set of observations provides constraints on the depth ranges where strong changes in anisotropic properties take place. The local splitting data provides constraints on the cumulative strength of anisotropic properties along specific pathways through the mantle wedge and possibly parts of the slab. To explain the vertical stratification of anisotropy implied from receiver functions, and the strong lateral dependence of shear-wave splitting observations, we cannot rely on simple models of mantle wedge behaviour e.g., olivine-crystal alignment through subduction-driven corner flow. Diverse mechanisms can contribute to the observed pattern of anisotropic properties, with volatiles likely being a key influence. For instance, we find evidence in favor of a slow-symmetry-axis anisotropy within the uppermost 10-20 km of the mantle wedge, implying either excessive hydration of the mantle or else a presence of systematically aligned volatile-filled cracks or lenses. Also, shear-wave splitting is weak beneath the Avachinsky-Koryaksky volcanic center, suggesting either vertical flow or the influence of volatiles and/or thermally-enhanced diffusion creep.

Zoned mantle convection.

PubMed

Albarède, Francis; Van Der Hilst, Rob D

2002-11-15

We review the present state of our understanding of mantle convection with respect to geochemical and geophysical evidence and we suggest a model for mantle convection and its evolution over the Earth's history that can reconcile this evidence. Whole-mantle convection, even with material segregated within the D" region just above the core-mantle boundary, is incompatible with the budget of argon and helium and with the inventory of heat sources required by the thermal evolution of the Earth. We show that the deep-mantle composition in lithophilic incompatible elements is inconsistent with the storage of old plates of ordinary oceanic lithosphere, i.e. with the concept of a plate graveyard. Isotopic inventories indicate that the deep-mantle composition is not correctly accounted for by continental debris, primitive material or subducted slabs containing normal oceanic crust. Seismological observations have begun to hint at compositional heterogeneity in the bottom 1000 km or so of the mantle, but there is no compelling evidence in support of an interface between deep and shallow mantle at mid-depth. We suggest that in a system of thermochemical convection, lithospheric plates subduct to a depth that depends - in a complicated fashion - on their composition and thermal structure. The thermal structure of the sinking plates is primarily determined by the direction and rate of convergence, the age of the lithosphere at the trench, the sinking rate and the variation of these parameters over time (i.e. plate-tectonic history) and is not the same for all subduction systems. The sinking rate in the mantle is determined by a combination of thermal (negative) and compositional buoyancy and as regards the latter we consider in particular the effect of the loading of plates with basaltic plateaux produced by plume heads. Barren oceanic plates are relatively buoyant and may be recycled preferentially in the shallow mantle. Oceanic plateau-laden plates have a more pronounced negative buoyancy and can more easily founder to the very base of the mantle. Plateau segregation remains statistical and no sharp compositional interface is expected from the multiple fate of the plates. We show that the variable depth subduction of heavily laden plates can prevent full vertical mixing and preserve a vertical concentration gradient in the mantle. In addition, it can account for the preservation of scattered remnants of primitive material in the deep mantle and therefore for the Ar and (3)He observations in ocean-island basalts.

A Receiver Function Study of Mantle Transition Zone Discontinuities beneath Egypt and Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, K. H.; Mohamed, A. A.; Gao, S. S.; Elsheikh, A. A.; Yu, Y.; Fat-Helbary, R. E.

2014-12-01

The dramatic asymmetry in terms of surface elevation, Cenozoic volcanisms, and earthquake activity across the Red Sea is an enigmatic issue in global tectonics, partially due to the unavailability of broadband seismic data on the African plate adjacent to the Red Sea. Here we report the first results from a receiver function study of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) discontinuities using data from the Egyptian National Seismic Network, and compare the resulting depths of the 410 and 660 km discontinuities (d410 and d660) with those observed on the Arabian side. Results using more than 6000 P-to-S receiver functions recorded at 49 broadband seismic stations in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and adjacent areas show that when the IASP91 Earth model is used for time-to-depth conversion, the resulting depth of the discontinuities increases systematically toward the axis of the Afro-Arabian Dome (AAD) from both the west and east. Relative to the westernmost area, the maximum depression of the 410-km discontinuity is about 30 km, and that of the 660-km discontinuity is about 45 km. Highly correlated d410 and d660 depths suggest that the observed apparent depth variations are mostly caused by lateral velocity anomalies in the upper mantle, while the 15 km additional depression of the d660 relative to the d410 requires either a colder-than-normal MTZ or the presence of water in the MTZ. We tested several models involving upper mantle and MTZ velocity anomalies and undulations of the MTZ discontinuities due to temperature anomalies and water content, and found that the observed systematic variations can best be explained by a model involving a hydrated MTZ and an upper-mantle low-velocity zone beneath the AAD (Mohamed et al., 2014, doi: 10.1093/gji/ggu284). Models invoking one or more mantle plumes originated from the MTZ or the lower-mantle beneath the study area are not consistent with the observations.

Shear Wave Velocities in the Pampean Flat Slab Region from Rayleigh Wave Tomography: Implications for Crustal Composition and Upper Mantle Hydration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, R. C.; Gilbert, H. J.; Zandt, G.; Beck, S. L.; Warren, L. M.; Calkins, J. A.; Alvarado, P. M.; Anderson, M. L.

2011-12-01

The Pampean flat slab region, located in Chile and western Argentina between 29° and 34° S, is characterized by the subducting Nazca plate assuming a sub-horizontal geometry for ~300 km laterally before resuming a more "normal" angle of subduction. The onset of flat slab subduction is associated with the cessation of regional arc related volcanism and the migration of deformation inboard from the high Andes into the thin-skinned Precordillera and thick-skinned Sierras Pampeanas. Developing a better understanding of this region's geology is of particular importance, as it is an ideal area to study flat slab subduction and serves as a modern analogue to Laramide flat slab subduction in the western US. To study the crustal and mantle structure in the region, we combine ambient noise tomography and ballistic surface wave tomography to produce a regional 3D shear wave velocity model that encompasses flat slab subduction in the north and normal subduction geometry in the south, allowing for a comparison of the two. Results from this work show that shear velocities within the upper crust are largely determined by composition, with sedimentary basins and areas with active volcanism exhibiting slower velocities than basement cored uplifts and other bedrock exposures. Though surface waves are not particularly sensitive to the depth of sharp velocity contrasts, we observe an eastward increase in shear velocity at depth that correlates with an eastward decrease in crustal thickness. In both the slab and overlying mantle, we observe significant variations in shear wave velocity. North of 32° S, where flat slab subduction is occurring, the Nazca plate contains low-velocity zones (LVZs) beneath the high Andes and Precordillera that are not present in the east beneath the Sierras Pampeanas. An opposite transition is observed in the overlying mantle, which changes from fast in the west to slow in the east. Both of these observations are consistent with an initially hydrated slab dehydrating and releasing water into the overlying mantle. Within this region we also observe a LVZ immediately above the slab as the subduction angle steepens. This zone potentially represents asthenosphere or hydrated lithospheric mantle. South of 32° S, where subduction is occurring at a more normal angle, the slab is visible as a high-velocity body with a low-velocity mantle wedge present beneath the arc and back arc. The variations in slab and upper mantle shear velocities are consistent with a hydrated flat slab and the presence of a LVZ above the flat slab as it steepens suggests that water is being transported to a significant depth or that an asthenospheric wedge is present between the slab and cratonic lithosphere.

Mantle Flow Induced by Subduction Beneath Taurides Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, H.; Sandvol, E. A.; Rey, P. F.; Brocard, G. Y.

2017-12-01

GPS data of Anatolian Plateau shows westward plate motion with respect to the Eurasian plate at a rate of approximately 20 mm/yr, however, the fast direction of shear-wave splitting data in Anatolian Plateau is dominantly northeast-southwest, with significant variations around the central Taurides Mountains. To address the decoupling between the deformation in the crust and in the mantle, we explore the mantle strain pattern beneath Anatoian Plateau. Numerical models of the African plate subducting beneath the Taurides have been constructed with the open source code Underworld by Louis Moresi and the Lithospheric Modeling Recipe by EarthByte Group. We have constructed a 2-D model with dimension of 400km × 480km with 60km thick plate subducting into the mantle. In our numerical model, we observe a poloidal component of the mantle flow around the edge of the subducting plate, which could be explained by straight-forward corner flow. The horizontal component of mantle flow above the subducting plate may explain the shear-wave splitting pattern that is nearly perpendicular to the trench at Anatolia. We are also working on 3-D models with dimension of 400km×400km×480km with the subducting plate width 100km. The asthenospheric mantle below the subducting plate exhibits a flow parallel to the trench, then rotates around the edge of the plate and becomes perpendicular to the trench. This mantle flow pattern may explain the shear-wave splitting directions in central Anatolia.

Continental collision with a sandwiched accreted terrane: Insights into Himalayan-Tibetan lithospheric mantle tectonics?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, Sean; Butler, Jared P.; Beaumont, Christopher

2016-12-01

Many collisional orogens contain exotic terranes that were accreted to either the subducting or overriding plate prior to terminal continent-continent collision. The ways in which the physical properties of these terranes influence collision remain poorly understood. We use 2D thermomechanical finite element models to examine the effects of prior 'soft' terrane accretion to a continental upper plate (retro-lithosphere) on the ensuing continent-continent collision. The experiments explore how the style of collision changes in response to variations in the density and viscosity of the accreted terrane lithospheric mantle, as well as the density of the pro-lithospheric mantle, which determines its propensity to subduct or compress the accreted terrane and retro-lithosphere. The models evolve self-consistently through several emergent phases: breakoff of subducted oceanic lithosphere; pro-continent subduction; shortening of the retro-lithosphere accreted terrane, sometimes accompanied by lithospheric delamination; and, terminal underthrusting of pro-lithospheric mantle beneath the accreted terrane crust or mantle. The modeled variations in the properties of the accreted terrane lithospheric mantle can be interpreted to reflect metasomatism during earlier oceanic subduction beneath the terrane. Strongly metasomatized (i.e., dense and weak) mantle is easily removed by delamination or entrainment by the subducting pro-lithosphere, and facilitates later flat-slab underthrusting. The models are a prototype representation of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogeny in which there is only one accreted terrane, representing the Lhasa terrane, but they nonetheless exhibit processes like those inferred for the more complex Himalayan-Tibetan system. Present-day underthrusting of the Tibetan Plateau crust by Indian mantle lithosphere requires that the Lhasa terrane lithospheric mantle has been removed. Some of the model results support previous conceptual interpretations that Tibetan lithospheric mantle was removed by convective coupling to the pro-lithosphere. They can also be interpreted to suggest that delamination beneath Tibet was facilitated by densification and weakening of the plateau lithosphere, perhaps owing to long-lived pre- to syn-collisional subduction-related metasomatism beneath the Asian margin.

Crustal formation and recycling in an oceanic environment in the early Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Thienen, P.; van den Berg, A. P.; Vlaar, N. J.

2003-04-01

Several lines of evidence indicate higher mantle temperatures (by some hundreds of degrees) during the early history of the Earth. Due to the strong effect of temperature on viscosity as well as on the degree of melting, this enforces a geodynamic regime which is different from the present plate tectonics, and in which smaller scale processes play a more important role. Upwelling of a hotter mantle produces a thicker oceanic crust, of which the lower part may reside in the eclogite stability field. This facilitates delamination, making room for fresh mantle material which may partly melt and add new material to the crust (Vlaar et al., 1994). We present results of numerical thermo-chemical convection models including a simple approximate melt segregation mechanism in which we investigate this alternative geodynamic regime, and its effect on the cooling history and chemical evolution of the mantle. Our results show that the mechanism is capable of working on two scales. On a small scale, involving the lower boundary of the crust, delaminations and downward transport of eclogite into the upper mantle takes place. On a larger scale, involving the entire crustal column, (parts of) the crust may episodically sink into the mantle and be replaced by a fresh crust. Both are capable of significantly and rapidly cooling a hot upper mantle by driving partial melting and thus the generation of new crust. After some hundreds of millions of years, as the temperature drops, the mechanism shuts itself off, and the cooling rate significantly decreases. Vlaar, N.J., P.E. van Keken and A.P. van den Berg (1994), Cooling of the Earth in the Archaean: consequences of pressure-release melting in a hotter mantle, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol 121, pp. 1-18

Crust-mantle coupling mechanism in Cameroon, West Africa, revealed by 3D S-wave velocity and azimuthal anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojo, Adebayo Oluwaseun; Ni, Sidao; Chen, Haopeng; Xie, Jun

2018-01-01

To understand the depth variation of deformation beneath Cameroon, West Africa, we developed a new 3D model of S-wave isotropic velocity and azimuthal anisotropy from joint analysis of ambient seismic noise and earthquake surface wave dispersion. We found that the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) is well delineated by slow phase velocities in contrast with the neighboring Congo Craton, in agreement with previous studies. Apart from the Congo Craton and the Oubanguides Belt, the uppermost mantle revealed a relatively slow velocity indicating a thinned or thermally altered lithosphere. The direction of fast axis in the upper crust is mostly NE-SW, but trending approximately N-S around Mt. Oku and the southern CVL. The observed crustal azimuthal anisotropy is attributed to alignment of cracks and crustal deformation related to magmatic activities. A widespread zone of weak-to-zero azimuthal anisotropy in the mid-lower crust shows evidence for vertical mantle flow or isotropic mid-lower crust. In the uppermost mantle, the fast axis direction changed from NE-SW to NW-SE around Mt. Oku and northern Cameroon. This suggests a layered mechanism of deformation and revealed that the mantle lithosphere has been deformed. NE-SW fast azimuths are observed beneath the Congo Craton and are consistent with the absolute motion of the African plate, suggesting a mantle origin for the observed azimuthal anisotropy. Our tomographically derived fast directions are consistent with the local SKS splitting results in some locations and depths, enabling us to constrain the origin of the observed splitting. The different feature of azimuthal anisotropy in the upper crust and the uppermost mantle implies decoupling between deformation of crust and mantle in Cameroon.

Water-rich bending faults at the Middle America Trench

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naif, Samer; Key, Kerry; Constable, Steven; Evans, Rob L.

2015-09-01

The portion of the Central American margin that encompasses Nicaragua is considered to represent an end-member system where multiple lines of evidence point to a substantial flux of subducted fluids. The seafloor spreading fabric of the incoming Cocos plate is oriented parallel to the trench such that flexural bending at the outer rise optimally reactivates a dense network of normal faults that extend several kilometers into the upper mantle. Bending faults are thought to provide fluid pathways that lead to serpentinization of the upper mantle. While geophysical anomalies detected beneath the outer rise have been interpreted as broad crustal and upper mantle hydration, no observational evidence exists to confirm that bending faults behave as fluid pathways. Here we use seafloor electromagnetic data collected across the Middle America Trench (MAT) offshore of Nicaragua to create a comprehensive electrical resistivity image that illuminates the infiltration of seawater along bending faults. We quantify porosity from the resistivity with Archie's law and find that our estimates for the abyssal plain oceanic crust are in good agreement with independent observations. As the Cocos crust traverses the outer rise, the porosity of the dikes and gabbros progressively increase from 2.7% and 0.7% to 4.8% and 1.7%, peaking within 20 km of the trench axis. We conclude that the intrusive crust subducts twice as much pore water as previously thought, significantly raising the flux of fluid to the seismogenic zone and the mantle wedge.

Integrating EarthScope Data to Constrain the Long-Term Effects of Tectonism on Continental Lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, R. C.; van der Lee, S.

2017-12-01

One of the most significant products of the EarthScope experiment has been the development of new seismic tomography models that take advantage of the consistent station design, regular 70-km station spacing, and wide aperture of the EarthScope Transportable Array (TA) network. These models have led to the discovery and interpretation of additional compositional, thermal, and density anomalies throughout the continental US, especially within tectonically stable regions. The goal of this work is use data from the EarthScope experiment to better elucidate the temporal relationship between tectonic activity and seismic velocities. To accomplish this, we compile several upper-mantle seismic velocity models from the Incorporated Research Institute for Seismology (IRIS) Earth Model Collaboration (EMC) and compare these to a tectonic age model we compiled using geochemical ages from the Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance: EarthChem Database. Results from this work confirms quantitatively that the time elapsed since the most recent tectonic event is a dominant influence on seismic velocities within the upper mantle across North America. To further understand this relationship, we apply mineral-physics models for peridotite to estimate upper-mantle temperatures for the continental US from tomographically imaged shear velocities. This work shows that the relationship between the estimated temperatures and the time elapsed since the most recent tectonic event is broadly consistent with plate cooling models, yet shows intriguing scatter. Ultimately, this work constrains the long-term thermal evolution of continental mantle lithosphere.

Large-scale trench-normal mantle flow beneath central South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reiss, M. C.; Rümpker, G.; Wölbern, I.

2018-01-01

We investigate the anisotropic properties of the fore-arc region of the central Andean margin between 17-25°S by analyzing shear-wave splitting from teleseismic and local earthquakes from the Nazca slab. With partly over ten years of recording time, the data set is uniquely suited to address the long-standing debate about the mantle flow field at the South American margin and in particular whether the flow field beneath the slab is parallel or perpendicular to the trench. Our measurements suggest two anisotropic layers located within the crust and mantle beneath the stations, respectively. The teleseismic measurements show a moderate change of fast polarizations from North to South along the trench ranging from parallel to subparallel to the absolute plate motion and, are oriented mostly perpendicular to the trench. Shear-wave splitting measurements from local earthquakes show fast polarizations roughly aligned trench-parallel but exhibit short-scale variations which are indicative of a relatively shallow origin. Comparisons between fast polarization directions from local earthquakes and the strike of the local fault systems yield a good agreement. To infer the parameters of the lower anisotropic layer we employ an inversion of the teleseismic waveforms based on two-layer models, where the anisotropy of the upper (crustal) layer is constrained by the results from the local splitting. The waveform inversion yields a mantle layer that is best characterized by a fast axis parallel to the absolute plate motion which is more-or-less perpendicular to the trench. This orientation is likely caused by a combination of the fossil crystallographic preferred orientation of olivine within the slab and entrained mantle flow beneath the slab. The anisotropy within the crust of the overriding continental plate is explained by the shape-preferred orientation of micro-cracks in relation to local fault zones which are oriented parallel to the overall strike of the Andean range. Our results do not provide any evidence for a significant contribution of trench-parallel mantle flow beneath the subducting slab.

Recent Progress in Understanding the Origin of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, R. G.; Morgan, J. P.

2016-12-01

Two main explanations have been proposed for the origin of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend (HEB): (1) that it records a change in motion of the Pacific plate relative to a stationary Hawaiian plume [Morgan, 1971]; (2) that Pacific plate motion has been uniform but the HEB records a change from rapid (>40 mm/yr) southward motion of the Hawaiian plume, while the Emperor chain was formed, to a stationary plume while the Hawaiian chain was formed [Tarduno et al. 2003]. We summarize recent progress on this issue. Recent work invalidates prior studies that inferred significant rates of motion between hotspots since the time of the HEB. Nominal rates of motion are 2-6 mm/yr with a lower bound of zero and upper bounds of 8-13 mm/yr (95% c. l.) [Koivisto et al., 2014]. In this context, Hawaiian plume drift as great as 40 mm/yr before 50 Ma B.P. seems unlikely. Other recent work demonstrates the viability of using the orientation of seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle, combined with relative plate motions, to estimate absolute plate motions independently of hotspot tracks. Wang et al. [this meeting] show that the two reference frames agree with each other within their 95% confidence limits, thus lending credibility to both estimates. To infer motion of the Hawaiian hotspot relative to the mantle from paleomagnetic data one must ignore true polar wander (TPW), but TPW is too big to ignore and is occurring today—it is an important part of explaining the apparent polar wander of the Pacific and other plates. New evidence shows that the Hawaiian hotspot was fixed in latitude during formation of most, if not all, of the Emperor seamount chain [Seidman et al., this meeting], in contradiction to the southward motion found by Tarduno et al. [2003]. Revised timing and age-dating of the HEB (now 50 Ma; Clague [this meeting]) implies that the change in plate motion coincides with a change in Pacific-Farallon motion and other circum-Pacific tectonic events. Barkhausen et al [2013] show that the Pacific-Farallon spreading rate doubles between 50 Ma and 40 Ma coincident with the acceleration of the Pacific plate from the HEB to the Hawaiian trend and an increasing propagation rate along that trend. We conclude that current evidence still favors W. J. Morgan's original explanation for the HEB: that it records a change in Pacific plate motion relative to the deep mantle.

Evolution of Meso-Cenozoic lithospheric thermal-rheological structure in the Jiyang sub-basin, Bohai Bay Basin, eastern North China Craton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Wei; Qiu, Nansheng; Wang, Ye; Chang, Jian

2018-01-01

The Meso-Cenozoic lithospheric thermal-rheological structure and lithospheric strength evolution of the Jiyang sub-basin were modeled using thermal history, crustal structure, and rheological parameter data. Results indicate that the thermal-rheological structure of the Jiyang sub-basin has exhibited obvious rheological stratification and changes over time. During the Early Mesozoic, the uppermost portion of the upper crust, middle crust, and the top part of the upper mantle had a thick brittle layer. During the early Early Cretaceous, the top of the middle crust's brittle layer thinned because of lithosphere thinning and temperature increase, and the uppermost portion of the upper mantle was almost occupied by a ductile layer. During the late Early Cretaceous, the brittle layer of the middle crust and the upper mantle changed to a ductile one. Then, the uppermost portion of the middle crust changed to a thin brittle layer in the late Cretaceous. During the early Paleogene, the thin brittle layer of the middle crust became even thinner and shallower under the condition of crustal extension. Currently, with the decrease in lithospheric temperature, the top of the upper crust, middle crust, and the uppermost portion of the upper mantle are of a brittle layer. The total lithospheric strength and the effective elastic thickness ( T e) in Meso-Cenozoic indicate that the Jiyang sub-basin experienced two weakened stages: during the late Early Cretaceous and the early Paleogene. The total lithospheric strength (approximately 4-5 × 1013 N m-1) and T e (approximately 50-60 km) during the Early Mesozoic was larger than that after the Late Jurassic (2-7 × 1012 N m-1 and 19-39 km, respectively). The results also reflect the subduction, and rollback of Pacific plate is the geodynamic mechanism of the destruction of the eastern North China Craton.

Crust and upper mantle shear wave structure of Northeast Algeria from Rayleigh wave dispersion analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radi, Zohir; Yelles-Chaouche, Abdelkrim; Corchete, Victor; Guettouche, Salim

2017-09-01

We resolve the crust and upper mantle structure beneath Northeast Algeria at depths of 0-400 km, using inversion of fundamental mode Rayleigh wave. Our data set consists of 490 earthquakes recorded between 2007 and 2014 by five permanent broadband seismic stations in the study area. Applying a combination of different filtering technics and inversion method shear wave velocities structure were determined as functions of depth. The resolved changes in Vs at 50 km depth are in perfect agreement with crustal thickness estimates, which reflect the study area's orogenic setting, partly overlying the collision zone between the African and Eurasian plates. The inferred Moho discontinuity depths are close to those estimated for other convergent areas. In addition, there is good agreement between our results and variations in orientations of regional seismic anisotropy. At depths of 80-180 km, negative Vs anomalies at station CBBR suggest the existence of a failed subduction slab.

Crustal Footprint of the Hainan Plume beneath Southeast China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, H.; Chen, F.; Leng, W.; Zhang, H.

2016-12-01

A hotspot track is an age-progressive line of volcanos that is connected to a hotspot that may have resulted from interactions between the lithosphere and a deep-seated mantle plume [Campbell and Griffiths, 1990; Richards et al., 1989]. Although global and regional seismic tomography results have revealed the presence of a mantle plume beneath Hainan Island [Lebedev et al., 2003; Lei et al., 2009; Huang, 2014], there is little evidence for a hotspot track associated with the Hainan plume. Here, a joint inversion of seismology and gravity data was performed with the receiver function method, and the results show that a linear corridor of seismic velocity anomalies at the base of the crust is located northeast of Hainan Island beneath southeast China. Geodynamic modeling demonstrates that this corridor could have formed by the interactions between a mantle plume and the continental lithosphere with a weak lower crust. Volcanic age distributions further suggest that this track likely formed in the Cenozoic, which constrains the average plate velocities of the South China Block during the Cenozoic to 2-6 cm/yr to the northeast. These results provide an independent reference frame for the motion history of the Eurasia plate in the Cenozoic. References 1. Campbell I H, Griffiths R W. Implications of mantle plume structure for the evolution of flood basalts [J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 1990, 99(1): 79-93. 2. Richards M A, Duncan R A, Courtillot V E. Flood basalts and hot-spot tracks: plume heads and tails [J]. Science, 1989, 246(4926): 103-107. 3. Lebedev S, Nolet G. Upper mantle beneath Southeast Asia from S velocity tomography [J]. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (1978-2012), 2003, 108(B1). 4. Lei J, Zhao D, Steinberger B, et al. New seismic constraints on the upper mantle structure of the Hainan plume [J]. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 2009, 173(1): 33-50. 5. Huang J. P-and S-wave tomography of the Hainan and surrounding regions: Insight into the Hainan plume [J]. Tectonophysics, 2014, 633: 176-192.

Seismic reflection imaging of two megathrust shear zones in the northern Cascadia subduction zone.

PubMed

Calvert, Andrew J

2004-03-11

At convergent continental margins, the relative motion between the subducting oceanic plate and the overriding continent is usually accommodated by movement along a single, thin interface known as a megathrust. Great thrust earthquakes occur on the shallow part of this interface where the two plates are locked together. Earthquakes of lower magnitude occur within the underlying oceanic plate, and have been linked to geochemical dehydration reactions caused by the plate's descent. Here I present deep seismic reflection data from the northern Cascadia subduction zone that show that the inter-plate boundary is up to 16 km thick and comprises two megathrust shear zones that bound a >5-km-thick, approximately 110-km-wide region of imbricated crustal rocks. Earthquakes within the subducting plate occur predominantly in two geographic bands where the dip of the plate is inferred to increase as it is forced around the edges of the imbricated inter-plate boundary zone. This implies that seismicity in the subducting slab is controlled primarily by deformation in the upper part of the plate. Slip on the shallower megathrust shear zone, which may occur by aseismic slow slip, will transport crustal rocks into the upper mantle above the subducting oceanic plate and may, in part, provide an explanation for the unusually low seismic wave speeds that are observed there.

The transition from diffuse to focused extension: Modeled evolution of the West Antarctic Rift system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huerta, Audrey D.; Harry, Dennis L.

2007-03-01

Two distinct stages of extension are recognized in the West Antarctic Rift system (WARS). During the first stage, beginning in the Late Cretaceous, extension was broadly distributed throughout much of West Antarctica. A second stage of extension in the late Paleogene was focused primarily in the Victoria Land Basin, near the boundary with the East Antarctic craton. The transition to focused extension was roughly coeval with volcanic activity and strike-slip faulting in the adjacent Transantarctic Mountains. This spatial and temporal correspondence suggests that the transition in extensional style could be the result of a change in plate motions or impingement of a plume. Here we use finite element models to study the processes and conditions responsible for the two-stage evolution of rifting in the WARS. Model results indicate that the transition from a prolonged period of broadly distributed extension to a later period of focused rifting did not require a change in the regional stress regime (changes in plate motion), or deep mantle thermal state (impingement of a plume). Instead, we attribute the transition from diffuse to focused extension to an early stage dominated by the initially weak accreted lithosphere of West Antarctica, and a later stage that concentrated around a secondary weakness located at the boundary between the juvenile West Antarctica lithosphere and Precambrian East Antarctic craton. The modeled transition in extension from the initially weak West Antarctica region to the secondary weakness at the West Antarctic-East Antarctic boundary is precipitated by strengthening of the West Antarctica lithosphere during syn-extensional thinning and cooling. The modeled syn-extensional strengthening of the WARS lithosphere promotes a wide-rift mode of extension between 105 and ˜ 65 Ma. By ˜ 65 Ma most of the extending WARS region becomes stronger than the area immediately adjacent to the East Antarctic craton and extension becomes concentrated near the East Antarctic/West Antarctic boundary, forming the Victoria Land Basin region. Mantle necking in this region leads to syn-extensional weakening that promotes a narrow-rift mode of extension that becomes progressively more focused with time, resulting in formation of the Terror Rift in the western Victoria Land Basin. The geodynamic models demonstrate that the transition from diffuse to focused extension occurs only under a limited set of initial and boundary conditions, and is particularly sensitive to the pre-rift thermal state of the crust and upper mantle. Models that predict diffuse extension in West Antarctica followed by localization of rifting near the boundary between East and West Antarctica require upper mantle temperatures of 730 ± 50 °C and sufficient concentration of heat producing elements in the crust to account for ˜ 50% of the upper mantle temperature. Models with upper mantle temperatures < ca. 680 °C and/or less crustal heat production initially undergo diffuse extension in West Antarctica, and quickly develop a lithospheric neck at the model edge furthest from East Antarctica. Models with upper mantle temperatures > ca. 780 °C do not develop focused rifts, and predict indefinite diffuse extension in West Antarctica.

Waveform anomaly caused by strong attenuation in the crust and upper mantle in the Okinawa Trough region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padhy, S.; Furumura, T.; Maeda, T.

2017-12-01

The Okinawa Trough is a young continental back-arc basin located behind the Ryukyu subduction zone in southwestern Japan, where the Philippine Sea Plate dives beneath the trough, resulting in localized mantle upwelling and crustal thinning of the overriding Eurasian Plate. The attenuation structure of the plates and surrounding mantle in this region associated with such complex tectonic environment are poorly documented. Here we present seismological evidence for these features based on the high-resolution waveform analyses and 3D finite difference method (FDM) simulation. We analyzed regional broadband waveforms recorded by F-net (NIED) of in-slab events (M>4, H>100 km). Using band-passed (0.5-8 Hz), mean-squared envelopes, we parameterized coda-decay in terms of rise-time (time from P-arrival to maximum amplitude in P-coda), decay-time (time from maximum amplitude to theoretical S-arrival), and energy-ratio defined as the ratio of energy in P-coda to that in direct P wave. The following key features are observed. First, there is a striking difference in S-excitation along paths traversing and not traversing the trough: events from SW Japan not crossing the trough show clear S waves, while those occurring in the trough show very weak S waves at a station close to the volcanic front. Second, some trough events exhibit spindle-shaped seismograms with strong P-coda excitation, obscuring the development of S waves, at back-arc stations; these waveforms are characterized by high decay-time (>10s) and high energy-ratio (>>1.0), suggesting strong forward scattering along ray paths. Third, some trough events show weak S-excitation characterized by low decay-time (<5s) and low energy-ratio (<1.0) at fore-arc stations, suggesting high intrinsic absorption. To investigate the mechanism of the observed anomalies, we will conduct FDM simulation for a suite of models comprising the key subduction features like localized mantle-upwelling and crustal thinning expected in the region. It is expected that simulation results help to resolve rift-induced crust and upper mantle anomalies in the trough showing maximum waveform distortion as we observed in broadband records, and will enhance understanding of tectonic processes related to back-arc rifting in the region.

Seismic anisotropy; a window on how the Earth works: multiple mechanisms and sites, from shallow mantle to inner core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmaston, Miles

2013-04-01

Since the seismic anisotropy (SA) in the uppermost oceanic mantle was discovered [1] and attributed to the shearing of olivine by an MOR-divergent flow velocity gradient, rheological mobility interpretations of this type have dominated studies of SA there and elsewhere in the Earth. Here I describe two other SA-generating mechanisms. I will reason that one of these, the anisotropic crystallization from melt, bids fair largely to replace the shearing one and be present in even larger volumes of the Earth, both within its outer 100km and in the Inner Core. The other, the layered deposition of disparate substances, offers to explain the ULVZs and SA in D''. We start with the Upper Mantle. New constraints on its rheological properties and dynamical behaviour have come from two directions. Firstly, contrary to the seismologists' rule-book, the oceanic LVZ is no longer to be thought of as mobile because the presence of interstitial melt strips out the water-weakening of the mineral structure [2, 3]. So we require a substitute for the divergent-flow model for MORs. In fact it also has three other, apparently unrecognized, dynamical inconsistencies. One of these [4] is that there are in the record many rapid changes of spreading rate and direction, and ridge jumps. This cannot happen with a process driven by slow-to-change body forces. Secondly, during the past decade, my work on the global dynamics for the past 150Ma (I will show examples) has shown [4 - 7] that the tectospheres of cratons must extend to very close to the bottom of the upper mantle. And that East Antarctica's 'keel' must actually reach it, because its CW rotation [7] suggests it has been picking up an electromagnetic torque from the CMB via the lower mantle. Xenoliths suggest that the reason for this downwards extent of 'keels' is the same as [3]. To meet these two sets of constraints I will demonstrate my now not-so-new MOR model, which has a narrow, wall-accreting subaxial crack. Among its many features, including generating internally a very strong push-apart force, the straightness of MOR segments is the automatic result of accretion controlled by lateral cooling [8]. Olivine crystal has grossly anisotropic thermal conductivity, high on the a-axis [9] so, contrasting with the much lower conductivity of melt, suitably oriented ones on the crack walls grow the fastest and build in the seismic anisotropy from the start. For ophiolites, I will illustrate a close relative of this thick-plate model, but geared to their specific near-continent genesis and emplacement, which provides for their very real shearing and anisotropy at the crust-tectonite junction and for the 25 - 50 km metamorphic pressures in their soles [10]. A remarkably fertile model for the genesis of intraplate volcanism, without plumes, is also provided by this thick-plate perspective of plate dynamics [11]. We now move to deeper in the mantle. Attachment of the LVZ material to the ocean plate and the low conductivity of its interstial melt renders it still buoyant when the bigger ridge push makes it subduct [12]. Seismological transects of subduction zones show that this heat re-emerges at depth to partially melt the interface former oceanic crust, the result (on experimental evidence) being stishovitic residue plus (because of its compressibility) very dense ultramafic melt [12]. Both will shower into the lower mantle and eventually form layers on D'', the melt being prevented from freezing because that would need the energy to increase its volume. Hence the seismic anisotropy of D''. Moving still deeper, to the outer-core flows from which the Inner Core has grown. I attribute its cigar shape to preferential addition to its polar regions, from a downwelling flow, not to deformation of the IC, except perhaps as weak isostatic adjustment to that polar addition. I speculate that polar-aligned columnar growth of iron crystals, although themselves not strongly anisotropic, would impound 'less pure' alloy between them, with lower seismic property, thus giving the anisotropy. A.m. conservation in the poleward outer-core flow just below the CMB, needed to provide that cooler polar downwelling flow to the IC, would accelerate it clockwise. This seems likely to be the ultimate agent of Antarctica's CW rotation. Finally we come right back to the surface, to the nominally continental crust. Important thermal epeirogenic sensitivity resides in its deep constitution [13]. But much of the crust of continental shelves and beneath deep sedimentary basins appears to lack this sensitivity. So I have reasoned [13] that this 'intermediate crust' (IC) is the product, not of stretching, but of a sedimentation-dominated pre-oceanic stage of continental splitting that has modified crustal genesis by the MOR process but retained the accreting-deep-narrow-crack aspect and resulting seismic anisotropy. If, as geometrical reconstructions lead me to believe, this is the origin of the widespread block-and-basin structures in continents, then it offers also a fascinating explanation of the seismic anisotropy, and its direction, increasingly reported beneath the epeirogenically identifiable IC areas of crust. In that case, as noted at the beginning, crystallization from melt would indeed emerge as the principal agent of seismic anisotropy in the Earth. [1] Raitt RW et al. (1969) Anisotropy of the Pacific upper mantle. JGR 74, 3095-3109. [2] Karato S (1986) Does partial melting reduce the creep strength of the upper mantle? Nature 319, 309. [3] Hirth G & Kohlstedt DL (1996) Water in the oceanic upper mantle: implication for rheology, melt extraction, and the evolution of the lithosphere. EPSL 144, 93-108. [4] Osmaston MF (2010) On the actual variety of plate dynamical mechanisms and how mantle evolution affected them through time, from core formation to the Indian collision. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 12, EGU2010-6101. [5] Osmaston MF (2006) Global tectonic actions emanating from Arctic opening in the circumstances of a two-layer mantle and a thick-plate paradigm involving deep cratonic tectospheres: the Eurekan (Eocene) compressive motion of Greenland and other examples. In Proc. ICAM IV 2003 (ed. R Scott & D Thurston). OCS Study MMS 2006-003, p.105-124: Also published on: http://www.mms.gov/alaska/icam. [6] Osmaston MF (2009) Deep cratonic keels and a 2-layer mantle? Tectonic basis for some far-reaching new insights on the dynamical properties of the Earth's mantle: example motions from Mediterranean, Atlantic-Arctic and India. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 11, EGU2009-6359. Session SM 6.2 (Solicited). [7] Osmaston MF (2012) Did clockwise rotation of Antarctica cause the break-up of Gondwanaland? An investigation in the 'deep-keeled cratons' frame for global dynamics. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 14, EGU2012-2170. [8] Osmaston MF (1995) A straightness mechanism for MORs: a new view of ocean plate genesis and evolution. In IUGG XXI Gen. Assy. Abstr. p. A472. {N.B. Typing error as published: 'c-axes' should read 'a-axes'} [9] Chai M, Brown JM & Slutsky LJ (1996) Thermal diffusivity of mantle minerals. Phys. and Chem. of Minerals 23, 470-475. [10] Osmaston MF (2001) Two breeds of ophiolite; their different origins and contrasting plate tectonic significance, Archaean to Cenozoic. Gondwana Res. 4(2), 184-186. Osmaston MF (2001) Two breeds of ophiolite: their differing origins and contrasting plate tectonic significance, Archaean to Cenozoic. GSA Ann. Mtg, Boston. (Invited). GSA Abstr. With Programs 33(6), A-173. [11] Osmaston MF (2008) Extra-thick plates: basis for a single model of mantle magmagenesis, all the way from MORB to kimberlite. GCA 72(12S), A711. [12] Osmaston MF (2012) Is subduction really in the plate tectonics driving seat, or do two other global mechanisms do the driving? A review in the 'deep-keeled cratons' frame for global dynamics. Geophys. Res. Abstr. 14, EGU2012-2529, 2012. [13] Osmaston MF (2008) Basal subduction tectonic erosion (STE), butter mélanges and the construction and exhumation of HP-UHP belts: the Alps example and some comparisons. International Geology Review 50(8), 685-754 DOI: 10.2747/00206814.50.8.685.

Enrichments of the mantle sources beneath the Southern Volcanic Zone (Andes) by fluids and melts derived from abraded upper continental crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holm, Paul Martin; Søager, Nina; Dyhr, Charlotte Thorup; Nielsen, Mia Rohde

2014-05-01

Mafic basaltic-andesitic volcanic rocks from the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) exhibit a northward increase in crustal components in primitive arc magmas from the Central through the Transitional and Northern SVZ segments. New elemental and Sr-Nd-high-precision Pb isotope data from the Quaternary arc volcanic centres of Maipo (NSVZ) and Infernillo and Laguna del Maule (TSVZ) are argued to reflect mainly their mantle source and its melting. For the C-T-NSVZ, we identify two types of source enrichment: one, represented by Antuco in CSVZ, but also present northward along the arc, was dominated by fluids which enriched a pre-metasomatic South Atlantic depleted MORB mantle type asthenosphere. The second enrichment was by melts having the characteristics of upper continental crust (UCC), distinctly different from Chile trench sediments. We suggest that granitic rocks entered the source mantle by means of subduction erosion in response to the northward increasingly strong coupling of the converging plates. Both types of enrichment had the same Pb isotope composition in the TSVZ with no significant component derived from the subducting oceanic crust. Pb-Sr-Nd isotopes indicate a major crustal compositional change at the southern end of the NSVZ. Modelling suggests addition of around 2 % UCC for Infernillo and 5 % for Maipo.

Long-Term Stability of Plate-Like Behavior Caused by Hydrous Mantle Convection and Water Absorption in the Deep Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakagawa, Takashi; Iwamori, Hikaru

2017-10-01

We investigate the cycling of water (regassing, dehydration, and degassing) in mantle convection simulations as a function of the strength of the oceanic lithosphere and its influence on the evolution of mantle water content. We also consider pseudo-plastic yielding with a friction coefficient for simulating brittle behavior of the plates and the water-weakening effect of mantle materials. This model can generate long-term plate-like behavior as a consequence of the water-weakening effect of mantle minerals. This finding indicates that water cycling plays an essential role in generating tectonic plates. In vigorous plate motion, the mantle water content rapidly increases by up to approximately 4-5 ocean masses, which we define as the "burst" effect. A burst is related to the mantle temperature and water solubility in the mantle transition zone. When the mantle is efficiently cooled down, the mantle transition zone can store water transported by the subducted slabs that can pass through the "choke point" of water solubility. The onset of the burst effect is strongly dependent on the friction coefficient. The burst effect of the mantle water content could have significantly influenced the evolution of the surface water if the burst started early, in which case the Earth's surface cannot preserve the surface water over the age of the Earth.

Shallow Mantle Anisotropy Beneath the Juan de Fuca Plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

VanderBeek, Brandon P.; Toomey, Douglas R.

2017-11-01

The anisotropic fabric of the oceanic mantle lithosphere is often assumed to parallel paleo-relative plate motion (RPM). However, we find evidence that this assumption is invalid beneath the Juan de Fuca (JdF) plate. Using travel times of seismic energy propagating through the topmost mantle, we find that the fast direction of P wave propagation is rotated 18° ± 3° counterclockwise to the paleo-spreading direction and strikes between Pacific-JdF relative and JdF absolute plate motion (APM). The mean mantle velocity is 7.85 ± 0.02 km/s with 4.6% ± 0.4% anisotropy. Synthesis of the plate-averaged Pn anisotropy signal with measurements of Pn anisotropy beneath the JdF Ridge and SKS splits across the JdF plate suggests that the anisotropic structure of the topmost mantle continues to evolve away from the spreading center to more closely align with APM. We infer that the oceanic mantle lithosphere may record the influence of both paleo-RPM and paleo-APM.

Seismicity in the Vicinity of the Tristan Da Cunha Hot Spot: Particular Plate Tectonics and Mantle Plume Presence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlömer, Antje; Geissler, Wolfram H.; Jokat, Wilfried; Jegen, Marion

2017-12-01

Earthquake locations along the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge have large uncertainties due to the sparse distribution of permanent seismological stations in and around the South Atlantic Ocean. Most of the earthquakes are associated with plate tectonic processes related to the formation of new oceanic lithosphere, as they are located close to the ridge axis or in the immediate vicinity of transform faults. A local seismological network of ocean-bottom seismometers and land stations on and around the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha allowed for the first time a local earthquake survey for 1 year. We relate intraplate seismicity within the African oceanic plate segment north of the island partly to extensional stresses induced by a bordering large transform fault and to the existence of the Tristan mantle plume. The temporal propagation of earthquakes within the segment reflects the prevailing stress field. The strong extensional stresses in addition with the plume weaken the lithosphere and might hint at an incipient ridge jump. An apparently aseismic zone coincides with the proposed location of the Tristan conduit in the upper mantle southwest of the islands. The margins of this zone describe the transition between the ductile and the surrounding brittle regime. Moreover, we observe seismicity close to the islands of Tristan da Cunha and nearby seamounts, which we relate to ongoing tectono-magmatic activity.

Structure of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pesicek, Jeremy Dale

We have conducted studies of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone using newly available teleseismic data resulting from the aftershock sequences of the 2004, 2005, and 2007 great earthquakes that occurred offshore of the island of Sumatra. In order to better exploit the new data, existing methodologies have been adapted and advanced in several ways to obtain results at a level of precision not previously possible from teleseismic data. Seismic tomography studies of the mantle were conducted using an improved iterative technique that accounts for fine-scale three-dimensional (3-D) velocity variations inside the study region and coarser global velocity variations outside the region. More precise earthquake locations were determined using a double-difference technique that has been extended to teleseismic distances using spherical ray tracing through the nested 3-D regional-global velocity models. Earthquake relocation was included in the iterative tomography scheme and was found to significantly enhance the recovery of slab velocity anomalies. Finally, because crustal structure is poorly constrained by the teleseismic data, 3-D density modeling of the crust was conducted using newly available satellite gravity data and a spherical prism gravity algorithm. The results of these studies better constrain the structure of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone, including the geometry of the mantle slab, position of the megathrust, and structural features of the downgoing plate. Tomography results reveal continuous upper mantle slab anomalies with significant variations in dip throughout the region. Broad curvature of the fast anomalies beneath northern Sumatra, similar to curvature of the trench and volcanic arc at the surface, is interpreted as folding of the upper mantle slab. Earthquake relocations show systematic shifts of the hypocenters to the northeast and to shallower depths, each with average changes of 5 km. Reduced scatter in the relocations better constrain the megathrust plate boundary and the regions of coseismic slip during the 2004 and 2005 great earthquakes. In addition, the relocations reveal discrete seismic features on the downgoing plate not previously visible in teleseismic catalogs. The new velocity model and earthquake locations provide the most comprehensive view of the deep structure of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone yet available.

Supercontinent Pangea, Mantle Dynamics, and Reference Frame of Global Plate Motions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, S.; Rudolph, M. L.; Liu, X.

2014-12-01

Arguably the most important and challenging goal in geodynamics is to understand the two-way dynamics between tectonic plates and mantle convection. While it has long been recognized that the present-day degree-2 mantle structure as imaged seismically is closely related to the plate motions (Hager and O'Connell, 1981) and their history (<119 Ma) (Ricard et al., 1993; McNamara and Zhong, 2005), recent studies have expanded this concept, from two different perspectives, by seeking connections between Pangea assembly and breakup and mantle structure and dynamics. First, it has been proposed that the large igneous provinces (LIPs) and kimberlite volcanism erupted mainly along the edges of the two major seismically slow anomalies above the core-mantle boundary (often referred to as the Africa and Pacific LLSVPs) (Torsvik et al, 2010). This has led to the proposal that the present-day degree-2 mantle structure has existed for >500 Ma (Torsvik et al., 2014), although its statistical significance has been challenged (Austermann et al., 2013). The proposals of the spatially stable Africa and Pacific LLSVPs and of the LIP eruptions along their edges have also been exploited in attempts to build global plate motion models since the Pangea assembly by providing a plate motion reference frame or inferring true polar wander (TPW) corrections to the plate motions (Torsvik et al., 2014). Second, mantle dynamics studies indicate that degree-1 mantle convection, which is expected with realistic lithospheric and mantle viscosity, may be needed for assembly of a supercontinent (e.g., Pangea) (Zhong et al., 2007). This suggests that the present degree-2 mantle structure may have been formed only after the Pangea assembly from an initially degree-1 structure - a scenario that is consistent with convection calculations with a proxy plate motion model that considers Pangea process (Zhang et al., 2010). In this presentation, in addition to critically reviewing these arguments, we will discuss calculations of long-wavelength geoid for the mantle with thermochemical piles and LLSVPs and their potential effects on TPW determinations and hence reconstruction of plate motion (i.e., net lithospheric rotation). We will also present additional calculations of mantle structure evolution using different plate motion history models.

The interpretation of crustal dynamics data in terms of plate motions and regional deformation near plate boundaries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soloman, Sean C.

1991-01-01

The focus of the research was in two broad areas: (1) the nature and dynamics of time dependent deformation and stress along major seismic zones; and (2) the nature of long wavelength oceanic geoid anomalies in terms of lateral variations in upper mantle temperature and composition. The principle findings of the research are described in the accompanying appendices. The first two and the fourth appendices are reprints of papers recently submitted for publication, and the third is the abstract of a recently completed thesis supported by this project.

The influence of water on mantle convection and plate tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brändli, S.; Tackley, P. J.

2017-12-01

Water has a significant influence to mantle rheology and therefore also to the convection of the mantle and the plate tectonics. The viscosity of the mantle can be decreased by up to two orders of magnitude when water is present in the mantle. Another effect of the water is the change in the solidus of the mantle and therefore the melting regime. This two effects of water in the mantle have a significant influence to mantle convection and plate tectonics. The influx of water to the mantle is driven by plate tectonics as wet oceanic lithosphere is subducted into the mantle and then brought back to the lithosphere and the surface by MOR-, arc- and hotspot volcanism. Studies show that the amount of water in the mantle is about three times bigger than the amount of water in the oceans. To model this water cycle multiple additions to StagYY are necessary. With the enhanced code we calculated multiple steady state models with a wide range of parameters to study the effect of water on the mantle rheology and the behavior of the lithosphere. The results will help us to understand the earths interior and its reaction and behavior under partially hydrated conditions.

Counter-intuitive features of the dynamic topography unveiled by tectonically realistic 3D numerical models of mantle-lithosphere interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burov, Evgueni; Gerya, Taras

2013-04-01

It has been long assumed that the dynamic topography associated with mantle-lithosphere interactions should be characterized by long-wavelength features (> 1000 km) correlating with morphology of mantle flow and expanding beyond the scale of tectonic processes. For example, debates on the existence of mantle plumes largely originate from interpretations of expected signatures of plume-induced topography that are compared to the predictions of analytical and numerical models of plume- or mantle-lithosphere interactions (MLI). Yet, most of the large-scale models treat the lithosphere as a homogeneous stagnant layer. We show that in continents, the dynamic topography is strongly affected by rheological properties and layered structure of the lithosphere. For that we reconcile mantle- and tectonic-scale models by introducing a tectonically realistic continental plate model in 3D large-scale plume-mantle-lithosphere interaction context. This model accounts for stratified structure of continental lithosphere, ductile and frictional (Mohr-Coulomb) plastic properties and thermodynamically consistent density variations. The experiments reveal a number of important differences from the predictions of the conventional models. In particular, plate bending, mechanical decoupling of crustal and mantle layers and intra-plate tension-compression instabilities result in transient topographic signatures such as alternating small-scale surface features that could be misinterpreted in terms of regional tectonics. Actually thick ductile lower crustal layer absorbs most of the "direct" dynamic topography and the features produced at surface are mostly controlled by the mechanical instabilities in the upper and intermediate crustal layers produced by MLI-induced shear and bending at Moho and LAB. Moreover, the 3D models predict anisotropic response of the lithosphere even in case of isotropic solicitations by axisymmetric mantle upwellings such as plumes. In particular, in presence of small (i.e. insufficient to produce solely any significant deformation) uniaxial extensional tectonic stress field, the plume-produced surface and LAB features have anisotropic linear shapes perpendicular to the far-field tectonic forces, typical for continental rifts. Compressional field results in singular sub-linear folds above the plume head, perpendicular to the direction of compression. Small bi-axial tectonic stress fields (compression in one direction and extension in the orthogonal direction) result in oblique, almost linear segmented normal or inverse faults with strike-slip components (or visa verse , strike-slip faults with normal or inverse components)

A New Comprehensive Model for Crustal and Upper Mantle Structure of the European Plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morelli, A.; Danecek, P.; Molinari, I.; Postpischl, L.; Schivardi, R.; Serretti, P.; Tondi, M. R.

2009-12-01

We present a new comprehensive model of crustal and upper mantle structure of the whole European Plate — from the North Atlantic ridge to Urals, and from North Africa to the North Pole — describing seismic speeds (P and S) and density. Our description of crustal structure merges information from previous studies: large-scale compilations, seismic prospection, receiver functions, inversion of surface wave dispersion measurements and Green functions from noise correlation. We use a simple description of crustal structure, with laterally-varying sediment and cristalline layers thickness and seismic parameters. Most original information refers to P-wave speed, from which we derive S speed and density from scaling relations. This a priori crustal model by itself improves the overall fit to observed Bouguer anomaly maps, as derived from GRACE satellite data, over CRUST2.0. The new crustal model is then used as a constraint in the inversion for mantle shear wave speed, based on fitting Love and Rayleigh surface wave dispersion. In the inversion for transversely isotropic mantle structure, we use group speed measurements made on European event-to-station paths, and use a global a priori model (S20RTS) to ensure fair rendition of earth structure at depth and in border areas with little coverage from our data. The new mantle model sensibly improves over global S models in the imaging of shallow asthenospheric (slow) anomalies beneath the Alpine mobile belt, and fast lithospheric signatures under the two main Mediterranean subduction systems (Aegean and Tyrrhenian). We map compressional wave speed inverting ISC travel times (reprocessed by Engdahl et al.) with a non linear inversion scheme making use of finite-difference travel time calculation. The inversion is based on an a priori model obtained by scaling the 3D mantle S-wave speed to P. The new model substantially confirms images of descending lithospheric slabs and back-arc shallow asthenospheric regions, shown in other more local high-resolution tomographic studies, but covers the whole range of the European Plate. We also obtain three-dimensional mantle density structure by inversion of GRACE Bouguer anomalies locally adjusting density and the scaling relation between seismic wave speeds and density. We validate the new comprehensive model through comparison of recorded seismograms with numerical simulations based on SPECFEM3D. This work is a contribution towards the definition of a reference earth model for Europe. To this extent, in order to improve model dissemination and comparison, we propose the adoption of a common exchange format for tomographic earth models based on JSON, a lightweight data-interchange format supported by most high-level programming languages. We provide tools for manipulating and visualising models, described in this standard format, in Google Earth and GEON IDV.

Geodynamics of kimberlites on a cooling Earth: Clues to plate tectonic evolution and deep volatile cycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tappe, Sebastian; Smart, Katie; Torsvik, Trond; Massuyeau, Malcolm; de Wit, Mike

2018-02-01

Kimberlite magmatism has occurred in cratonic regions on every continent. The global age distribution suggests that this form of mantle melting has been more prominent after 1.2 Ga, and notably between 250-50 Ma, than during early Earth history before 2 Ga (i.e., the Paleoproterozoic and Archean). Although preservation bias has been discussed as a possible reason for the skewed kimberlite age distribution, new treatment of an updated global database suggests that the apparent secular evolution of kimberlite and related CO2-rich ultramafic magmatism is genuine and probably coupled to lowering temperatures of Earth's upper mantle through time. Incipient melting near the CO2- and H2O-bearing peridotite solidus at >200 km depth (1100-1400 °C) is the petrologically most feasible process that can produce high-MgO carbonated silicate melts with enriched trace element concentrations akin to kimberlites. These conditions occur within the convecting asthenospheric mantle directly beneath thick continental lithosphere. In this transient upper mantle source region, variable CHO volatile mixtures control melting of peridotite in the absence of heat anomalies so that low-degree carbonated silicate melts may be permanently present at ambient mantle temperatures below 1400 °C. However, extraction of low-volume melts to Earth's surface requires tectonic triggers. Abrupt changes in the speed and direction of plate motions, such as typified by the dynamics of supercontinent cycles, can be effective in the creation of lithospheric pathways aiding kimberlite magma ascent. Provided that CO2- and H2O-fluxed deep cratonic keels, which formed parts of larger drifting tectonic plates, existed by 3 Ga or even before, kimberlite volcanism could have been frequent during the Archean. However, we argue that frequent kimberlite magmatism had to await establishment of an incipient melting regime beneath the maturing continents, which only became significant after secular mantle cooling to below 1400 °C during post-Archean times, probably sometime shortly after 2 Ga. At around this time kimberlites replace komatiites as the hallmark mantle-derived magmatic feature of continental shields worldwide. The remarkable Mesozoic-Cenozoic 'kimberlite bloom' between 250-50 Ma may represent the ideal circumstance under which the relatively cool and volatile-fluxed cratonic roots of the Pangea supercontinent underwent significant tectonic disturbance. This created more than 60% of world's known kimberlites in a combination of redox- and decompression-related low-degree partial melting. Less than 2% of world's known kimberlites formed after 50 Ma, and the tectonic settings of rare 'young' kimberlites from eastern Africa and western North America demonstrate that far-field stresses on cratonic lithosphere enforced by either continental rifting or cold subduction play a crucial role in enabling kimberlite magma transfer to Earth's surface.

Structure of the Lithosphere and Upper Mantle Across the Arabian Peninsula

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Al-Amri, A; Rodgers, A

2007-01-05

Analysis of modern broadband (BB) waveform data allows for the inference of seismic velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle using a variety of techniques. This presentation will report inferences of seismic structure of the Arabian Plate using BB data from various networks. Most data were recorded by the Saudi Arabian National Digital Seismic Network (SANDSN) which consists of 38 (26 BB, 11 SP) stations, mostly located on the Arabian Shield. Additional data were taken from the 1995-7 Saudi Arabian IRIS-PASSCAL Deployment (9 BB stations) and other stations across the Peninsula. Crustal structure, inferred from teleseismic P-wave receiver functions,more » reveals thicker crust in the Arabian Platform (40-45 km) and the interior of the Arabian Shield (35-40 km) and thinner crust along the Red Sea coast. Lithospheric thickness inferred from teleseismic S-wave receiver functions reveals very thin lithosphere (40-80 km) along the Red Sea coast which thickens rapidly toward the interior of the Arabian Shield (100-120 km). We also observe a step of 20-40 km in lithospheric thickness across the Shield-Platform boundary. Seismic velocity structure of the upper mantle inferred from teleseismic P- and S-wave travel time tomography reveals large differences between the Shield and Platform, with the Shield being underlain by slower velocities, {+-}3% for P-waves and {+-}6% for S-waves. Seismic anisotropy was inferred from shear-wave splitting, using teleseismic SKS waveforms. Results reveal a splitting time of approximately 1.4 seconds, with the fast axis slightly east of north. The shear-wave splitting results are consistent across the Peninsula, with a slight clockwise rotation parallel for stations near the Gulf of Aqaba. In summary, these results allow us to make several conclusions about the tectonic evolution and current state of the Arabian Plate. Lithospheric thickness implies that thinning near the Red Sea has accompanied the rupturing of the Arabian-Nubian continental lithosphere. The step in the lithospheric thickness across the Shield-Platform boundary likely reveals a pre-existing difference in the lithospheric structure prior to accretion of the terranes composing the eastern Arabian Shield. Tomographic imaging of upper mantle velocities implies a single large-scale thermal anomaly underlies the Arabian Shield and is associated with Cenozoic uplift and volcanism.« less

Stability of active mantle upwelling revealed by net characteristics of plate tectonics.

PubMed

Conrad, Clinton P; Steinberger, Bernhard; Torsvik, Trond H

2013-06-27

Viscous convection within the mantle is linked to tectonic plate motions and deforms Earth's surface across wide areas. Such close links between surface geology and deep mantle dynamics presumably operated throughout Earth's history, but are difficult to investigate for past times because the history of mantle flow is poorly known. Here we show that the time dependence of global-scale mantle flow can be deduced from the net behaviour of surface plate motions. In particular, we tracked the geographic locations of net convergence and divergence for harmonic degrees 1 and 2 by computing the dipole and quadrupole moments of plate motions from tectonic reconstructions extended back to the early Mesozoic era. For present-day plate motions, we find dipole convergence in eastern Asia and quadrupole divergence in both central Africa and the central Pacific. These orientations are nearly identical to the dipole and quadrupole orientations of underlying mantle flow, which indicates that these 'net characteristics' of plate motions reveal deeper flow patterns. The positions of quadrupole divergence have not moved significantly during the past 250 million years, which suggests long-term stability of mantle upwelling beneath Africa and the Pacific Ocean. These upwelling locations are positioned above two compositionally and seismologically distinct regions of the lowermost mantle, which may organize global mantle flow as they remain stationary over geologic time.

Constraints on the Amount of deeply subducted Water from numerical Models in comparison with natural Samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konrad-Schmolke, M.; Halama, R.

2014-12-01

The subduction of hydrated slab mantle to beyond-arc depths is the most important and yet weakly constrained factor in the quantification of the Earth's deep geologic water cycle. During subduction of hydrated oceanic lithosphere, dehydration reactions in the downgoing plate lead to a partitioning of water between upper and lower plate. Water retained in the slab is recycled into the mantle where it controls its rheology and thus plate tectonic velocities. Hence, quantification of the water partitioning in subduction zones is crucial for the understanding of mass transfer between the Earth's surface and the mantle. Combined thermomechanical and thermodynamic models yield quantitative constraints on the water cycle in subduction zones, but unless model results can be linked to natural observations, the reliability of such models remains speculative. We present combined thermomechanical, thermodynamic and geochemical models of active and paleo-subduction zones, whose results can be tested with independent geochemical features in natural rocks. In active subduction zones, evidence for the validity of our model comes from the agreement between modeled and observed across-arc trends of boron concentrations and isotopic compositions in arc volcanic rocks. In the Kamchatkan subduction zone, for example, the model successfully predicts complex geochemical patterns and the spatial distribution of arc volcanoes. In paleo-subduction zones (e.g. Western Gneiss Region and Western Alps), constraints on the water budget and dehydration behavior of the subducting slab come from trace element zoning patterns in ultra-high pressure (UHP) garnets. Distinct enrichments of Cr, Ni and REE in the UHP zones of the garnets can be reconciled by our models that predict intense rehydration and trace element re-enrichment of the eclogites at UHP conditions by fluids released from the underlying slab mantle. Models of present-day subduction zones indicate the presence of 2.5-6 wt.% of water within the uppermost 15 km of the subducted slab mantle. Depending on hydration depth, between 25 and 90% of this water is recycled into the deeper mantle. The Lower Devonian example from the Western Gneiss Region indicates that subduction of water into the Earth's deeper mantle is an active process at least since the middle Paleozoic.

Present mantle flow in North China Craton constrained by seismic anisotropy and numerical modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, W.; Guo, Z.; Zhang, H.; Chen, Y. J.

2017-12-01

North China Carton (NCC) has undergone complicated geodynamic processes during the Cenozoic, including the westward subduction of the Pacific plate to its east and the collision of the India-Eurasia plates to its southwest. Shear wave splitting measurements in NCC reveal distinct seismic anisotropy patterns at different tectonic blocks, that is, the predominantly NW-SE trending alignment of fast directions in the western NCC and eastern NCC, weak anisotropy within the Ordos block, and N-S fast polarization beneath the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO). To better understand the origin of seismic anisotropy from SKS splitting in NCC, we obtain a high-resolution dynamic model that absorbs multi-geophysical observations and state-of-the-art numerical methods. We calculate the mantle flow using a most updated version of software ASPECT (Kronbichler et al., 2012) with high-resolution temperature and density structures from a recent 3-D thermal-chemical model by Guo et al. (2016). The thermal-chemical model is obtained by multi-observable probabilistic inversion using high-quality surface wave measurements, potential fields, topography, and surface heat flow (Guo et al., 2016). The viscosity is then estimated by combining the dislocation creep, diffusion creep, and plasticity, which is depended on temperature, pressure, and chemical composition. Then we calculate the seismic anisotropy from the shear deformation of mantle flow by DREX, and predict the fast direction and delay time of SKS splitting. We find that when complex boundary conditions are applied, including the far field effects of the deep subduction of Pacific plate and eastward escaping of Tibetan Plateau, our model can successfully predict the observed shear wave splitting patterns. Our model indicates that seismic anisotropy revealed by SKS is primarily resulting from the LPO of olivine due to the shear deformation from asthenospheric flow. We suggest that two branches of mantle flow may contribute to the observed anisotropy, that are, the westward escaping flow origins from NE Tibet Plateau and/or Mongolia, and the mantle upwelling from the bottom of upper mantle. The proposed mantle flow may also feed the intraplate volcanoes in the TNCO and intensify the erosion to the cratonic keel of Ordos.

Insights into asthenospheric anisotropy and deformation in Mainland China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Tao

2018-03-01

Seismic anisotropy can provide direct constraints on asthenospheric deformation which also can be induced by the inherent mantle flow within our planet. Mantle flow calculations thus have been an effective tool to probe asthenospheric anisotropy. To explore the source of seismic anisotropy, asthenospheric deformation and the effects of mantle flow on seismic anisotropy in Mainland China, mantle flow models driven by plate motion (plate-driven) and by a combination of plate motion and mantle density heterogeneity (plate-density-driven) are used to predict the fast polarization direction of shear wave splitting. Our results indicate that: (1) plate-driven or plate-density-driven mantle flow significantly affects the predicted fast polarization direction when compared with simple asthenospheric flow commonly used in interpreting the asthenospheric source of seismic anisotropy, and thus new insights are presented; (2) plate-driven flow controls the fast polarization direction while thermal mantle flow affects asthenospheric deformation rate and local deformation direction significantly; (3) asthenospheric flow is an assignable contributor to seismic anisotropy, and the asthenosphere is undergoing low, large or moderate shear deformation controlled by the strain model, the flow plane/flow direction model or both in most regions of central and eastern China; and (4) the asthenosphere is under more rapid extension deformation in eastern China than in western China.

Three-dimensional Numerical Models of the Cocos-northern Nazca Slab Gap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jadamec, M.; Fischer, K. M.

2012-12-01

In contrast to anisotropy beneath the middle of oceanic plates, seismic observations in subduction zones often indicate mantle flow patterns that are not easily explained by simple coupling of the subducting and overriding plates to the mantle. For example, in the Costa Rica-Nicaragua subduction zone local S shear wave splitting measurements combined with geochemical data indicate trench parallel flow in the mantle wedge with flow rates of 6.3-19 cm/yr, which is on order of or may be up to twice the subducting plate velocity. We construct geographically referenced high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) geodynamic models of the Cocos-northern Nazca subduction system to investigate what is driving the northwest directed, and apparently rapid, trench-parallel flow in the mantle wedge beneath Costa Rica-Nicaragua. We use the SlabGenerator code to construct a 3D plate configuration that is used as input to the community mantle convection code, CitcomCU. Models are run on over 400 CPUs on XSEDE, with a mesh resolution of up to 3 km at the plate boundary. Seismicity and seismic tomography delineate the shape and depth of the Cocos and northern Nazca slabs. The subducting plate thermal structure is based on a plate cooling model and ages from the seafloor age grid. Overriding plate thickness is constrained by the ages from the sea floor age grid where available and the depth to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary from the greatest negative gradient in absolute shear wave velocity. The geodynamic models test the relative controls of the change in the dip of the Cocos plate and the slab gap between the Cocos and northern Nazca plates in driving the mantle flow beneath Central America. The models also investigate the effect of a non-Newtonian rheology in dynamically generating a low viscosity mantle wedge and how this controls mantle flow rates. To what extent the Cocos-northern Nazca slab gap channelizes mantle flow between Central and South America has direct application to geochemical and geologic studies of the region. In addition, 3D geodynamic models of this kind can further test the hypothesis of rapid mantle flow in subduction zones as a global process and the non-Newtonian rheology as a mechanism for decoupling the mantle from lithospheric plate motion.

Local Upper Mantle Upwelling beneath New England: Evidence from Seismic Anisotropy.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levin, V. L.; Long, M. D.; Lopez, I.; Li, Y.; Skryzalin, P. A.

2017-12-01

The upper mantle beneath eastern North America contains regions where seismic wave speed is significantly reduced. As they cut across the trend of the Appalachian terranes, these anomalies likely post-date the Paleozoic assembly of Pangea. Most prominent of them, the North Appalachian Anomaly (NAA), has been alternatively explained by the localized disruption of lithospheric fabric, the passage of the Great Meteor Hot Spot, and the current local upwelling of the asthenosphere. Comprehensive mapping of shear wave splitting identified a local perturbation of an otherwise uniform regional pattern, with no apparent splitting occurring at a site within the NAA. To evaluate the reality of this apparent localized disruption in the anisotropic fabric of the upper mantle beneath northeastern North America we used observations of shear wave splitting from a set of long-running observatories not included in previous studies. Three methods of evaluating shear wave splitting (rotation-correlation, minimization of the transverse component, and the splitting intensity) yield complementary results. We show that splitting of core-refracted shear waves within the outline of the NAA is significantly weaker than towards its edges and beyond them (Figure 1). Average fast orientations are close to the absolute plate motion in the hot-spot reference frame, thus we can attribute a large fraction of this signal to the coherently sheared sub-lithospheric upper mantle. A decrease in average delay we observe, from 1 s outside the NAA to under 0.2 s within it, translates into a reduction of the vertical extent of the sheared layer from 130 km to 16 km (assuming 4% anisotropy), or alternatively into a weakening of the azimuthal anisotropy from 5% to 0.6% (assuming a 100 km thick layer). The splitting reduction within the NAA is consistent with a localized change in anisotropic fabric that would be expected in case of geologically recent sub-vertical flow overprinting the broadly uniform upper mantle fabric detected throughout the region. Figure 1. Splitting intensity (red circles) plotted over best-fitting sinusoidal functions (blue, parameters in upper right) and predictions based on average delays and fast polarizations (green, parameters in upper left). Outlines of the NAA at 200 km depth from tomographic studies using Earthscope data.

Numerical Modelling of Subduction Zones: a New Beginning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ficini, Eleonora; Dal Zilio, Luca; Doglioni, Carlo; Gerya, Taras V.

2016-04-01

Subduction zones are one of the most studied although still controversial geodynamic process. Is it a passive or an active mechanism in the frame of plate tectonics? How subduction initiates? What controls the differences among the slabs and related orogens and accretionary wedges? The geometry and kinematics at plate boundaries point to a "westerly" polarized flow of plates, which implies a relative opposed flow of the underlying Earth's mantle, being the decoupling located at about 100-200 km depth in the low-velocity zone or LVZ (Doglioni and Panza, 2015 and references therein). This flow is the simplest explanation for determining the asymmetric pattern of subduction zones; in fact "westerly" directed slabs are steeper and deeper with respect to the "easterly or northeasterly" directed ones, that are less steep and shallower, and two end members of orogens associated to the downgoing slabs can be distinguished in terms of topography, type of rocks, magmatism, backarc spreading or not, foredeep subsidence rate, etc.. The classic asymmetry comparing the western Pacific slabs and orogens (low topography and backarc spreading in the upper plate) and the eastern Pacific subduction zones (high topography and deep rocks involved in the upper plate) cannot be ascribed to the age of the subducting lithosphere. In fact, the same asymmetry can be recognized all over the world regardless the type and age of the subducting lithosphere, being rather controlled by the geographic polarity of the subduction. All plate boundaries move "west". Present numerical modelling set of subduction zones is based on the idea that a subducting slab is primarily controlled by its negative buoyancy. However, there are several counterarguments against this assumption, which is not able to explain the global asymmetric aforementioned signatures. Moreover, petrological reconstructions of the lithospheric and underlying mantle composition, point for a much smaller negative buoyancy than predicted, if any (e.g., Doglioni et al., 2007; Afonso et al., 2008). Therefore we attempt to generate a different model setup in which are included both a decoupling at the lithosphere base and the "westward" drift of the lithosphere that implies a relative "eastward" mantle flow. The method used for this task is an implementation of I2VIS code, a 2D thermomechanical code incorporating both a characteristics based marker-in-cell method and conservative finite-difference (FD) schemes (Gerya and Yuen, 2003). The implementation involves both the integration of the LVZ and the application of an incoming and outgoing mantle flow through the lateral boundaries of the rectangular box (that represent the basic setup of the models). This new insight in numerical modelling of subduction zones could help to have a more accurate comprehension on what is actually influencing subduction zones dynamics in order to successively explain what are the causes of this fundamental process and what are its implications on plate tectonics dynamics.

The Composition and Mineralogy of Exoplanets, Using the Hypatia Catalogue: Implications for Extrasolar Plate Tectonics and Mantle Convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putirka, K. D.; Rarick, J.

2018-05-01

Many exoplanets have pyroxenite mantle mineralogies, which may impede plate tectonics, due higher mantle viscosities and lid yield strengths; majorite-rich transition zones on these may also prevent subducted slabs from reaching lower mantle depths.

Seismic evidence for widespread serpentinized forearc upper mantle along the Cascadia margin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brocher, T.M.; Parsons, T.; Trehu, A.M.; Snelson, C.M.; Fisher, M.A.

2003-01-01

Petrologic models suggest that dehydration and metamorphism of subducting slabs release water that serpentinizes the overlying forearc mantle. To test these models, we use the results of controlled-source seismic surveys and earthquake tomography to map the upper mantle along the Cascadia margin forearc. We find anomalously low upper-mantle velocities and/or weak wide-angle reflections from the top of the upper mantle in a narrow region along the margin, compatible with recent teleseismic studies and indicative of a serpentinized upper mantle. The existence of a hydrated forearc upper-mantle wedge in Cascadia has important geological and geophysical implications. For example, shearing within the upper mantle, inferred from seismic reflectivity and consistent with its serpentinite rheology, may occur during aseismic slow slip events on the megathrust. In addition, progressive dehydration of the hydrated mantle wedge south of the Mendocino triple junction may enhance the effects of a slap gap during the evolution of the California margin.

A Comprehensive View Of Taiwan Orogeny From TAIGER Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, F. T.; Kuochen, H.; McIntosh, K. D.; Okaya, D. A.; Lavier, L. L.

2012-12-01

Arc-continent collision is one of the basic mechanisms for building continental masses. Taiwan is young and very active. Based on known geology a multi-disciplinary geophysical experiment was designed to image the orogeny in action. Logistics for R/V Langseth, OBS and PASSCAL instruments was complex; nevertheless the field works were completed within the project period. The resulting dataset allows us to map the structures of the shallow crust and the upper mantle. The amount of data gathered is large; some key observations and current interpretations are: (I) Observation: Crustal roots on both Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates, with a high velocity rise in between. Interpretation: Deformation throughout lithosphere on both sides of the initial suture; shortening of lithosphere near plate boundary produce high velocity rise. (II) Observation: Upper mantle high velocity anomaly coincides with a steep east-dippping Wadati-Benioff seismicity in southern Taiwan; the anomaly continues part of the way to central Taiwan but it is aseismic; under northern Taiwan the anomaly is very weak and disorganized. Interpretation: Active subduction in the south (up to 22.8°N) and may be eclogitization in the lower crust and delamination in central Taiwan. (III) Observation: Low Vp/Vs, low resistivity in the core of Central Range. Interp: dry, felsic rocks at relatively high temper (up to 750OC). (IV) Obs: Strong SKS splitting (~2 sec) with trend-parallel fast axis. Interp: Shearing throughout uppermost mantle. Preliminary 2-D geodynamic modeling produces the primary observed features from simple initial model of an arc impinging on continental margin.

On the temporal evolution of long-wavelength mantle structure of the Earth since the early Paleozoic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Shijie; Rudolph, Maxwell L.

2015-05-01

The seismic structure of the Earth's lower mantle is characterized by a dominantly degree-2 pattern with the African and Pacific large low shear velocity provinces (i.e., LLSVP) that are separated by circum-Pacific seismically fast anomalies. It is important to understand the origin of such a degree-2 mantle structure and its temporal evolution. In this study, we investigated the effects of plate motion history and mantle viscosity on the temporal evolution of the lower mantle structure since the early Paleozoic by formulating 3-D spherical shell models of thermochemical convection. For convection models with realistic mantle viscosity and no initial structure, it takes about ˜50 Myr to develop dominantly degree-2 lower mantle structure using the published plate motion models for the last either 120 Ma or 250 Ma. However, it takes longer time to develop the mantle structure for more viscous mantle. While the circum-Pangea subduction in plate motion history models promotes the formation of degree-2 mantle structure, the published pre-Pangea plate motions before 330 Ma produce relatively cold lower mantle in the African hemisphere and significant degree-1 structure in the early Pangea (˜300 Ma) or later times, even if the lower mantle has an initially degree-2 structure and a viscosity as high as 1023 Pas. This suggests that the African LLSVP may not be stationary since the early Paleozoic. With the published plate motion models and lower mantle viscosity of 1022 Pas, our mantle convection models suggest that the present-day degree-2 mantle structure may have largely been formed by ˜200 Ma.

Processes accompanying of mantle plume emplacement into continental lithosphere: Evidence from NW Arabian plate, Western Syria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharkov, E. V.

2015-12-01

Lower crustal xenoliths occurred in the Middle Cretaceous lamprophyre diatremes in Jabel Ansaria (Western Syria) (Sharkov et al., 1992). They are represented mainly garnet granulites and eclogite-like rocks, which underwent by deformations and retrograde metamorphism, and younger fresh pegmatoid garnet-kaersutite-clinopyroxene (Al-Ti augite) rocks; mantle peridotites are absent in these populations. According to mineralogical geothermobarometers, forming of garnet-granulite suite rocks occurred under pressure 13.5-15.4 kbar (depths 45-54 kn) and temperature 965-1115oC. At the same time, among populations of mantle xenoliths in the Late Cenozoic platobasalts of the region, quite the contrary, lower crustal xenoliths are absent, however, predominated spinel lherzolites (fragments of upper cooled rim of a plume head), derived from the close depths (30-40 km: Sharkov, Bogatikov, 2015). From this follows that ancient continental crust was existed here even in the Middle Cretaceous, but in the Late Cenozoic was removed by extended mantle plume head; at that upper sialic crust was not involved in geomechanic processes, because Precambrian metamorphic rocks survived as a basement for Cambrian to Cenozoic sedimentary cover of Arabian platform. In other words, though cardinal rebuilding of deep-seated structure of the region occurred in the Late Cenozoic but it did not affect on the upper shell of the ancient lithosphere. Because composition of mantle xenolithis in basalts is practically similar worldwide, we suggest that deep-seated processes are analogous also. As emplacement of the mantle plume heads accompanied by powerful basaltic magmatism, very likely that range of lower (mafic) continental crust existence is very convenient for extension of plume heads and their adiabatic melting. If such level, because of whatever reasons, was not reached, melting was limited but appeared excess of volatile matters which led to forming of lamprophyre or even kimberlite.

Body wave tomography of Iranian Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alinaghi, A.; Koulakov, I.; Thybo, H.

2004-12-01

The inverse teleseismic tomography approach has been adopted to study the P and S velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle across the Iranian Plateau. The method uses phase readings from earthquakes in a study area as reported by stations at teleseismic and regional distances to compute the velocity anomalies in the area. This use of source-receiver reciprocity allows tomographic studies of regions with sparse distribution of seismic stations, if only the region has sufficient seismicity. The input data for the algorithm are the arrival times of events located in Iran which were taken from the ISC catalogue (1964-1996). All the sources were located anew using a 1D spherical Earth model taking into account variable Moho depth and topography. The inversion provides relocation of events which is done simultaneously with calculation of velocity perturbations. With a series of synthetic tests we demonstrate the power of the algorithm to resolve both fancy and realistic anomalies using available earthquake sources and introducing measurement errors and outliers. The velocity anomalies show that the crust and upper mantle below the Iranian Plateau comprises a low velocity domain between the Arabian Plate and the Caspian Block, in agreement with models of the active Iranian plate trapped between the stable Turan plate in the north and the Arabian shield in the south. Our results show clear evidence of subduction at Makran in the southeastern corner of Iran where the oceanic crust of the Oman Sea subducts underneath the Iranian Plateau, a movement which is mainly aseismic. On the other hand, the subduction and collision of the two plates along the Zagros suture zone is highly seismic and in our images appear less consistent than the Makran region.

Upper mantle anisotropy from teleseismic SKS splitting beneath Lützow-Holm Bay Region, East Antarctica

USGS Publications Warehouse

Usui, Y.; Kanao, M.; Kubo, A.; Hiramatsu, Y.; Negishi, H.

2007-01-01

Investigations of SKS wave splitting of teleseismic events from digital seismographs recorded at eight stations around the Lützow-Holm Bay Region have lead to understanding the evolution of the Antarctic Plate. The observed delay times of SKS splitting are up to 1.3 s, which are generally equal to the global average. A two-layer model reveals that the lower layer anisotropy is caused by the recent asthenospheric flow, as compared with the Absolute Plate Motion by the HS3-NUVEL1 model. The upper layer anisotropy corresponds well to polarization of NE–SW convergence direction between East and West Gondwana in Pan-African age. We suggest that the upper layer anisotropy was formed during Pan-African orogeny and was possibly influenced by the preexisting structure during Gondwana break-up. The origin of anisotropy is the Lattice Preferred Orientation of olivine which was caused by both paleo-tectonic events and the recent asthenospheric flow.

Flat-slab subduction, whole crustal faulting, and geohazards in Alaska: Targets for Earthscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulick, S. P.; Pavlis, T. L.; Bruhn, R. L.; Christeson, G. L.; Freymueller, J. T.; Hansen, R. A.; Koons, P. O.; Pavlis, G. L.; Roeske, S.; Reece, R.; van Avendonk, H. J.; Worthington, L. L.

2010-12-01

Crustal structure and evolution illuminated by the Continental Dynamics ST. Elias Erosion and tectonics Project (STEEP) highlights some fundamental questions about active tectonics processes in Alaska including: 1) what are the controls on far field deformation and lithospheric stabilization, 2) do strike slip faults extend through the entire crust and upper mantle and how does this influence mantle flow, and 3) how does the transition from “normal” subduction of the Pacific along the Aleutians to flat slab subduction of the Yakutat Terrane beneath southeast and central Alaska to translation of the Yakutat Terrane past North American in eastern Alaska affect geohazard assessment for the north Pacific? Active and passive seismic studies and geologic fieldwork focusing on the Yakutat Terrane show that the Terrane ranges from 15-35 km thick and is underthrusting the North American plate from the St. Elias Mountains to the Alaska Range (~500 km). Deformation of the upper plate occurs within the offshore Pamplona Zone fold and thrust belt, and onshore throughout the Robinson Mountains. Deformation patterns, structural evolution, and the sedimentary products of orogenesis are fundamentally influenced by feedbacks with glacial erosion. The Yakutat megathrust extends beneath Prince William Sound such that the 1964 Mw 9.2 great earthquake epicenter was on this plate boundary and jumped to the adjacent Aleutian megathrust coseismically; this event illuminates the potential for transitional tectonic systems to enhance geohazards. The northern, southern, and eastern limits of the Yakutat microplate are strike-slip faults that, where imaged, appear to cut the entire crustal section and may allow for crustal extrusion towards the Bering Sea. Yakutat Terrane effects on mantle flow, however, have been suggested to cross these crustal features to allow for far-field deformation in the Yukon, Brooks Range, and Amerasia Basin. From the STEEP results it is clear that the Yakutat Terrane is driving a range of tectonic and surface processes perturbing the Aleutian subduction system at its eastern extent and linking this system with Laramide style subduction and plate boundary strike-slip tectonics farther east. Targeted geodetic and seismic deployments as part of Earthscope could examine all of these features and seek to address fundamental questions about tectonic interactions.

Sunda-Banda Arc Transition: Marine Wide-Angle Seismic Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shulgin, A.; Planert, L.; Kopp, H.; Mueller, C.; Lueschen, E.; Engels, M.; Flueh, E.; Djajadihardja, Y.; Sindbad Working Group, T

2008-12-01

The Sunda-Banda Arc transition is the region of active convergence and collision of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian Plates. The style of subduction changes from an oceanic-island arc subduction to a continental- island arc collision. The character of the incoming plate varies from the rough topography of the Roo Rise, to the smooth seafloor of the Abyssal Plain off Bali, Sumbawa. Forearc structures include well-developed forearc basins and an accretionary prism/outer forearc high of variable size and shape. To quantify the variability of structure of the lower plate and the effects on the upper plate a refraction seismic survey was carried during cruise SO190-2. A total of 245 ocean bottom seismometers were deployed along 1020 nm of wide-angle seismic profiles in four major north-south oriented corridors. To assess the velocity structure we used a tomographic method which jointly inverts for refracted and reflected phases. The sedimentary layers of the models, obtained by the analysis of high-resolution MCS data (see Lueschen et al), were incorporated into the starting model. The obtained models exhibit strong changes of the incoming oceanic crust for the different portions of the margin: The westernmost profile off eastern Java shows a crustal thickness of more than 15 km, most likely related to the presence of an oceanic plateau. Profiles off Lombok reveal an oceanic crust of 8-9 km average thickness in the Argo Abyssal Plain. Crustal and upper mantle velocities are slightly decreased within an area of about 50-60 km seaward of the trench, indicating fracturing and related serpentinization due to bending of the oceanic crust and associated normal faulting. The outer forearc high is characterized by velocities of 2.5-5.5 km/s. For the Lombok Basin, the profiles show a sedimentary infill of up to 3.5 km thick and typical sediment velocities of 1.75-3.0 km/s. A reflector at 16 km depth and velocity values of 7.4-7.8 km/s beneath it suggest the presence of a shallow forearc mantle and a hydrated mantle wedge in this part of the margin. See in this session Planert et al.

Magnetotelluric imaging of the subducting slab in Cascadia with constraints from seismology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, B.; Egbert, G. D.; Kelbert, A.; Humphreys, E.

2015-12-01

We present results from three-dimensional (3D) inversion of long-period magnetotelluric (MT) data from Cascadia, using seismological constraints on plate geometry and back-arc structure, to refine 3D images of electrical resistivity across this subduction zone. For this study we employed the impedances and vertical transfer functions from 144 sites from the EarthScope Transportable Array, along with data from previous higher density MT profiles from Cascadia (EMSLAB, CAFE-MT etc.). Morphological parameters for the subducting Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates (e.g. upper boundary and thickness) were extracted from McCrory et al (2012) and Schmandt and Humphreys (2010) seismological models and used to define a resistive subducting slab structure in 3D. This was then either used as a prior model, or fixed (both resistivity and geometry) during the MT inversion. By imposing constraints on the geometry of the slab (which is otherwise imaged as an amorphous broad resistive zone) we improve recovery and resolution of subduction related conductivity features. The constrained inversions also allowed us to test sensitivity of the MT data to variants on slab geometry, such as the proposed slab "tear" near the Oregon-Washington border suggested by some seismic tomography models, and to explore consistency of the MT data with seismic models, which suggest segmentation of back-arc upwelling. Three zones of substantially reduced resistivity were found, all exhibiting significant along-strike variability. In the forearc, an N-S stripe of high conductivity (10 ohm-m or less) was found just above the plate interface, near the tip of the mantle wedge. This conductive feature is spatially coincident with mapped locations of episodic tremor and slip, and likely represents aqueous fluids associated with slab dehydration. To the east, a second, clearly separated, N-S elongate zone of similarly high conductivity occurs in the mid-lower crust and upper mantle beneath the modern arc, again likely representing fluids, and in some cases melt. Finally, in the back-arc a broader, and generally more subdued (20-30 ohm-m), zone of reduced resistivity occurs in the North American mantle above the plate interface.

Architecture of the Distal Piedmont-Ligurian Rifted Margin in NW Italy: Hints for a Flip of the Rift System Polarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Decarlis, Alessandro; Beltrando, Marco; Manatschal, Gianreto; Ferrando, Simona; Carosi, Rodolfo

2017-11-01

The Alpine Tethys rifted margins were generated by a Mesozoic polyphase magma-poor rifting leading to the opening of the Piedmont-Ligurian "Ocean." This latter developed through different phases of rifting that terminated with the exhumation of subcontinental mantle along an extensional detachment system. At the onset of simple shear detachment faulting, two margin types were generated: an upper and a lower plate corresponding to the hanging wall and footwall of the final detachment system, respectively. The two margin architectures were markedly different and characterized by a specific asymmetry. In this study the detailed analysis of the Adriatic margin, exposed in the Serie dei Laghi, Ivrea-Verbano, and Canavese Zone, enabled to recognize the diagnostic elements of an upper plate rifted margin. This thesis contrasts with the classic interpretation of the Southalpine units, previously compared with the adjacent fossil margin preserved in the Austroalpine nappes and considered as part of a lower plate. The proposed scenario suggests the segmentation and flip of the Alpine rifting system along strike and the passage from a lower to an upper plate. Following this interpretation, the European and Southern Adria margins are coevally developed upper plate margins, respectively resting NE and SW of a major transform zone that accommodates a flip in the polarity of the rift system. This new explanation has important implications for the study of the pre-Alpine rift-related structures, for the comprehension of their role during the reactivation of the margin and for the paleogeographic evolution of the Alpine orogen.

The 2016 Case for Mantle Plumes and a Plume-Fed Asthenosphere (Augustus Love Medal Lecture)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, Jason P.

2016-04-01

The process of science always returns to weighing evidence and arguments for and against a given hypothesis. As hypotheses can only be falsified, never universally proved, doubt and skepticism remain essential elements of the scientific method. In the past decade, even the hypothesis that mantle plumes exist as upwelling currents in the convecting mantle has been subject to intense scrutiny; from geochemists and geochronologists concerned that idealized plume models could not fit many details of their observations, and from seismologists concerned that mantle plumes can sometimes not be 'seen' in their increasingly high-resolution tomographic images of the mantle. In the place of mantle plumes, various locally specific and largely non-predictive hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origins of non-plate boundary volcanism at Hawaii, Samoa, etc. In my opinion, this debate has now passed from what was initially an extremely useful restorative from simply 'believing' in the idealized conventional mantle plume/hotspot scenario to becoming an active impediment to our community's ability to better understand the dynamics of the solid Earth. Having no working hypothesis at all is usually worse for making progress than having an imperfect and incomplete but partially correct one. There continues to be strong arguments and strong emerging evidence for deep mantle plumes. Furthermore, deep thermal plumes should exist in a mantle that is heated at its base, and the existence of Earth's (convective) geodynamo clearly indicates that heat flows from the core to heat the mantle's base. Here I review recent seismic evidence by French, Romanowicz, and coworkers that I feel lends strong new observational support for the existence of deep mantle plumes. I also review recent evidence consistent with the idea that secular core cooling replenishes half the mantle's heat loss through its top surface, e.g. that the present-day mantle is strongly bottom heated. Causes for discrepancies between idealized plume/hotspot models and geochronological observations will also be briefly discussed. A further consequence of the existence of strong deep mantle plumes is that hot plume material should preferentially pond at the base of the lithosphere, draining towards and concentrating beneath the regions where the lithosphere is thinnest, and asthenosphere is being actively consumed to make new tectonic plates - mid-ocean ridges. This plume-fed asthenosphere hypothesis makes predictions for the structure of asthenosphere flow and anisotropy, patterns of continental edge-volcanism linked to lateral plume drainage at continental margins, patterns of cratonic uplift and subsidence linked to passage from hotter plume-influenced to cooler non-plume-influenced regions of the upper mantle, and variable non-volcanic versus volcanic modes of continental extension linked to rifting above '~1425K cool normal mantle' versus 'warm plume-fed asthenosphere' regions of upper mantle. These will be briefly discussed. My take-home message is that "Mantle Plumes are almost certainly real". You can safely bet they will be part of any successful paradigm for the structure of mantle convection. While more risky, I would also recommend betting on the potential reality of the paradigm of a plume-fed asthenosphere. This is still a largely unexplored subfield of mantle convection. Current observations remain very imperfect, but seem more consistent with a plume-fed asthenosphere than with alternatives, and computational and geochemical advances are making good, falsifiable tests increasingly feasible. Make one!

Lithospheric Structure and Isostasy of Central Andes: Implication for plate Coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahatsente, R.; Rutledge, S.

2017-12-01

A significant section of the Peru-Chile convergent zone is building up stresses. The interseismic coupling in northern and southern Peru is significantly high indicating, elastic energy accumulation since the 1746 and 1868 earthquakes of magnitude 8.6 and 8.8 , respectively. Similar seismic patterns have also been observed in Central Chile. The plate interface beneath Central Chile is highly coupled, and the narrow zones of low coupling separate seismic gaps. The reasons for the seismic gaps and plate coupling are yet unknown, but the configuration of the slab is thought to be the main factor. Here, we assessed the locking mechanism and isostatic state of the Central Andes based on gravity models of the crust and upper mantle structure. The density models are based on satellite gravity data and are constrained by velocity models and earthquake hypocenters. The gravity models indicate a high-density batholithic structure in the fore-arc, overlying the subducting Nazca plate. This high-density body pushes downward on the slab, causing the slab to lock with the overlying continental plate. The increased compressive stress closer to the trench, due to the increased contact area between the subducting and overriding plates, may have increased the plate coupling in the Central Andes. Thus, trench parallel crustal thickness and density variations along the Central Andes and buoyancy force on the subducting Nazca plate may control plate coupling and asperity generation. The western part of the Central Andes may be undercompensated. There is a residual topography of 800 m in the western part of the Central Andes that cannot be explained by the observed crustal thicknesses. Thus, part of the observed topography in the western part of the Central Andes may be dynamically supported by mantle wedge flow below the overriding plate.

The Effect of Slab Holes on the Surrounding Mantle Flow Field and the Surface from a Multi-Disciplinary Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Portner, D. E.; Kiraly, A.; Makushkina, A.; Parks, B. H.; Ghosh, T.; Haynie, K. L.; Metcalf, K.; Manga, M.; O'Farrell, K. A.; Moresi, L. N.; Jadamec, M. A.; Stern, R. J.

2017-12-01

Large-scale detachment of subducting slabs can have a significant geologic footprint by altering the slab-driven mantle flow field as hot subslab mantle can flow upward through the newly developed opening in the slab. The resulting increase in heat and vertical motion in the mantle wedge may contribute to volcanism and broad surface uplift. Recent geodynamic modeling results show that smaller tears and holes are similarly likely to form in many settings, such as where oceanic ridges or continental fragments subduct. High-resolution seismic tomography models are imaging an increasing number of these gaps and tears ranging in size from tens to hundreds of km in size, many of which occur proximal to alkali volcanism. Here we investigate the role of such gaps on the subduction-induced mantle flow field and related surface response. In particular, we address the relationships between slab hole size, depth, and distance from the slab edge and the magnitude of dynamic response of the mantle using analog experiments and numerical simulations. In the laboratory models, the subduction system is simplified to a two-layered Newtonian viscous sheet model. Our setup consists of a tank filled with glucose syrup and a plate made from silicon putty to model the upper mantle and subducting lithosphere, respectively. In each experiment, we pre-cut a rectangular hole with variable width into the silicon putty plate. Additionally, we perform a series of complementary numerical models using the Underworld geophysical modeling code to calculate the more detailed instantaneous mantle flow perturbation induced by the slab hole. Together, these results imply a strong effect of hole size on mantle flow. Similarly, the depth of the slab hole influences near-surface flow, with significant surface flow alteration when the hole is near the trench and diminishing surface deformation as the hole is dragged deeper into the mantle. The inferred consequence of the dependence of vertical mantle flux on slab hole position and size is that the induced surface response can vary based on slab hole parameters.

Lithospheric Structure across the Alaskan Cordillera from Surface Waves and Receiver Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, K. M.; Lin, F. C.

2017-12-01

The long awaited Transportable Array (TA) deployment in Alaska and western Canada is nearing its final deployment stage. With only one more deployment season, most of the TA station locations have been occupied and begun providing data. These TA stations combined with upgraded existing locations have provided enough high-quality data to begin investigating the crustal and upper mantle structure across the entire Alaskan Cordillera. From a tectonic standpoint, many interesting questions remain unanswered. For example, how does the transition from oceanic-oceanic subduction to continental-oceanic normal subduction to continental-oceanic "flat-slab" subduction to strike-slip conservative plate motion affect the deformation/uplift of the overriding plate and mantle geodynamic characteristics? How does the long and completed terrene accretion process partition stress/strain in the crust? On more local scales, are there any significant mid-crustal magmatic systems as observed in other sections of the American Cordillera, and if so, what is there role in uplift and crustal deformation? Our approach to investigating these questions is though surface wave imaging from ambient noise and earthquake generated sources along with Rayleigh wave ellipticity paired with Ps receiver functions. Our preliminary tomography results agree with previous studies but expand the spatial coverage showing additional detail. Our ellipticity results show a heterogeneous but spatially consistent anisotropic shallow crust. Although the complete TA data set has not yet been collected, we have jointly inverted surface waves with receiver functions for a 3-D shear-wave velocity model across the entire Alaskan Cordillera. Key features of our velocity model include a high-velocity feature in the upper mantle associated with the subducting Pacific plate that extends north of the seismicity used to contour the geometry of the slab and mid-crustal low-velocity zones associated with the active volcanics in the Wrangell mountains and along the Aleutian arc.

Probing the structure of the sub-Salinia mantle lithosphere using spinel lherzolite xenoliths from Crystal Knob, Santa Lucia Range, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, D. P.; Saleeby, J.; Ducea, M. N.; Luffi, P. I.

2013-12-01

We present the first petrogenetic analysis of a suite of peridotite xenoliths from the Crystal Knob volcanic neck in the Santa Lucia Range, California. The neck was erupted during the Plio-Pleistocene through the Salinia terrane, a fragment of the Late Cretaceous southern Sierra-northwest Mojave supra-subduction core complex that was displaced ~310 km in the late Cenozoic along the dextral San Andreas fault. The marginal tectonic setting makes these xenoliths ideal for testing different models of upper-mantle evolution along the western North American plate boundary. Possible scenarios include the early Cenozoic underplating of Farallon-plate mantle lithosphere nappes (Luffi et al., 2009), Neogene slab window opening (Atwater and Stock, 1998), and the partial subduction and stalling of the Monterey microplate (Pisker et al., 2012). The xenoliths from Crystal Knob are spinel lherzolites, which sample the mantle lithosphere underlying Salinia, and dunite cumulates apparently related to the olivine-basalt host. Initial study is focused on the spinel lherzolites: these display an allotriomorphic granular texture with anisotropy largely absent. However, several samples exhibit a weak shape-preferred orientation in elongate spinels. Within each xenolith, the silicate phases are in Fe-Mg equilibrium; between samples, Mg# [molar Mg/(Mg+Fe)*100] ranges from 87 to 91. Spinels have Cr# [molar Cr/(Cr+Al)*100] ranging from 10 to 27. Clinopyroxene Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd radiogenic isotope data show that the lherzolites are depleted in large-ion lithophile (LIL) elements, with uniform enrichment in 143Nd (ɛNd from +10.3 to +11.0) and depletion in 87Sr (87/86Sr of .702). This data rules out origin in the continental lithosphere, such as that observed in xenoliths from above the relict subduction interface found at at Dish Hill and Cima Dome in the Mojave (Luffi et al., 2009). The Mesozoic mantle wedge, which is sampled by xenoliths from beneath the southern Sierra Nevada batholith (Ducea and Saleeby, 1998), is also ruled out as a source locale. The isotopic data are consistent with oceanic mantle originating from either the Farallon plate (underplated during Paleocene shallow subduction) or the Monterey plate (partially subducted during the Miocene). Ascended asthenosphere, presumably of slab-window origin, is also a possible source. Pyroxene Ca-Mg exchange geothermometry is in progress and will enable thermal modeling and comparisons with contemporary heat flow data. These results, along with trace-element analysis of clinopyroxene crystals, will be used to distinguish between the possible sources of LIL-depleted mantle in the sub-Salinia mantle lithosphere. The full petrogenetic survey of these xenoliths adds a distal constraint to the makeup of the mantle lithosphere beneath the western North American margin.

Seismic structure of the central US crust and upper mantle: Uniqueness of the Reelfoot Rift

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pollitz, Fred; Mooney, Walter D.

2014-01-01

Using seismic surface waves recorded with Earthscope's Transportable Array, we apply surface wave imaging to determine 3D seismic velocity in the crust and uppermost mantle. Our images span several Proterozoic and early Cambrian rift zones (Mid-Continent Rift, Rough Creek Graben—Rome trough, Birmingham trough, Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, and Reelfoot Rift). While ancient rifts are generally associated with low crustal velocity because of the presence of thick sedimentary sequences, the Reelfoot Rift is unique in its association with low mantle seismic velocity. Its mantle low-velocity zone (LVZ) is exceptionally pronounced and extends down to at least 200 km depth. This LVZ is of variable width, being relatively narrow (∼50km">∼50km wide) within the northern Reelfoot Rift, which hosts the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). We hypothesize that this mantle volume is weaker than its surroundings and that the Reelfoot Rift consequently has relatively low elastic plate thickness, which would tend to concentrate tectonic stress within this zone. No other intraplate ancient rift zone is known to be associated with such a deep mantle low-velocity anomaly, which suggests that the NMSZ is more susceptible to external stress perturbations than other ancient rift zones.

Tomography and Dynamics of Western-Pacific Subduction Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, D.

2012-01-01

We review the significant recent results of multiscale seismic tomography of the Western-Pacific subduction zones and discuss their implications for seismotectonics, magmatism, and subduction dynamics, with an emphasis on the Japan Islands. Many important new findings are obtained due to technical advances in tomography, such as the handling of complex-shaped velocity discontinuities, the use of various later phases, the joint inversion of local and teleseismic data, tomographic imaging outside a seismic network, and P-wave anisotropy tomography. Prominent low-velocity (low-V) and high-attenuation (low-Q) zones are revealed in the crust and uppermost mantle beneath active arc and back-arc volcanoes and they extend to the deeper portion of the mantle wedge, indicating that the low-V/low-Q zones form the sources of arc magmatism and volcanism, and the arc magmatic system is related to deep processes such as convective circulation in the mantle wedge and dehydration reactions in the subducting slab. Seismic anisotropy seems to exist in all portions of the Northeast Japan subduction zone, including the upper and lower crust, the mantle wedge and the subducting Pacific slab. Multilayer anisotropies with different orientations may have caused the apparently weak shear-wave splitting observed so far, whereas recent results show a greater effect of crustal anisotropy than previously thought. Deep subduction of the Philippine Sea slab and deep dehydration of the Pacific slab are revealed beneath Southwest Japan. Significant structural heterogeneities are imaged in the source areas of large earthquakes in the crust, subducting slab and interplate megathrust zone, which may reflect fluids and/or magma originating from slab dehydration that affected the rupture nucleation of large earthquakes. These results suggest that large earthquakes do not strike anywhere, but in only anomalous areas that may be detected with geophysical methods. The occurrence of deep earthquakes under the Japan Sea and the East Asia margin may be related to a metastable olivine wedge in the subducting Pacific slab. The Pacific slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under East Asia, and a big mantle wedge (BMW) has formed above the stagnant slab. Convective circulations and fluid and magmatic processes in the BMW may have caused intraplate volcanism (e.g., Changbai and Wudalianchi), reactivation of the North China craton, large earthquakes, and other active tectonics in East Asia. Deep subduction and dehydration of continental plates (such as the Eurasian plate, Indian plate and Burma microplate) are also found, which have caused intraplate magmatism (e.g., Tengchong) and geothermal anomalies above the subducted continental plates. Under Kamchatka, the subducting Pacific slab shortens toward the north and terminates near the Aleutian-Kamchatka junction. The slab loss was induced by friction with the surrounding asthenosphere, as the Pacific plate rotated clockwise 30 Ma ago, and then it was enlarged by the slab-edge pinch-off by the asthenospheric flow. The stagnant slab finally collapses down to the bottom of the mantle, which may trigger upwelling of hot mantle materials from the lower mantle to the shallow mantle. Suggestions are also made for future directions of the seismological research of subduction zones.

Rayleigh phase velocities in the upper mantle of the Pacific-North American plate boundary in southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escobar, L.; Weeraratne, D. S.; Kohler, M. D.

2013-05-01

The Pacific-North America plate boundary, located in Southern California, presents an opportunity to study a unique tectonic process that has been shaping the plate tectonic setting of the western North American and Mexican Pacific margin since the Miocene. This is one of the few locations where the interaction between a migrating oceanic spreading center and a subduction zone can be studied. The rapid subduction of the Farallon plate outpaced the spreading rate of the East Pacific Rise rift system causing it to be subducted beneath southern California and northern Mexico 30 Ma years ago. The details of microplate capture, reorganization, and lithospheric deformation on both the Pacific and North American side of this boundary is not well understood, but may have important implications for fault activity, stresses, and earthquake hazard analysis both onshore and offshore. We use Rayleigh waves recorded by an array of 34 ocean bottom seismometers deployed offshore southern California for a 12 month duration from August 2010 to 2011. Our array recorded teleseismic earthquakes at distances ranging from 30° to 120° with good signal-to-noise ratios for magnitudes Mw ≥ 5.9. The events exhibit good azimuthal distribution and enable us to solve simultaneously for Rayleigh wave phase velocities and azimuthal anisotropy. Fewer events occur at NE back-azimuths due to the lack of seismicity in central North America. We consider seismic periods between 18 - 90 seconds. The inversion technique considers non-great circle path propagation by representing the arriving wave field as two interfering plane waves. This takes advantage of statistical averaging of a large number of paths that travel offshore southern California and northern Mexico allowing for improved resolution and parameterization of lateral seismic velocity variations at lithospheric and sublithospheric depths. We present phase velocity results for periods sampling mantle structure down to 150 km depth along the west coast margin. With this study, we seek to understand the strength and deformation of the Pacific oceanic lithosphere resulting from plate convergence and subduction beneath Southern California 30 Ma as well as translational stresses present today. We also test for predictions of several geodynamic models which describe the kinematic mantle flow that accompanies plate motion within this area including passive mantle drag due to Pacific plate motion and toroidal flow in the western U.S. region that may extend offshore.

Origin and evolution of the alkalic ultramafic rocks in the Coyote Peak diatreme, Humboldt County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morgan, J.W.; Czamanske, G.K.; Gregory, Wandless A.

1985-01-01

Instrumental-neutron-activation analyses are reported for two uncontaminated rocks, a phlogopite-rich clot, and two contaminated rocks from the Coyote Peak diatreme, northwestern California. These data, combined with Nd, Sr, and Pb isotopic evidence, have been modeled to a multi-stage evolution for the uncontaminated rocks. Fertile mantle material (refractory elements 2.5?? chondritic abundances; Rb/Sr = 0.029 by weight) was depleted about 900 m.y. ago by congruent melting and removal of ~4% basaltic liquid; this depleted residue provided the source rock from which the Coyote Peak magma was ultimately derived. About 66 m.y. ago, the depleted mantle residue was incongruently melted in the presence of H2O and CO2 at a total pressure > 26 kb to yield ~0.5% of a Si-poor, Ca-rich melt. This melt then metasomatized depleted garnet-free harzburgite in the upper mantle at about 26 kb to produce a rock similar to phlogopite-bearing wehrlite. About 29 m.y. ago, this rock was subjected to an increase in pressure to >26 kb and incongruently melted to give ~0.5% of a second-stage melt resembling olivine melilitite in composition. Enroute to the surface, about 28% olivine and 2% titanomagnetite were lost from the highly fluid melt. Coarse-grained phlogopite-rich clots in the uncontaminated rocks apparently crystallized from a latestage liquid derived from the uncontaminated melt. Contaminated rocks appear to be the result of partial assimilation of, and dilution by, ~14% Franciscan graywacke country rock. The diatreme was emplaced near a converging plate margin where young hot oceanic mantle and crust of the Juan de Fuca plate was probably subducting obliquely beneath a thin lip of the North American plate. The unusual chemistry of the rocks may be the result of this complex tectonic setting which could also have included local strike-slip and extensional environments within the two plates pierced by the diatreme. ?? 1985.

Atlas of the underworld: Slab remnants in the mantle, their sinking history, and a new outlook on lower mantle viscosity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Meer, Douwe G.; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.; Spakman, Wim

2018-01-01

Across the entire mantle we interpret 94 positive seismic wave-speed anomalies as subducted lithosphere and associate these slabs with their geological record. We document this as the Atlas of the Underworld, also accessible online at www.atlas-of-the-underworld.org, a compilation comprising subduction systems active in the past 300 Myr. Deeper slabs are correlated to older geological records, assuming no relative horizontal motions between adjacent slabs following break-off, using knowledge of global plate circuits, but without assuming a mantle reference frame. The longest actively subducting slabs identified reach the depth of 2500 km and some slabs have impinged on Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces in the deepest mantle. Anomously fast sinking of some slabs occurs in regions affected by long-term plume rising. We conclude that slab remnants eventually sink from the upper mantle to the core-mantle boundary. The range in subduction-age versus - depth in the lower mantle is largely inherited from the upper mantle history of subduction. We find a significant depth variation in average sinking speed of slabs. At the top of the lower mantle average slab sinking speeds are between 10 and 40 mm/yr, followed by a deceleration to 10-15 mm/yr down to depths around 1600-1700 km. In this interval, in situ time-stationary sinking rates suggest deceleration from 20 to 30 mm/yr to 4-8 mm/yr, increasing to 12-15 mm/yr below 2000 km. This corroborates the existence of a slab deceleration zone but we do not observe long-term (> 60 My) slab stagnation, excluding long-term stagnation due to compositional effects. Conversion of slab sinking profiles to viscosity profiles shows the general trend that mantle viscosity increases in the slab deceleration zone below which viscosity slowly decreases in the deep mantle. This is at variance with most published viscosity profiles that are derived from different observations, but agrees qualitatively with recent viscosity profiles suggested from material experiments.

A multidisciplinary approach to constrain incoming plate hydration in the Central American Margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Y.; Guild, M. R.; Naif, S.; Eimer, M. O.; Evans, O.; Fornash, K.; Plank, T. A.; Shillington, D. J.; Vervelidou, F.; Warren, J. M.; Wiens, D.

2017-12-01

The oceanic crust and mantle of the incoming plate are potentially the greatest source of water to the subduction zone, but their extent of hydration is poorly constrained. Hydrothermal alteration of the oceanic crust is an important source of mineral-bound water that ultimately dehydrates during subduction. Bend faults at the trench-outer rise provide another viable mechanism to further hydrate the down-going plate. Here, we take a multidisciplinary approach to constrain the fluid budget of the subducting plate at the Northern Central American margin; this site was chosen since it has an unusually wet subducting slab at the Nicaragua segment. Abundant geophysical and geochemical datasets are available for this region and this work is an analysis of these data. Controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) and wide-angle seismic (WAS) observations show significant resistivity and velocity reductions in the incoming oceanic crust associated with bend faults, which suggests seawater infiltration and hydrous alteration. We used the CSEM porosity constraints to predict P-wave velocity and find that the WAS data require an additional reduction of up to 0.3 km/s in the lower crust at the trench, equivalent to 2 wt% H2O. We implemented the porosity structure together with constraints on fluid flow and reaction kinetics into two-phase flow numerical models to quantify the degree of serpentinization possible relative to WAS estimates. Thermodynamic modeling of basalt and peridotite bulk compositions were used to predict the alteration assemblages and associated water contents in the bend faulting region as well as the dehydration fluxes during subduction. In Nicaragua, the major fluid pulse at sub-arc depths results from chlorite and antigorite breakdown in the upper 10 km of the slab mantle, whereas in Costa Rica, the slab mantle is not predicted to dehydrate at sub-arc depths. In addition, comparisons between observed and predicted magnetic anomalies and geochemical variations along strike and across arc provide insights into the relative contribution of fluids from the subducted crust and mantle. Our findings suggest that, in addition to mantle serpentinization, the incoming oceanic crust also experiences a high degree of bending-induced hydration and transports a substantial flux of H2O to the mantle wedge.

Very early Archean crustal-accretion complexes preserved in the North Atlantic craton

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nutman, A.P.; Collerson, K.D.

1991-08-01

The North Atlantic craton contains very early Archean supracrustal rocks, orthogneisses, and massive ultramafic rocks. Most units of supracrustal rocks are dominated by mafic volcanic rocks, layered gabbros, and banded iron formations, bust some also contain abundant felsic volcanic-sedimentary rocks, quartzites, and marbles. Some quartzites contain detrital zircons derived from rocks identical in age to felsic volcanic-sedimentary rocks in these sequences (ca. 3800 Ma) and also from older (ca. 3850 Ma) sources. The presence of the ca. 3850 Ma detrital zircons suggests that the supracrustal units containing them were deposited on, or close to, ca. 3850 Ma sialic crust. Themore » massive ultramafic rocks have chemical affinities to upper mantle rocks. The voluminous suites of tonalitic gneisses are dominated by 3700-3730 Ma bodies that intrude the supracrustal sequences, but they also locally contain components with ages between 3820 and 3920 Ma. The diverse supracrustal units, upper mantle rocks, and {ge} 3820 Ma components in the gneisses were tectonically interleaved in very early Archean convergent plate boundaries, giving rise to accretion complexes. In the period 3700-3730 Ma, voluminous tonalitic magmas produced by partial melting of predominantly mafic rocks in the base of the accretion complexes were emplaced at higher levels, forming juvenile continental crust and leaving behind a refractory lower crustal to upper mantle substrate.« less

New insight into the Upper Mantle Structure Beneath the Pacific Ocean Using PP and SS Precursors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurrola, H.; Rogers, K. D.

2013-12-01

The passing of the EarthScope Transportable array has provided a dense data set that enabled beam forming of SS and PP data that resultes in improved frequency content to as much a 1 Hz in the imaging of upper mantle structure. This combined with the application of simultaneous iterative deconvolution has resulted in images to as much as 4 Hz. The processing however results in structure being averaged over regions of 60 to 100 km in radius. This is becomes a powerful new tool to image the upper mantle beneath Oceanic regions where locating stations is expensive and difficult. This presentation will summarize work from a number of regions as to new observations of the upper mantle beneath the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Images from a region of the Pacific Ocean furthest from hot spots or subduction zones (we will refer to this as the 'reference region'). show considerable layering in the upper mantle. The 410 km discontinuity is always imaged using these tools and appears to be a very sharp boundary. It does usually appear as an isolated positive phase. There appears to be a LAB at ~100 km as expected but there is a strong negative phase at ~ 200 km with a positive phase 15 km deeper. This is best explained as a lens of partial melt as expected for this depth based on the geothermal gradient. If so this should be a low friction point and so we would expect it to accommodate plate motion. Imaging of the Aleutian subduction zone does show the 100 km deep LAB as it descends but this 200 km deep horizon appears as a week descending positive anomaly without the shallower negative pulse. In addition to the 410, 100 and 200 km discontinuities there are a number of paired anomalies, between the 200 and 400 km depths, with a negative pulse 15 to 20 km shallower then the positive pulse. We do not believe these are side lobes or we would see side lobes on the 100 km and 410 km discontinuities. We believe these to be the result of friction induced partial melt along zones of critical failure to accommodate differential mantle flow with depth. The paired layers disappear beneath the Hawaiian Island chain. We believe heat from the hot spot warms the mantle beneath the Hawaiian island chain so flow is more easily accommodated. As a result the lenses of melt disappear in the region near hot spots.

Deformation in the mantle wedge associated with Laramide flat-slab subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behr, W. M.; Smith, D.

2013-12-01

Early Tertiary crustal deformation preserved ~1500 km from the plate boundary in the western U.S. is considered by most to be related to a narrow segment of shallow Farallon-slab subduction, similar to the modern Pampean flat-slab of the central Andes. Evidence that the slab shallowed enough to penetrate several hundred kilometers inboard of the plate boundary includes a) shearing off of lithosphere and underplating of schists derived from the accretionary wedge beneath the volcanic arc; b) a cessation of arc magmatism and eastward sweeping of the magmatic front; and c) mid-Tertiary eruptions as far east as the Four Corners region of serpentinized ultramafic microbreccia (SUM) sourced from very cold, hydrated mantle lithosphere. Included within the SUM diatremes are eclogites interpreted to represent fragments of the slab itself and/or remnants of older rock from the mantle wedge metasomatized and recrystallized to eclogite along the top of the slab. Also included within the SUM diatremes are deformed peridotites that represent pieces of the variably hydrated mantle wedge as well as tectonically eroded and entrained fragments of the plate interface. These include weakly deformed to strongly foliated tectonites, spectacularly sheared mylonites and ultramylonites, and cataclasites, formed at temperatures ranging from 500-650°C. Some of the deformed samples contain hydrous minerals, including antigorite, chlorite, and/or tremolite/pargasite that were formed in-situ prior to or during deformation. We investigate the rheological and seismic properties of the peridotite samples using detailed microstructural and petrological analyses. Initial EBSD data indicate that an antigorite-bearing mylonite exhibits a B-type olivine LPO, whereas an ultramylonite that lacks hydrous minerals exhibits an A-type olivine LPO. This is consistent with experimental data that indicate B-type LPOs form under hydrous conditions; and it suggests that these rocks record a transition from trench-parallel to trench-perpendicular seismic anisotropy, as commonly observed in the mantle wedge above active subduction zones. We also show that the deformation within these sheared peridotites can be used to estimate the magnitude of shear stress along the contact between the Farallon slab and the overlying North American lithosphere. Shear stresses along the plate interface were moderate to high (~40 MPa), allowing a strong degree of interplate coupling, consistent with the stress transfer required to deform the upper plate and produce the basement-cored uplifts characteristic of the Laramide orogeny (e.g. the Rocky Mountains). These results place important natural constraints on flat-slab subduction mechanics. Schematic representation of Laramide flat-slab subduction (modified from Humphreys et al., 2003, Int. Geo. Rev.). The mantle inclusions examined here are sourced from the mantle wedge above the slab and from a serpentinite melange along the slab interface.

Numerical modeling the genetic mechanism of Cenozoic intraplate Volcanoes in Northeastern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Wulin; Chen, Yongshun John; Zhang, Huai; Jin, Yimin; Shi, Yaolin

2017-04-01

Changbaishan Volcano located about 1400 km west of Japan Trench is an intra continental volcano which having different origin from island arc volcanoes. A number of different mechanisms have been proposed to interpret the origin of intraplate volcanoes, such as deep mantle plumes, back-arc extension and decompressional partial melting, asthenosphere upwelling and decompressional melting, and deep stagnant slab dehydration and partial melting. The recent geophysical research reveals that the slow seismic velocity anomaly extends continuously just below 660 km depth to surface beneath Changbaishan by seismic images and three-dimensional waveform modelling [Tang et al., 2014]. The subduction-induced upwelling occurs within a gap in the stagnant subducted Pacific Plate and produces decompressional melting. Water in deep Earth can reduce viscosity and lower melting temperature and seismic velocity and has effects on many other physical properties of mantle materials. The water-storage capacity of wadsleyite and ringwoodite, which are the main phase in the mantle transition zone, is much greater than that of upper mantle and lower mantle. Geophysical evidences have shown that water content in the mantle transition zone is exactly greater than that of upper mantle and lower mantle [Karato, 2011]. Subducted slab could make mantle transition zone with high water content upward or downward across main phase change surface to release water, and lead to partial melting. We infer that the partial melting mantle and subducted slab materials propagate upwards and form the Cenozoic intraplate Volcanoes in Northeastern China. We use the open source code ASPECT [Kronbichler et al., 2012] to simulate the formation and migration of magma contributing to Changbaishan Volcano. We find that the water entrained by subducted slab from surface has only small proportion comparing to water content of mantle transition zone. Our model provide insights into dehydration melting induced by water transport out of the mantle transition zone associated with dynamic interactions between the subducted slab and surrounding mantle. References Karato, S. (2011), Water distribution across the mantle transition zone and its implications for global material circulation, EARTH PLANET SC LETT, 301(3), 413-423. Kronbichler, M., et al. (2012), High accuracy mantle convection simulation through modern numerical methods, GEOPHYS J INT, 191(1), 12-29. Tang, Y., et al. (2014), Changbaishan volcanism in northeast China linked to subduction-induced mantle upwelling, NAT GEOSCI, 7(6), 470-475.

Fore- and Back-Arc Structures Along the Hikurangi-Kermadec Subduction Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherwath, M.; Kopp, H.; Flueh, E. R.; Henrys, S. A.; Sutherland, R.

2009-04-01

The Hikurangi-Kermadec subduction zone northeast of New Zealand represents an ideal target to study lateral variations of subduction zone processes. The incoming Pacific plate changes from being a large igneous province, called the Hikurangi Plateau, in the south to normal oceanic plate north of the Rapuhia Scarp. The overriding Australian plate is continental in the south, forming the North Island of New Zealand, and changes to an island arc in the north. Further lateral variability exists in changes in volcanic and hydro-thermal activity, transitions from accretion to subduction erosion, backarc spreading and rifting, and is accompanied by northward increasing seismicity. As part of the MANGO project (Marine Geoscientific Investigations on the Input and Output of the Kermadec Subduction Zone), four marine geophysical transects of largely seismic reflection and refraction data provide constraints on the upper lithospheric structures across the Hikurangi-Kermadec Trench between 29-38 degrees South. On MANGO profile 1 in the south, the initially shallow subduction of the incoming plateau coincides with crustal underplating beneath the East Cape ridge. To the west lies the 100 km wide and over 10 km deep Raukumara Basin. Seismic velocities of the upper arc mantle are around 8 km/s and are considered normal. In contrast, on MANGO profile 4, about 1000 km to the north around the volcanically active Raoul Island, the incoming oceanic crust appears to bend considerably steeper and thus causes a 50 km narrower forearc with a smaller forearc basin. Furthermore, the upper mantle velocities in both plates are relatively low (7.4-7.7 km/s), likely indicating strong bending related deformation of the incoming plate and thermal activity within the arc possibly due to spreading. Here, arc volcanism is relatively active, with many large volcanoes directly on the ridge. The central two transects MANGO 2 and 3, though without data coverage of the structure of the incoming plate, are more similar to MANGO 4. The arc regions appear to be strongly affected by the activity of the arc. The arc crust of the northern MANGO 3 becomes significantly thinner in the backarc region due to extension, and much reduced volcanism behind the ridge. The structures on MANGO 2, on the other hand, cover strong and densely spaced thermal activity from the adjacent arc volcanism, possibly linked to a recent, fluid-rich passage of the Hikurangi Plateau.

Modeling Diverse Pathways to Age Progressive Volcanism in Subduction Zones.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kincaid, C. R.; Szwaja, S.; Sylvia, R. T.; Druken, K. A.

2015-12-01

One of the best, and most challenging clues to unraveling mantle circulation patterns in subduction zones comes in the form of age progressive volcanic and geochemical trends. Hard fought geological data from many subduction zones, like Tonga-Lau, the Cascades and Costa-Rica/Nicaragua, reveal striking temporal patterns used in defining mantle flow directions and rates. We summarize results from laboratory subduction models showing a range in circulation and thermal-chemical transport processes. These interaction styles are capable of producing such trends, often reflecting apparent instead of actual mantle velocities. Lab experiments use a glucose working fluid to represent Earth's upper mantle and kinematically driven plates to produce a range in slab sinking and related wedge transport patterns. Kinematic forcing assumes most of the super-adiabatic temperature gradient available to drive major downwellings is in the tabular slabs. Moreover, sinking styles for fully dynamic subduction depend on many complicating factors that are only poorly understood and which can vary widely even for repeated parameter combinations. Kinematic models have the benefit of precise, repeatable control of slab motions and wedge flow responses. Results generated with these techniques show the evolution of near-surface thermal-chemical-rheological heterogeneities leads to age progressive surface expressions in a variety of ways. One set of experiments shows that rollback and back-arc extension combine to produce distinct modes of linear, age progressive melt delivery to the surface through a) erosion of the rheological boundary layer beneath the overriding plate, and deformation and redistribution of both b) mantle residuum produced from decompression melting and c) formerly active, buoyant plumes. Additional experiments consider buoyant diapirs rising in a wedge under the influence of rollback, back-arc spreading and slab-gaps. Strongly deflected diapirs, experiencing variable rise rates, also commonly surface as linear, age progressive tracks. Applying these results to systems like the Cascades and Tonga-Lau suggest there are multiple ways to produce timing trends due both to linear flows and waves of heterogeneity obliquely impacting surface plates.

A Coupled Model of Stress-Driven Frictional Afterslip and Viscoelastic Relaxation Following the 2011 Tohoku-oki Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukuda, J.; Johnson, K. M.

2017-12-01

Postseismic deformation following the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake has been captured by both on-land GNSS and seafloor GPS/Acoustic networks. Previous studies have shown that the observed postseismic displacements can be reproduced as the sum of contributions from viscoelastic relaxation of coseismic stress changes in the upper mantle and afterslip on the plate interface surrounding the coseismic rupture. In most previous studies, viscoelastic relaxation and afterslip were modeled separately and afterslip was estimated kinematically. In this study, we develop a mechanical model of postseismic deformation in which afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation are driven by coseismic stress perturbations and are mechanically coupled. We assume that afterslip is governed by a rate-strengthening friction law that is characterized with a friction parameter (a-b)*sigma, where a-b represents the rate dependence of steady-state friction and sigma is the effective normal stress. Viscoelastic relaxation of the upper mantle is modeled with a biviscous Burgers rheology that is characterized with the steady-state and transient viscosities. We calculate the evolution of afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation using stress changes computed from an assumed coseismic slip model as the initial condition. We examine the effects of the friction parameters, mantle viscosities, elastic thickness of the slab and upper plate, and coseismic slip distribution on the model prediction and explore the range of the parameters that can fit the observed postseismic displacements. We find that the vertical postseismic displacements are particularly sensitive to these parameters. Our modeling results indicate that the on-land postseismic deformation is dominated by afterslip, whereas the seafloor postseismic deformation is dominated by viscoelastic relaxation. We also examine if afterslip overlaps regions that ruptured seismically during M6.3-7.2 earthquakes between 2003 and 2010. We find that significant overlap between afterslip and the historical M6.3-7.2 coseismic rupture areas are required to fit the horizontal postseismic displacements.

The interplay between subduction and lateral extrusion: A case study for the European Eastern Alps based on analogue models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Gelder, I. E.; Willingshofer, E.; Sokoutis, D.; Cloetingh, S. A. P. L.

2017-08-01

A series of analogue experiments simulating intra-continental subduction contemporaneous with lateral extrusion of the upper plate are performed to study the interference between these two processes at crustal levels and in the lithospheric mantle. The models demonstrate that intra-continental subduction and coeval lateral extrusion of the upper plate are compatible processes leading to similar deformation structures within the extruding region as compared to the classical setup, lithosphere-scale indentation. Strong coupling across the subduction boundary allows for the transfer of stresses to the upper plate, where strain regimes are characterized by crustal thickening near a confined margin and dominated by lateral displacement of material near a weak lateral confinement. The strain regimes propagate laterally during ongoing convergence creating an area of overlap characterized by transpression. When subduction is oblique to the convergence direction, the upper plate is less deformed and as a consequence the amount of lateral extrusion decreases. In addition, strain is partitioned along the oblique plate boundary resulting in less subduction in expense of right lateral displacement close to the weak lateral confinement. Both oblique and orthogonal subduction models have a strong resemblance to lateral extrusion tectonics of the Eastern Alps (Europe), where subduction of the adjacent Adriatic plate beneath the Eastern Alps is debated. Our results imply that subduction of Adria is a valid mechanisms to induce extrusion-type deformation within the Eastern Alps lithosphere. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the Oligocene to Late Miocene structural evolution of the Eastern Alps reflects a phase of oblique subduction followed by a later stage of orthogonal subduction conform a Miocene shift in the plate motion of Adria. Oblique subduction also provides a viable mechanism to explain the rapid decrease in slab length of the Adriatic plate beneath the Eastern Alps towards the Pannonian Basin.

Teleseismic array analysis of upper mantle compressional velocity structure. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walck, M. C.

1984-01-01

Relative array analysis of upper mantle lateral velocity variations in southern California, analysis techniques for dense data profiles, the P-wave upper mantle structure beneath an active spreading center: the Gulf of California, and the upper mantle under the Cascade ranges: a comparison with the Gulf of California are presented.

Regional 3D Numerical Modeling of the Lithosphere-Mantle System: Implications for Continental Rift-Parallel Surface Velocities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stamps, S.; Bangerth, W.; Hager, B. H.

2014-12-01

The East African Rift System (EARS) is an active divergent plate boundary with slow, approximately E-W extension rates ranging from <1-6 mm/yr. Previous work using thin-sheet modeling indicates lithospheric buoyancy dominates the force balance driving large-scale Nubia-Somalia divergence, however GPS observations within the Western Branch of the EARS show along-rift motions that contradict this simple model. Here, we test the role of mantle flow at the rift-scale using our new, regional 3D numerical model based on the open-source code ASPECT. We define a thermal lithosphere with thicknesses that are systematically changed for generic models or based on geophysical constraints in the Western branch (e.g. melting depths, xenoliths, seismic tomography). Preliminary results suggest existing variations in lithospheric thicknesses along-rift in the Western Branch can drive upper mantle flow that is consistent with geodetic observations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Forte, A M; Quere, S; Moucha, R

Recent progress in seismic tomography provides the first complete 3-D images of the combined thermal and chemical anomalies that characterise the unique deep mantle structure below the African continent. With these latest tomography results we predict flow patterns under Africa that reveal a large-scale, active hot upwelling, or superplume, below the western margin of Africa under the Cape Verde Islands. The scale and dynamical intensity of this West African superplume (WASP) is comparable to that of the south African superplume (SASP) that has long been assumed to dominate the flow dynamics under Africa. On the basis of this new tomographymore » model, we find the dynamics of the SASP is strongly controlled by chemical contributions to deep mantle buoyancy that significantly compensate its thermal buoyancy. In contrast, the WASP appears to be entirely dominated by thermal buoyancy. New calculations of mantle convection incorporating these two superplumes reveal that the plate-driving forces due to the flow generated by the WASP is as strong as that due to the SASP. We find that the chemical buoyancy of the SASP exerts a strong stabilising control on the pattern and amplitude of shallow mantle flow in the asthenosphere below the southern half of the African plate. The asthenospheric flow predictions provide the first high resolution maps of focussed upwellings that lie below the major centres of Late Cenozoic volcanism, including the Kenya domes and Hoggar massif that lies above a remnant plume head in the upper mantle. Inferences of sublithospheric deformation from seismic anisotropy data are shown to be sensitive to the contributions of chemical buoyancy in the SASP.« less

Travel-time Tomography of the Upper Mantle using Amphibious Array Seismic Data from the Cascadia Initiative and EarthScope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cafferky, S.; Schmandt, B.

2013-12-01

Offshore and onshore broadband seismic data from the Cascadia Initiative and EarthScope provide a unique opportunity to image 3-D mantle structure continuously from a spreading ridge across a subduction zone and into continental back-arc provinces. Year one data from the Cascadia Initiative primarily covers the northern half of the Juan de Fuca plate and the Cascadia forearc and arc provinces. These new data are used in concert with previously collected onshore data for a travel-time tomography investigation of mantle structure. Measurement of relative teleseismic P travel times for land-based and ocean-bottom stations operating during year one was completed for 16 events using waveform cross-correlation, after bandpass filtering the data from 0.05 - 0.1 Hz with a second order Butterworth filter. Maps of travel-time delays show changing patterns with event azimuth suggesting that structural variations exist beneath the oceanic plate. The data from year one and prior onshore travel time measurements were used in a tomographic inversion for 3-D mantle P-velocity structure. Inversions conducted to date use ray paths determined by a 1-D velocity model. By meeting time we plan to present models using ray paths that are iteratively updated to account for 3-D structure. Additionally, we are testing the importance of corrections for sediment and crust thickness on imaging of mantle structure near the subduction zone. Low-velocities beneath the Juan de Fuca slab that were previously suggested by onshore data are further supported by our preliminary tomographic inversions using the amphibious array data.

Mantle flow through a tear in the Nazca slab inferred from shear wave splitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lynner, Colton; Anderson, Megan L.; Portner, Daniel E.; Beck, Susan L.; Gilbert, Hersh

2017-07-01

A tear in the subducting Nazca slab is located between the end of the Pampean flat slab and normally subducting oceanic lithosphere. Tomographic studies suggest mantle material flows through this opening. The best way to probe this hypothesis is through observations of seismic anisotropy, such as shear wave splitting. We examine patterns of shear wave splitting using data from two seismic deployments in Argentina that lay updip of the slab tear. We observe a simple pattern of plate-motion-parallel fast splitting directions, indicative of plate-motion-parallel mantle flow, beneath the majority of the stations. Our observed splitting contrasts previous observations to the north and south of the flat slab region. Since plate-motion-parallel splitting occurs only coincidentally with the slab tear, we propose mantle material flows through the opening resulting in Nazca plate-motion-parallel flow in both the subslab mantle and mantle wedge.

Discipline-based planetary education research and computational fluid dynamics analysis of Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coba, Filis

This thesis originates from the testing and implementation of an IRB-approved interactive animation designed to help students understand what causes The Reasons For The Seasons (RFTS) on Earth. Results from the testing indicated a small improvement in student understanding after exposure to the animation. Next, using the 3-D mapping tool Google Earth, students explored seasons and other planetary features on Mercury, Venus, the Moon and Mars through IRB-approved interactive tours which were developed and tested for astronomy education. Results from the tests indicated that there were statistically significant learning gains (p-value < 0.05) after students interacted with the tours compared to those who did not. The development of the tours inspired a geophysics study of the possibility of former plate motion (or plate tectonics) on Mars. A 2-D finite element convection model for the mantle of Mars was designed and solved using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.1, to investigate whether or not thermal gradients in a Mars-sized planet could cause vigorous upper mantle convection, consistent with plate tectonic processes. Results from this project indicated that stable convection could occur in the interior of a Mars-like planet assuming the presence of sufficiently high thermal gradients at about 0.8 times the mantle temperature of Earth. The convective patterns resembled hot upwelling and cool downwelling which may be similar to subduction-like features. Furthermore, increasing the temperature of the hot boundaries resulted in faster, more rigorous convective motions and a hotter average temperature.

Seismic anisotropy of 70 Ma Pacific-plate upper mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mark, H. F.; Lizarralde, D.; Collins, J. A.; Miller, N. C.; Hirth, G.; Gaherty, J. B.; Evans, R. L.

2017-12-01

We present a new measurement of seismic anisotropy and velocity gradients in the Pacific-plate upper mantle based on data from the NoMelt experiment. The seismic velocity structure of oceanic lithosphere reflects the processes involved in its formation at mid-ocean ridges and subsequent evolution off-axis. Increasing mantle depletion with depth due to melt extraction predicts negative velocity gradients, as does cooling with age. Alignment of olivine by corner flow predicts azimuthal anisotropy. Some models predict the strength of anisotropy should decrease with depth. Measurements of uppermost mantle velocities have not fully verified these predictions. Observations of direct Pn phases demonstrate that positive velocity gradients exist; and anisotropy measurements, while consistent with strain-induced olivine alignment, vary widely and generally suggest weaker fabric development than is observed in ophiolite samples. These discrepancies raise questions about the extent to which mantle structure evolves through time due to processes such as cracking and alteration, and hinder the use of seismic measurements to make more detailed inferences on aspects of lithospheric formation processes. We have measured anisotropy and vertical velocity gradients to 10 km below the Moho on 70 Ma lithosphere between the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones. The lithosphere at the study site has not been obviously affected by tectonic or magmatic events since its formation. We find 6.2% anisotropy at the Moho with a mean velocity of 8.14 km/s and the fast direction parallel to paleospreading. Velocity gradients are estimated at 0.02 km/s/km in the fast direction and near 0 km/s/km in the slow direction. The gradient estimates can be explained by aligned microcracks oriented perpendicular to spreading that close with depth. Cracks are expected to close by 10 km below the Moho. At that depth the strength of anisotropy increases to 9%, close to the strength estimated from ophiolite fabrics. These results are consistent with observed olivine fabrics and the predicted effects of lithospheric formation processes, and suggest that lithospheric evolution is modest even at 70 Ma, involving microcracks oriented by a stress field consistent with thermal contraction.

Impact of Mantle Wind on Subducting Plate Geometry and Interplate Pressure: Insights From Physical Modelling.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutelier, D.; Cruden, A. R.

2005-12-01

New physical models of subduction investigate the impact of large-scale mantle flow on the structure of the subducted slab and deformation of the downgoing and overriding plates. The experiments comprise two lithospheric plates made of highly filled silicone polymer resting on a model asthenosphere of low viscosity transparent silicone polymer. Subduction is driven by a piston that pushes the subducting plate at constant rate, a slab-pull force due to the relative density of the slab, and a basal drag force exerted by flow in the model asthenosphere. Large-scale mantle flow is imposed by a second piston moving at constant rate in a tunnel at the bottom of the experiment tank. Passive markers in the mantle track the evolution of flow during the experiment. Slab structure is recorded by side pictures of the experiment while horizontal deformation is studied via passive marker grids on top of both plates. The initial mantle flow direction beneath the overriding plate can be sub-horizontal or sub-vertical. In both cases, as the slab penetrates the mantle, the mantle flow pattern changes to accommodate the subducting high viscosity lithosphere. As the slab continues to descend, the imposed flow produces either over- or under-pressure on the lower surface of the slab depending on the initial mantle flow pattern (sub-horizontal or sub-vertical respectively). Over-pressure imposed on the slab lower surface promotes shallow dip subduction while under-pressure tends to steepen the slab. These effects resemble those observed in previous experiments when the overriding plate moves horizontally with respect to a static asthenosphere. Our experiments also demonstrate that a strong vertical drag force (due to relatively fast downward mantle flow) exerted on the slab results in a decrease in strain rate in both the downgoing and overriding plates, suggesting a decrease in interplate pressure. Furthermore, with an increase in drag force deformation in the downgoing plate can switch from compression to extension. The density contrast between the downgoing plate and asthenosphere is varied from 0% to ~2% in order to investigate the relative contributions of mantle flow and slab pull force on the geometry of the slab and tectonic regime (compressional or extensional).

Constraining the velocity structure of the Juan de Fuca plate from ridge to trench with a 2D tomographic study of wide angle OBS data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boulahanis, B.; Canales, J. P.; Carbotte, S. M.; Carton, H. D.; Han, S.; Nedimovic, M. R.

2016-12-01

We conduct a two-dimensional travel time tomography study of a cross-plate, 300-km long, ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) transect collected as part of the Ridge to Trench (R2T) program to investigate the structure, evolution and state of hydration of the Juan de Fuca (JdF) plate from the ridge axis to subduction at the Cascadia margin offshore Washington. Our study employs the methodology of Korenaga et al. (2000) to derive a P-wave velocity model using wide-angle data from 15 OBSs spaced on average 15 km apart, spanning from the Endeavour segment of the JdF ridge to the Cascadia accretionary prism. A top down modeling approach is employed, first assessing velocities of the sediment layer, then the crust, and finally the upper mantle; at each stage of the inversion we fix the structure of the overlaying layers. Quality of data fit is evaluated using the root mean square value of the difference between predicted and observed travel times normalized by pick uncertainty. Previous studies provide a well-resolved multi-channel seismic (MCS) reflection image of this transect (Han et al., 2016), affording good constraints of the location of basement and Moho reflectors while allowing for comparison of the relationship between velocities and crustal structure. MCS results along this transect suggest evidence of little bending faulting confined to the sediment and upper-middle crust. An initial velocity model of the sediment layer above igneous crust is constructed utilizing the MCS derived sediment velocities. A one-dimensional velocity starting model of the oceanic crust is generated using the results of Horning et al. (in press) from a quasi-parallel cross-plate transect also acquired as part of the R2T study. Seismic velocities are compared to predicted velocities for crustal and mantle lithologies at temperatures estimated from a plate-cooling model and are used to provide constraints on water contents in these layers.

Magnetic properties of the upper mantle beneath the continental United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedman, S. A.; Ferre, E. C.; Demory, F.; Rochette, P.; Martin Hernandez, F.; Conder, J. A.

2012-12-01

The interpretation of long wavelength satellite magnetic data (Magsat, Oersted, CHAMP, SWARM) requires an understanding of magnetic mineralogy in the lithospheric mantle and reliable models of induced and remanent magnetic sources in the lithospheric mantle and the crust. Blakely et al. (2005) proposed the hypothesis of a magnetic lithospheric mantle in subduction zones. This prompted us to reexamine magnetic sources in the lithospheric mantle in different tectonic settings where unaltered mantle xenolith have been reported since the 1990s. Xenoliths from the upper mantle beneath the continental United States show different magnetic properties depending on the tectonic setting in which they equilibrated. Three localities in the South Central United States (San Carlos, AZ; Kilbourne Hole, NM; Knippa, TX) produced lherzolite and harzburgite xenoliths, while the Bearpaw Mountains in Montana (subduction zone) produced dunite and phlogopite-rich dunite xenoliths. Paleomagnetic data on these samples shows the lack of secondary alteration which is commonly caused by post-eruption serpentinization and the lack of basalt contamination. The main magnetic carrier is pure magnetite. The ascent of mantle xenoliths to the surface of the Earth generally takes only a few hours. Numerical modelling shows that nucleation of magnetite during ascent would form superparamagnetic grains and therefore cannot explain the observed magnetic grain sizes. This implies that the ferromagnetic phases present in the studied samples formed at mantle depth. The samples from the South Central United States exhibit a small range in low-field magnetic susceptibility (+/- 0.00003 [SI]), and Natural Remanent Magnetization (NRM) between 0.001 - 0.100 A/m. To the contrary samples from the Bearpaw Mountains exhibit a wider range of low-field susceptibilities (0.00001 to 0.0015 [SI]) and NRM (0.01 and 9.00 A/m). These samples have been serpentinized in-situ by metasomatic fluids related to the Farallon plate (Facer et al., 2009). Hence, the magnetic properties of the lithospheric mantle beneath the continental United States differ significantly depending on tectonic setting. The combination of the low geotherm observed in the Bearpaw Mountains with the stronger induced and remanent magnetization of mantle rocks in this area may produce a detectable LWMA.

Continental Subduction: Mass Fluxes and Interactions with the Wider Earth System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cuthbert, S. J.

2011-12-01

Substantial parts of ultra-high pressure (UHP) terrains probably represent subducted passive continental margins (PCM). This contribution reviews and synthesises research on processes operating in such systems and their implication for the wider Earth system. PCM sediments are large repositories of volatiles including hydrates, nitrogen species, carbonates and hydrocarbons. Sediments and upper/ mid-crustal basement are rich in incompatible elements and are fertile for melting. Lower crust may be more mafic and refractory. Juvenile rift-related mafic rocks also have the potential to generate substantial volumes of granitoid melts, especially if they have been hydrated. Exposed UHP terrains demonstrate the return of continental crust from mantle depths, show evidence for substantial fluxes of aqueous fluid, anatexis and, in entrained orogenic peridotites, metasomatism of mantle rocks by crust- derived C-O-H fluids. However, substantial bodies of continental material may never return to the surface as coherent masses of rock, but remain sequestered in the mantle where they melt or become entrained in the deeper mantle circulation. Hence during subduction, PCM's become partitioned by a range of mechanisms. Mechanical partitioning strips away weaker sediment and middle/upper crust, which circulate back up the subduction channel, while denser, stronger transitional pro-crust and lower crust may "stall" near the base of the lithosphere or be irreversibly subducted to join the global mantle circulation. Under certain conditions sediment and upper crustal basement may reach depths for UHPM. Further partitioning takes place by anatexis, which either aids stripping and exhumation of the more melt-prone rock-masses through mechanical softening, or separates melt from residuum so that melt escapes and is accreted to the upper plate leading to "undercrusting", late-orogenic magmatism and further refinement of the crust. Melt that traverses sections of mantle will interact with it causing metasomatism and refertilisation. Partitioning also takes place by solid-fluid and melt-fluid partitioning. Dehydration may take place both during subduction and exhumation, and fluxes between dehydrating and hydrating rock masses influence the internal fluid budget of the orogen (essential for eclogitisation and densification of mafic lithologies). Ascending granitic melts advect dissolved water to shallow levels, or even the atmosphere. Irreversible subduction of PCM sediment carries water plus nitrogen species to the deeper mantle. Decarbonation of voluminous PCM carbonates depends on thermal regime and may release a pulse of CO2 to the atmosphere, but is limited in colder subduction zones hence transferring large volumes of carbon to the deep mantle. This may ultimately be mobilised by melting or dissolution to form fluid media for diamond formation.

Geodetic measurements and numerical models of the Afar rifting sequence 2005-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, T.; Feigl, K.; Calais, E.; Hamling, I. J.; Wright, T. J.

2012-12-01

Rifting episodes are characterized by magma migration and dike intrusions that perturb the stress field within the surrounding lithosphere, inducing viscous flow in the lower crust and upper mantle that leads to observable, transient surface deformation. The Manda Hararo-Dabbahu rifting episode that occurred in the Afar depression between 2005 and 2010 is the first such episode to unfold fully in the era of satellite geodesy, thus providing a unique opportunity to probe the rheology of lithosphere at a divergent plate boundary. GPS and SAR measurements over the region since 2005 show accelerated surface deformation rates during post-diking intervals [Wright et al., Nature Geosci., 2012]. Using these observations in combination with a numerical model, we estimate model parameters that best explain the deformation signal. Our model accounts for three distinct processes: (i) secular plate spreading between Nubian and Arabian plates, (ii) time dependent post-rifting viscoelastic relaxation following the 14 dike intrusions that occurred between 2005 and 2010, including the 60 km long mega dike intrusion of September 2005, and (iii) magma accumulation within crustal reservoirs that feed the dikes. To model the time dependent deformation field, we use the open-source unstructured finite element code, Defmod [Ali, 2011, http://defmod.googlecode.com/]. Using a gradient-based iterative scheme [Ali and Feigl, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 2012], we optimize the fit between observed and modeled deformation to estimate parameters in the model, including the locking depth of the rift zone, geometry and depth of magma reservoirs and rheological properties of lower crust and upper mantle, along with their formal uncertainties.

Role of mantle flow in Nubia-Somalia plate divergence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stamps, D. S.; Iaffaldano, G.; Calais, E.

2015-01-01

Present-day continental extension along the East African Rift System (EARS) has often been attributed to diverging sublithospheric mantle flow associated with the African Superplume. This implies a degree of viscous coupling between mantle and lithosphere that remains poorly constrained. Recent advances in estimating present-day opening rates along the EARS from geodesy offer an opportunity to address this issue with geodynamic modeling of the mantle-lithosphere system. Here we use numerical models of the global mantle-plates coupled system to test the role of present-day mantle flow in Nubia-Somalia plate divergence across the EARS. The scenario yielding the best fit to geodetic observations is one where torques associated with gradients of gravitational potential energy stored in the African highlands are resisted by weak continental faults and mantle basal drag. These results suggest that shear tractions from diverging mantle flow play a minor role in present-day Nubia-Somalia divergence.

From Geodynamics to Simplicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, D. L.

2002-12-01

Mantle convection and plate tectonics are often thought as synonymous. Convection is sometimes treated as the driver or plate tectonics is viewed as simply a manifestation of mantle convection. Mantle plumes are regarded as supplying some of the elements missing in the plate tectonic and mantle convection paradigms, such as island chains, swells and large igneous provinces. An alternate view is motivated by Prigogine's concept of far-from-equilibrium self-organization ( SOFFE), not to be confused with Bak's self-organized criticality ( SOC) . In a SOFFE system the components interact, and the system is small compared to the outside world to which it is open. There must be multiple possible states and dissipation is important. Such a system is sensitive to small changes. Rayleigh-Benard convection in a container with isothermal walls is such a self-organizing system ; the driving bouyancy and the dissipation ( viscosity ) are in the fluid. In Marangoni convection the driving forces ( surface tension ) and dissipation are in the surface film and this organizes the surface and the underlying fluid. The mantle provides energy and matter to the interacting plate system but forces in the plates drive and dissipate the energy. Thus, plate tectonics may be a SOFFEE system that drives convection,as are systems cooled from above, in general. If so, plates will reorganize as boundary conditions change ; incipient plate boundaries will emerge as volcanic chains at tensile regions. Plates are defined as regions of lateral compression ( force chains ), rather than strength, and they are ephemeral. The plate system, rather than mantle viscosity, will modulate mantle cooling. The supercontinent cycle, with episodes of reorganization and massive magmatism, may be a manifestation of this far-from-equilibrium, driven from above, system. Geodynamics may be simpler than we think. Plate tectonics is certainly a more powerful concept once the concepts of rididity, elasticity, homogeneity, steady-state, equilibrium and uniformity are dropped or modified, as qualifiers of the system,as recommended in Occam's philosophy.

Local earthquake tomography of the Jalisco, Mexico region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watkins, W. David; Thurber, Clifford H.; Abbott, Elizabeth R.; Brudzinski, Michael R.

2018-01-01

The states of Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán in western Mexico overlie the boundary of the subducting Rivera and Cocos plates, presenting an ideal target for seismological inquiry to better understand the resulting mantle flow and regional volcanism. The different dips between the two subducting plates are thought to provide a mantle conduit that has contributed to the Colima Volcanic Complex (CVC), but there is considerable debate on the depth of the Rivera plate and width of the resulting conduit. With data from the Mapping the Rivera Subduction Zone (MARS) and Colima Deep Seismic Experiment (CODEX) networks, two temporary broadband arrays deployed in the region between 2006 and 2008, we inverted for three-dimensional P- and S-wave velocity as well as Vp/Vs structure of the upper 70 km of the crust and mantle in the Jalisco region. Using a newly-developed automatic P- and S-wave picker, we increased P picks by 74% and S picks by more than a factor of four compared to a database of manual picks for the 803 earthquakes used in the inversion. Additional relocated earthquakes extending to the trench are consistent with previous interpretations of the Rivera and Cocos plate interfaces. Areas of high Vp/Vs above both subducting slabs suggest the presence of fluids resulting from dehydration of subducted material. Extensive crustal seismicity occurs near these anomalies. A zone of high Vp/Vs is also present under the CVC. We also compare the results of different methods for obtaining Vp/Vs: a direct inversion for Vp/Vs from S minus P times versus simply dividing the Vp model by the Vs model. We find direct inversions of S minus P times to be more reliable.

Nonlinear 1D and 2D waveform inversions of SS precursors and their applications in mantle seismic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dokht, R.; Gu, Y. J.; Sacchi, M. D.

2016-12-01

Seismic velocities and the topography of mantle discontinuities are crucial for the understanding of mantle structure, dynamics and mineralogy. While these two observables are closely linked, the vast majority of high-resolution seismic images are retrieved under the assumption of horizontally stratified mantle interfaces. This conventional correction-based process could lead to considerable errors due to the inherent trade-off between velocity and discontinuity depth. In this study, we introduce a nonlinear joint waveform inversion method that simultaneously recovers discontinuity depths and seismic velocities using the waveforms of SS precursors. Our target region is the upper mantle and transition zone beneath Northeast Asia. In this region, the inversion outcomes clearly delineate a westward dipping high-velocity structure in association with the subducting Pacific plate. Above the flat part of the slab west of the Japan sea, our results show a shear wave velocity reduction of 1.5% in the upper mantle and 10-15 km depression of the 410 km discontinuity beneath the Changbaishan volcanic field. We also identify the maximum correlation between shear velocity and transition zone thickness at an approximate slab dip of 30 degrees, which is consistent with previously reported values in this region.To validate the results of the 1D waveform inversion of SS precursors, we discretize the mantle beneath the study region and conduct a 2D waveform tomographic survey using the same nonlinear approach. The problem is simplified by adopting the discontinuity depths from the 1D inversion and solving only for perturbations in shear velocities. The resulting models obtained from the 1D and 2D approaches are self-consistent. Low-velocities beneath the Changbai intraplate volcano likely persist to a depth of 500 km. Collectively, our seismic observations suggest that the active volcanoes in eastern China may be fueled by a hot thermal anomaly originating from the mantle transition zone.

Diapir versus along-channel ascent of crustal material during plate convergence: constrained by the thermal structure of subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, M. Q.; Li, Z. H.

2017-12-01

Crustal rocks can be subducted to mantle depths, interact with the mantle wedge, and then exhume to the crustal depth again, which is generally considered as the mechanism for the formation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks in nature. The crustal rocks undergo dehydration and melting at subarc depths, giving rise to fluids that metasomatize and weaken the overlying mantle wedge. There are generally two ways for the material ascent from subarc depths: one is along subduction channel; the other is through the mantle wedge by diapir. In order to study the conditions and dynamics of these contrasting material ascent modes, systematic petrological-thermo-mechanical numerical models are constructed with variable thicknesses of the overriding and subducting continental plates, ages of the subducting oceanic plate, as well as the plate convergence rates. The model results suggest that the thermal structures of subduction zones control the thermal condition and fluid/melt activity at the slab-mantle interface in subcontinental subduction channels, which further strongly affect the material transportation and ascent mode. Thick overriding continental plate and low-angle subduction style induced by young subducting oceanic plate both contribute to the formation of relatively cold subduction channels with strong overriding mantle wedge, where the along-channel exhumation occurs exclusively to result in the exhumation of HP-UHP metamorphic rocks. In contrast, thin overriding lithosphere and steep subduction style induced by old subducting oceanic plate are the favorable conditions for hot subduction channels, which lead to significant hydration and metasomatism, melting and weakening of the overriding mantle wedge and thus cause the ascent of mantle wedge-derived melts by diapir through the mantle wedge. This may corresponds to the origination of continental arc volcanism from mafic to ultramafic metasomatites in the bottom of the mantle wedge. In addition, the plate convergence rate can also affect the material ascent mode, e.g., diapiric extrusion versus along-channel exhumation, by changing the amount of supracrustal rocks carried into the subduction channels, which further regulate the fluid/melt activity and thermo-rheological properties.

Current Global Absolute Plate Velocities Inferred from the Trends of Hotspot Tracks: Implications for Motion between Groups of Hotspots and Comparison and Combination with Absolute Velocities Inferred from the Orientation of Seismic Anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, C.; Gordon, R. G.; Zheng, L.

2016-12-01

Hotspot tracks are widely used to estimate the absolute velocities of plates, i.e., relative to the lower mantle. Knowledge of current motion between hotspots is important for both plate kinematics and mantle dynamics and informs the discussion on the origin of the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend. Following Morgan & Morgan (2007), we focus only on the trends of young hotspot tracks and omit volcanic propagation rates. The dispersion of the trends can be partitioned into between-plate and within-plate dispersion. Applying the method of Gripp & Gordon (2002) to the hotspot trend data set of Morgan & Morgan (2007) constrained to the MORVEL relative plate angular velocities (DeMets et al., 2010) results in a standard deviation of the 56 hotspot trends of 22°. The largest angular misfits tend to occur on the slowest moving plates. Alternatively, estimation of best-fitting poles to hotspot tracks on the nine individual plates, results in a standard deviation of trends of only 13°, a statistically significant reduction from the introduction of 15 additional adjustable parameters. If all of the between-plate misfit is due to motion of groups of hotspots (beneath different plates), nominal velocities relative to the mean hotspot reference frame range from 1 to 4 mm/yr with the lower bounds ranging from 1 to 3 mm/yr and the greatest upper bound being 8 mm/yr. These are consistent with bounds on motion between Pacific and Indo-Atlantic hotspots over the past ≈50 Ma, which range from zero (lower bound) to 8 to 13 mm/yr (upper bounds) (Koivisto et al., 2014). We also determine HS4-MORVEL, a new global set of plate angular velocities relative to the hotspots constrained to consistency with the MORVEL relative plate angular velocities, using a two-tier analysis similar to that used by Zheng et al. (2014) to estimate the SKS-MORVEL global set of absolute plate velocities fit to the orientation of seismic anisotropy. We find that the 95% confidence limits of HS4-MORVEL and SKS-MORVEL overlap substantially and that the two sets of angular velocities differ insignificantly. Thus we combine the two sets of angular velocities to estimate ABS-MORVEL, an optimal set of global angular velocities consistent with both hotspot tracks and seismic anisotropy. ABS-MORVEL has more compact confidence limits than either SKS-MORVEL or HS4-MORVEL.

A kinematic model for the late Cenozoic development of southern California crust and upper mantle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Humphreys, Eugene D.; Hager, Bradford H.

1990-01-01

A model is developed for the young and ongoing kinematic deformation of the southern California crust and upper mantle. The kinematic model qualitatively explains both the overall seismic structure of the upper mantle and much of the known geological history of the late Cenozoic as consequences of ongoing convection beneath southern California. In this model, the high-velocity upper-mantle anomaly of the Transverse ranges is created through the convergence and sinking of the entire thickness of subcrustal lihtosphere, and the low-velocity upper-mantle anomaly beneath the Salton Trough region is attributed to high temperatures and 1-4 percent partial melt related to adiabatic decompression during mantle upwelling.

Searching for Hysteresis in Models of Mantle Convection with Grain-Damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamichhane, R.; Foley, B. J.

2017-12-01

The mode of surface tectonics on terrestrial planets is determined by whether mantle convective forces are capable of forming weak zones of localized deformation in the lithosphere, which act as plate boundaries. If plate boundaries can form then a plate tectonic mode develops, and if not convection will be in the stagnant lid regime. Episodic subduction or sluggish lid convection are also possible in between the nominal plate tectonic and stagnant lid regimes. Plate boundary formation is largely a function of the state of the mantle, e.g. mantle temperature or surface temperature, and how these conditions influence both mantle convection and the mantle rheology's propensity for forming weak, localized plate boundaries. However, a planet's tectonic mode also influences whether plate boundaries can form, as the driving forces for plate boundary formation (e.g. stress and viscous dissipation) are different in a plate tectonic versus stagnant lid regime. As a result, tectonic mode can display hysteresis, where convection under otherwise identical conditions can reach different final states as a result of the initial regime of convection. Previous work has explored this effect in pseudoplastic models, finding that it is more difficult to initiate plate tectonics starting from a stagnant lid state than it is to sustain plate tectonics when already in a mobile lid regime, because convective stresses in the lithosphere are lower in a stagnant lid regime than in a plate tectonic regime. However, whether and to what extent such hysteresis is displayed when alternative rheological models for lithospheric shear localization are used is unknown. In particular, grainsize reduction is commonly hypothesized to be a primary cause of shear localization and plate boundary formation. We use new models of mantle convection with grain-size evolution to determine how the initial mode of surface tectonics influences the final convective regime reached when convection reaches statistical steady-state. Scaling analysis is performed to quantify how subduction initiation from a stagnant lid differs from sustaining subduction in a mobile lid. The implications of our results for the evolution of the mode of surface tectonics on terrestrial planets will also be discussed.

The P wavespeed structure in the mantle to 800 km depth below the Philippines region: geodynamic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, C.

2009-03-01

P waves from earthquakes south of Taiwan, recorded by the BATS seismic array and CWB seismic network, were used define the P wavespeed structure between depths of 100 and 800 km below the Philippines region. The presence of a low wavespeed zone in the upper mantle is inferred, although the details are unclear. Wavespeeds in the uppermost mantle are low, as expected for seismic energy propagating within an oceanic plate. The estimated depths of the 410- and 660-km discontinuities are 325 and 676 km respectively. The unusually shallow depth of the upper discontinuity below and to the east of Luzon is inferred by clearly resolving the travel-time branch produced by refraction through the transition zone. A possible explanation for the northern part of the region covered is that seismic energy reaches its maximum depth within or close to the cool, subducted oceanic South China Sea slab where subduction has been slow and relatively recent. Further south, however, the presence of a broken remnant of the South China Sea slab, formed during a period of shallower subduction, is suggested at depths below 300 km to explain the broad extent of the elevated 410-km discontinuity. The 660-km discontinuity is slightly deeper than usual, implying that low temperatures persist to lower mantle depths. The wavespeed gradients within the transition zone between depths of 450 and 610 km are higher than those predicted by both the pyrolite and piclogite models of the mantle, possibly due to the presence of water in the transition zone.

Plate tectonic reconstruction of South and East Asia since 43 Ma using seismic tomographic constraints: role of the subducted ';East Asia Sea' (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, J. E.; Suppe, J.; Renqi, L.; Kanda, R. V.

2013-12-01

Lithosphere that subducts at convergent plate boundaries provides a potentially decipherable plate tectonic record. In this study we use global seismic tomography to map subducted slabs in the upper and lower mantle under South and East Asia to constrain plate reconstructions. The mapped slabs include the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and Banda Sea, the Molucca Sea, Celebes Sea, the Philippine Sea and Eurasia, New Guinea and other lower mantle detached slabs. The mapped slabs were restored to the earth surface and used with Gplates software to constrain a globally-consistent, fully animated plate reconstruction of South and East Asia. Three principal slab elements dominate possible plate reconstructions: [1] The mapped Pacific slabs near the Izu-Bonin and the Marianas trenches form a subvertical slab curtain or wall extending down to 1500 km in the lower mantle. The ';slab curtain' geometry and restored slabs lengths indicate that the Pacific subduction zone has remained fixed within +/- 250 km of its present position since ~43 Ma. In contrast, the Tonga Pacific slab curtain records at least 1000 km trench rollback associated with expansion of back-arc basins. [2] West of the Pacific slab curtain, a set of flat slabs exist in the lower mantle and record a major 8000km by 2500-3000km ocean that existed at ~43 Ma. This now-subducted ocean, which we call the ';East Asian Sea', existed between the Ryukyu Asian margin and the Lord Howe hotspot, present-day eastern Australia, and fills a major gap in Cenozoic plate reconstructions between Indo-Australia, the Pacific Ocean and Asia. [3] An observed ';picture puzzle' fit between the restored edges of the Philippine Sea, Molucca Sea and Indian Ocean slabs suggests that the Philippine Sea was once part of a larger Indo-Australian Ocean. Previous models of Philippine Sea plate motions are in conflict with the location of the East Asian Sea lithosphere. Using the mapped slab constraints, we propose the following 43 Ma to 0 plate tectonic reconstruction. At ~43 Ma a major plate reorganization occurred in South and East Asia marked by Indian Ocean Wharton ridge extinction, initiation of Pacific Ocean WNW motions and the rapid northward motion of the Australian plate. The Philippine Sea and Molucca Sea were clustered at the northern margin of Australia, northwest of New Guinea. During the mid-Cenozoic these plates moved NNE with Australia, accommodated by N-S transforms at the eastern margin of Sundaland. The East Asian Sea was subducted under the northward-moving Philippine Sea and Australia plates, and the expanding Melanesian and Shikoku-Parece Vela backarc basins. At ~20 to 25 Ma the Philippine Sea and Molucca Sea were fragmented from Indo-Australia and began to have a westward component of motion due to partial Pacific capture. Around 1-2 Ma the Philippine Sea was more fully captured by the Pacific and now has rapid Pacific-like northwestward motions.

Development of diapiric structures in the upper mantle due to phase transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, M.; Yuen, D. A.; Zhao, W.; Honda, S.

1991-01-01

Solid-state phase transition in time-dependent mantle convection can induce diapiric flows in the upper mantle. When a deep mantle plume rises toward phase boundaries in the upper mantle, the changes in the local thermal buoyancy, local heat capacity, and latent heat associated with the phase change at a depth of 670 kilometers tend to pinch off the plume head from the feeding stem and form a diapir. This mechanism may explain episodic hot spot volcanism. The nature of the multiple phase boundaries at the boundary between the upper and lower mantle may control the fate of deep mantle plumes, allowing hot plumes to go through and retarding the tepid ones.

Diapir versus along-channel ascent of crustal material during plate convergence: Constrained by the thermal structure of subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ming-Qi; Li, Zhong-Hai; Yang, Shao-Hua

2017-09-01

Subduction channel processes are crucial for understanding the material and energy exchange between the Earth's crust and mantle. Crustal rocks can be subducted to mantle depths, interact with the mantle wedge, and then exhume to the crustal depth again, which is generally considered as the mechanism for the formation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks in nature. In addition, the crustal rocks generally undergo dehydration and melting at subarc depths, giving rise to fluids that metasomatize and weaken the overlying mantle wedge. There are generally two ways for the material ascent from subarc depths: one is along subduction channels; the other is through the mantle wedge by diapir. In order to study the conditions and dynamics of these contrasting material ascent modes, systematic petrological-thermo-mechanical numerical models are constructed with variable thicknesses of the overriding and subducting continental plates, ages of the subducting oceanic plate, as well as the plate convergence rates. The model results suggest that the thermal structures of subduction zones control the thermal condition and fluid/melt activity at the slab-mantle interface in subcontinental subduction channels, which further strongly affect the material transportation and ascent mode. The thick overriding continental plate and the low-angle subduction style induced by young subducting oceanic plate both contribute to the formation of relatively cold subduction channels with strong overriding mantle wedge, where the along-channel exhumation occurs exclusively to result in the exhumation of HP-UHP metamorphic rocks. In contrast, the thin overriding lithosphere and the steep subduction style induced by old subducting oceanic plate are the favorable conditions for hot subduction channels, which lead to significant hydration and metasomatism, melting and weakening of the overriding mantle wedge and thus cause the ascent of mantle wedge-derived melts by diapir through the mantle wedge. This may correspond to the origination of continental arc volcanism from mafic to ultramafic metasomatites in the bottom of the mantle wedge. In addition, the plate convergence rate can also affect the material ascent mode, e.g., diapiric extrusion versus along-channel exhumation, by changing the amount of supracrustal rocks carried into the subduction channels, which further regulate the fluid/melt activity and thermo-rheological properties.

The influence of mantle refertilisation on the formation of TTGs in a plume-lid tectonics setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, R.; Gerya, T.

2017-12-01

Higher amounts of radiogenic elements and leftover primordial heat in the early Earth both contribute to the increased temperature in the Earth's interior and it is mainly this increased mantle potential temperature that controls the dynamics of the crust and upper mantle and the predominant style of tectonics in the Early Earth. The increased upper mantle temperature precludes the modern plate tectonics regime and stabilizes another type of global tectonics often called plume-lid tectonics (Fischer and Gerya, 2016) or 'plutonic squishy lid' tectonics(Rozel et al., 2017). Plume-lid tectonics is dominated by intrusive mantle-derived magmatism which results in a thickening of the overlaying crust. The overthickened basaltic crust is transformed into eclogite and episodically recycled back into the mantle. Melt extraction from hydrated partially molten basaltic crust leads to the production of primordial tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) continental crust. TTGs make up over half of the Archean crust and can be classied into low-, medium- and high-pressure types (Moyen, 2011). Field studies show that the three different types (low-, medium- and high-pressure) appear in a ratio of 20%, 60% and 20% (Moyen, 2011). Numerical models of plume-lid tectonics generally agree very well with these values (Rozel et al., 2017) but also show that the ratio between the three different TTG types varies greatly during the two phases of the plume-lid tectonics cycle: growth phase and overturn phase. Melt productivity of the mantle decreases rapidly after removal of the garnet and clinopyroxene components. Addition of new garnet and clinopyroxene-rich material into the harzburgitic residue should lead to a refertilised lherzolite which could potentially yield new melt (Bédard, 2006). Mixing of eclogite drips back into the mantle can lead to the geochemical refertilisation of already depleted mantle and allow for further extraction of melt (Bédard, 2006). We will explore this process of mantle refertilisation in our 3D petrological-magmatic-thermomechanical numerical modelling experiments and study its influence on the three types of TTGs during different phases of the plume-lid tectonics cycle.

Late Veneer consequences on Venus' long term evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gillmann, C.; Golabek, G.; Tackley, P. J.; Raymond, S. N.

2017-12-01

Modelling of Venus' evolution is able to produce scenarios consistent with present-day observation. These results are however heavily dependent on atmosphere escape and initial volatile inventory. This primordial history (the first 500 Myr) is heavily influenced by collisions. We investigate how Late Veneer impacts change the initial state of Venus and their consequences on its coupled mantle/atmosphere evolution. We focus on volatile fluxes: atmospheric escape and mantle degassing. Mantle dynamics is simulated using the StagYY code. Atmosphere escape covers both thermal and non-thermal processes. Surface conditions are calculated with a radiative-convective model. Feedback of the atmosphere on the mantle through surface temperature is included. Large impacts are capable of contributing to atmospheric escape, volatile replenishment and energy transfer. We use the SOVA hydrocode to take into account volatile loss and deposition during a collision. Large impacts are not numerous enough to substantially erode Venus' atmosphere. Single impacts don't have enough eroding power. Swarms of small bodies (<50km radius) might be a better candidate for this process. The amount of volatiles brought by large ordinary chondrite impactors is superior to losses and comparable to the degassing caused by the impact. Carbonaceous chondrite impactors are unlikely: they release too many volatiles, causing surface temperature to stay above 900K up to present-day. Mantle dynamics can also be modified by the heating caused by impacts. Heated material propagates by spreading across the upper mantle due to its buoyancy. Old crust is destroyed or remixed in the mantle. A large part of the upper mantle melts, leading to its depletion and degassing. With enough evenly distributed high energy impacts, the mantle can be depleted by more than 90% of its volatiles during Late Veneer. This drastically cuts down degassing in the late history of the planet and leads to lower present-day surface temperatures. Total depletion of the mantle seems unlikely, meaning either few large impacts (1 to 4) or low energy (slow, grazing…) collisions. Combined with the lack of plate tectonics and volatile recycling in the interior of Venus, Late Veneer collisions could help explain why Venus seems dry today.

Constraints on the shear speed, crust thickness and residual topography of western Tibet from surface wave tomography and virtual deep seismic sounding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matchette-Downes, H.; van der Hilst, R. D.; Priestley, K. F.

2017-12-01

We have estimated the thickness of the crust in western Tibet by measuring the time delays between the direct S and the SsPmp seismic phases. We find that the thickness of the crust increases from around 50 km beneath the Tethyan Himalayas to around 80 km beneath the Lhasa block, and then decreases to around 70 km beneath the Qiangtang terrane.This method, virtual deep seismic sounding (VDSS), also yields robust estimates of the contribution of crust buoyancy to elevation. By subtracting the predicted elevation from the real topography, we find there is no observable deviation from hydrostatic topography beneath the Tethyan Himalaya, but there is negative residual topography of 1.5 to 2.0 km beneath the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes. It is also known that the interior of the Plateau is isostatically compensated, as it has small free air gravity anomalies.Additionally, we have estimated the 3D shear speed structure of the crust and upper mantle. This model is derived from maps of the fundamental mode Rayleigh wave phase speed dispersion in the period range from 20 to 140 s, obtained from a standard two-plane-wave inversion constrained with receiver functions and group speeds from ambient noise. The observations agree with previous observations of a low-wavespeed zone in the mid-crust and a gradual Moho. Furthermore, the long-period Rayleigh waves detect a high-wavespeed upper mantle.Together, the observations of high upper mantle wavespeeds, negative residual topography, and small free air gravity anomalies support the hypothesis that cold, dense Indian lithosphere has underthrust the Plateau in this region. However, in the presentation we also consider contributions to residual topography from plate flexure, lower crustal flow, or deeper mantle flow (dynamic topography).

Plume-stagnant slab-lithosphere interactions: Origin of the late Cenozoic intra-plate basalts on the East Eurasia margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Jun-Ichi; Sakuyama, Tetsuya; Miyazaki, Takashi; Vaglarov, Bogdan S.; Fukao, Yoshio; Stern, Robert J.

2018-02-01

Intra-plate basalts of 35-0 Ma in East Eurasia formed in a broad backarc region above the stagnant Pacific Plate slab in the mantle transition zone. These basalts show regional-scale variations in Nd-Hf isotopes. The basalts with the most radiogenic Nd-Hf center on the Shandong Peninsula with intermediate Nd-Hf at Hainan and Datong. The least radiogenic basalts occur in the perimeters underlain by the thick continental lithosphere. Shandong basalts possess isotopic signatures of the young igneous oceanic crust of the subducted Pacific Plate. Hainan and Datong basalts have isotopic signatures of recycled subduction materials with billions of years of storage in the mantle. The perimeter basalts have isotopic signatures similar to pyroxenite xenoliths from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath East Eurasia. Hainan basalts exhibit the highest mantle potential temperature (Tp), while the Shandong basalts have the lowest Tp. We infer that a deep high-Tp plume interacted with the subducted Pacific Plate slab in the mantle transition zone to form a local low-Tp plume by entraining colder igneous oceanic lithosphere. We infer that the subducted Izanagi Plate slab, once a part of the Pacific Plate mosaic, broke off from the Pacific Plate slab at 35 Ma to sink into the lower mantle. The sinking Izanagi slab triggered the plume that interacted with the stagnant Pacific slab and caused subcontinental lithospheric melting. This coincided with formation of the western Pacific backarc marginal basins due to Pacific Plate slab rollback and stagnation.

Lasting mantle scars lead to perennial plate tectonics.

PubMed

Heron, Philip J; Pysklywec, Russell N; Stephenson, Randell

2016-06-10

Mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, subduction and continental collisions form the conventional theory of plate tectonics to explain non-rigid behaviour at plate boundaries. However, the theory does not explain directly the processes involved in intraplate deformation and seismicity. Recently, damage structures in the lithosphere have been linked to the origin of plate tectonics. Despite seismological imaging suggesting that inherited mantle lithosphere heterogeneities are ubiquitous, their plate tectonic role is rarely considered. Here we show that deep lithospheric anomalies can dominate shallow geological features in activating tectonics in plate interiors. In numerical experiments, we found that structures frozen into the mantle lithosphere through plate tectonic processes can behave as quasi-plate boundaries reactivated under far-field compressional forcing. Intraplate locations where proto-lithospheric plates have been scarred by earlier suturing could be regions where latent plate boundaries remain, and where plate tectonics processes are expressed as a 'perennial' phenomenon.

Lasting mantle scars lead to perennial plate tectonics

PubMed Central

Heron, Philip J.; Pysklywec, Russell N.; Stephenson, Randell

2016-01-01

Mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, subduction and continental collisions form the conventional theory of plate tectonics to explain non-rigid behaviour at plate boundaries. However, the theory does not explain directly the processes involved in intraplate deformation and seismicity. Recently, damage structures in the lithosphere have been linked to the origin of plate tectonics. Despite seismological imaging suggesting that inherited mantle lithosphere heterogeneities are ubiquitous, their plate tectonic role is rarely considered. Here we show that deep lithospheric anomalies can dominate shallow geological features in activating tectonics in plate interiors. In numerical experiments, we found that structures frozen into the mantle lithosphere through plate tectonic processes can behave as quasi-plate boundaries reactivated under far-field compressional forcing. Intraplate locations where proto-lithospheric plates have been scarred by earlier suturing could be regions where latent plate boundaries remain, and where plate tectonics processes are expressed as a ‘perennial' phenomenon. PMID:27282541

Upper mantle beneath foothills of the western Himalaya: subducted lithospheric slab or a keel of the Indian shield?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vinnik, L.; Singh, A.; Kiselev, S.; Kumar, M. Ravi

2007-12-01

The fate of the mantle lithosphere of the Indian Plate in the India-Eurasia collision zone is not well understood. Tomographic studies reveal high P velocity in the uppermost mantle to the south of the western Himalaya, and these high velocities are sometimes interpreted as an image of subducting Indian lithosphere. We suggest that these high velocities are unrelated to the ongoing subduction but correspond to a near-horizontal mantle keel of the Indian shield. In the south of the Indian shield upper-mantle velocities are anomalously low, and relatively high velocities may signify a recovery of the normal shield structure in the north. Our analysis is based on the recordings of seismograph station NIL in the foothills of the western Himalaya. The T component of the P receiver functions is weak relative to the Q component, which is indicative of a subhorizontally layered structure. Joint inversion of the P and S receiver functions favours high uppermost mantle velocities, typical of the lithosphere of Archean cratons. The arrival of the Ps converted phase from 410 km discontinuity at NIL is 2.2 s earlier than in IASP91 global model. This can be an effect of remnants of Tethys subduction in the mantle transition zone and of high velocities in the keel of the Indian shield. Joint inversion of SKS particle motions and P receiver functions reveals a change in the fast direction of seismic azimuthal anisotropy from 60° at 80-160 km depths to 150° at 160-220 km. The fast direction in the lower layer is parallel to the trend of the Himalaya. The change of deformation regimes at a depth of 160 km suggests that this is the base of the lithosphere of the Indian shield. A similar boundary was found with similar techniques in central Europe and the Tien Shan region, but the base of the lithosphere in these regions is relatively shallow, in agreement with the higher upper-mantle temperatures. The ongoing continental collision is expressed in crustal structure: the crust beneath NIL is very thick (58 +/- 2 km), and the S velocity in the intermediate and lower crust is around 4.0 km s-1. This anomalously large velocity and thickness can be explained by scraping off the lower crust, when the Indian lithosphere underthrusts the Himalaya.

Tomographic Imaging of the Cascadia Subduction Zone and Juan de Fuca Plate System: Improved Methods Eliminate Artifacts and Reveal New Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodmer, M.; Toomey, D. R.; Hooft, E. E. E.; Bezada, M.; Schmandt, B.; Byrnes, J. S.

2017-12-01

Amphibious studies of subduction zones promise advances in understanding links between incoming plate structure, the subducting slab, and the upper mantle beneath the slab. However, joint onshore/offshore imaging is challenging due to contrasts between continental and oceanic structure. We present P-wave teleseismic tomography results for the Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) that utilize existing western US datasets, amphibious seismic data from the Cascadia Initiative, and tomographic algorithms that permit 3D starting models, nonlinear ray tracing, and finite frequency kernels. Relative delay times show systematic onshore/offshore trends, which we attribute to structure in the upper 50 km. Shore-crossing CSZ seismic refraction models predict relative delays >1s, with equal contributions from elevation and crustal thickness. We use synthetic data to test methods of accounting for such shallow structure. Synthetic tests using only station static terms produce margin-wide, sub-slab low-velocity artifacts. Using a more realistic a priori 3D model for the upper 50 km better reproduces known input structures. To invert the observed delays, we use data-constrained starting models of the CSZ. Our preferred models utilize regional surface wave studies to construct a starting model, directly account for elevation, and use 3D nonlinear ray tracing. We image well-documented CSZ features, including the subducted slab down to 350 km, along strike slab variations below 150 km, and deep slab fragmentation. Inclusion of offshore data improves resolution of the sub-slab mantle, where we resolve localized low-velocity anomalies near the edges of the CSZ (beneath the Klamath and Olympic mountains). Our new imaging and resolution tests indicate that previously reported margin-wide, sub-slab low-velocity asthenospheric anomalies are an imaging artifact. Offshore, we observe low-velocity anomalies beneath the Gorda plate consistent with regional deformation and broad upwelling resulting from plate stagnation. At the Juan de Fuca Ridge we observe asymmetric low-velocity anomalies consistent with dynamic upwelling. Our results agree with recent offshore tomography studies using S wave data; however, differences in the recovered relative amplitudes are likely due to anisotropy, which we are exploring.

Ground Truth, Magnitude Calibration and Regional Phase Propagation and Detection in the Middle East and Horn of Africa

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

consists of late Proterozoic crystalline basement overlain by Tertiary and Quaternary volcanic rocks in some places. The breakup of the Arabian Plate from...with structure directly below the crust. To investigate upper mantle structure under the Arabian Shield, measured and inverted relative travel times...Plateau, Zagros Mountains, Arabian Peninsula, Turkish Plateau, Gulf of Aqaba, Dead Sea Rift) and the Horn of Africa (including the northern part of

Seismicity and structure of Nazca Plate subduction zone in southern Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, H.; Kim, Y.; Clayton, R. W.; Thurber, C. H.

2016-12-01

We define subducting plate geometries in the Nazca subduction zone by (re)locating intra-slab earthquakes in southern Peru (2-18°S) and taking previously published converted phase analysis results, to clarify the slab geometry and inferred relationships to the seismicity. We also provide both P- and S-wave velocities of the subducting Nazca Plate and mantle wedge portions close to the slab using double-difference tomography (Zhang and Thurber, 2003) to understand upper plate volcanism and subduction process. A total of 492 regional earthquakes from August 2008 to February 2013 recorded from the dense seismic array (PeruSE, 2013) are selected for the relocation and tomography. The relocated seismicity shows a smooth contortion in the slab-dip transition zone for 400 km between the shallow (25°)-to-flat dipping interface in the north and 40°-dipping interface in the south. We find a significant slab-dip difference (up to 10°) between our results and previously published slab models along the profile region sampling the normal-dip slab at depth (>100 km). Robust features in both P- and S-wave tomography inversions are dipping low-velocity slabs down to 100 km transitioning to higher-velocities at 100-140 km in both flat slab and dipping slab regions. Differences in the velocities of the mantle wedge between the two regions may indicate different hydration states in the wedge.

Mantle Flow in the Western United States Constrained by Seismic Anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niday, W.; Humphreys, E.

2017-12-01

Shear wave splitting, caused by the lattice preferred orientation (LPO) of olivine crystals under shear deformation, provide a useful constraint on numerical models of mantle flow. Although it is sometimes assumed that shear wave splitting fast directions correspond with mantle flow directions, this is only true in simple shear flows that do not vary strongly with space or time. Observed shear wave splitting in the western United States is complex and inconsistent with simple shear driven by North American and Pacific plate motion, suggesting that the effects of time-dependent subduction history and spatial heterogeneity are important. Liu and Stegman (2011) reproduce the pattern of fast seismic anomalies below the western US from Farallon subduction history, and Chaparro and Stegman (2017) reproduce the circular anisotropy field below the Great Basin. We extend this to consider anisotropic structure outside the Great Basin and evaluate the density and viscosity of seismic anomalies such as slabs and Yellowstone. We use the mantle convection code ASPECT to simulate 3D buoyancy-driven flow in the mantle below the western US, and predict LPO using the modeled flow fields. We present results from a suite of models varying the sub-lithospheric structures of the western US and constraints on density and viscosity variations in the upper mantle.

Fine crustal and uppermost mantle S-wave velocity structure beneath the Tengchong volcanic area inferred from receiver function and surface-wave dispersion: constraints on magma chamber distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Mengkui; Zhang, Shuangxi; Wu, Tengfei; Hua, Yujin; Zhang, Bo

2018-03-01

The Tengchong volcanic area is located in the southeastern margin of the collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian Plates. It is one of the youngest intraplate volcano groups in mainland China. Imaging the S-wave velocity structure of the crustal and uppermost mantle beneath the Tengchong volcanic area is an important means of improving our understanding of its volcanic activity and seismicity. In this study, we analyze teleseismic data from nine broadband seismic stations in the Tengchong Earthquake Monitoring Network. We then image the crustal and uppermost mantle S-wave velocity structure by joint analysis of receiver functions and surface-wave dispersion. The results reveal widely distributed low-velocity zones. We find four possible magma chambers in the upper-to-middle crust and one in the uppermost mantle. The chamber in the uppermost mantle locates in the depth range from 55 to 70 km. The four magma chambers in the crust occur at different depths, ranging from the depth of 7 to 25 km in general. They may be the heat sources for the high geothermal activity at the surface. Based on the fine crustal and uppermost mantle S-wave velocity structure, we propose a model for the distribution of the magma chambers.

Differentiation of Secular and Postseismic Deformation in the Mojave Shear Zone in Southern California and Inference of Lithospheric Rheology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Z.; Liu, S.; Burgmann, R.

2015-12-01

The 1992 Mw 7.3 Landers and 1999 Mw7.1 Hector Mine earthquakes struck the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) in the Mojave Desert, Southern California. Coseismic and postseismic deformation from these events affect efforts to use Global Positioning System (GPS) observations collected since these events to establish a secular surface velocity field, especially in the near field of the coseismic ruptures. We devise block motion models constrained by both historical pre-Landers triangulation and trilateration observations and post-Landers GPS measurements to recover the secular deformation field and differentiate the postseismic transients in the Mojave region. Postseismic transients are found to remain in various "interseismic" GPS velocity solutions in the form of 2-3 mm/yr excess right-lateral shear across the Landers and Hector Mine coseismic ruptures [Liu et al., 2015 JGR]. Postseismic GPS time series differentiated from the secular velocity field reveal enduring late-stage transient motions in the near field of the coseismic ruptures. Using the postseismic time series data as model constraints, we develop postseismic deformation model invoking afterlip on faults and viscoelastic relaxation in the lower crust and upper mantle. A Burgers body material and a Maxwell material are assumed for the lower crust and upper mantle respectively. Our preliminary modeling result, constrained using GPS time series data from the SCEC Crustal Motion Map 4.0 (covering the time period of 1992-2004), reveals that both the long-term viscosities for the lower crust and upper mantle are on the order of e+19 Pa-s. This finding differs significantly from the "Crème Brulee" model predictions about the rheological structure of the lower crust and upper mantle, in which the lower crust has a substantially higher viscosity. We are incorporating more GPS time series data into our model, particularly the ones from continuous sites of the Plate Boundary Observatory network with post-2004 time span, and the modeling result will be presented at the meeting.

SH wave structure of the crust and upper mantle in southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau from teleseismic Love wave tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Yuanyuan V.; Jia, Ruizhi; Han, Fengqin; Chen, Anguo

2018-06-01

The deep structure of southeastern Tibet is important for determining lateral plateau expansion mechanisms, such as movement of rigid crustal blocks along large strike-slip faults, continuous deformation or the eastward crustal channel flow. We invert for 3-D isotropic SH wave velocity model of the crust and upper mantle to the depth of 110 km from Love wave phase velocity data using a best fitting average model as the starting model. The 3-D SH velocity model presented here is the first SH wave velocity structure in the study area. In the model, the Tibetan Plateau is characterized by prominent slow SH wave velocity with channel-like geometry along strike-slip faults in the upper crust and as broad zones in the lower crust, indicating block-like and distributed deformation at different depth. Positive radial anisotropy (VSH > VSV) is suggested by a high SH wave and low SV wave anomaly at the depths of 70-110 km beneath the northern Indochina block. This positive radial anisotropy could result from the horizontal alignment of anisotropic minerals caused by lithospheric extensional deformation due to the slab rollback of the Australian plate beneath the Sumatra trench.

Seismic structure of the European crust and upper mantle based on adjoint tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, H.; Bozdag, E.; Peter, D.; Tromp, J.

2013-12-01

We present a new crustal and upper mantle model for the European continent and the North Atlantic Ocean, named EU60. It is constructed based on adjoint tomography and involves 3D variations in elastic wavespeeds, anelastic attenuation, and radial/azimuthal anisotropy. Long-wavelength elastic wavespeed structure of EU60 agree with previous body- and surface-wave tomographic models. Some hitherto unidentified features, such as the Adria microplate, naturally emerge from smoothed starting model. Subducting slabs, slab detachment, ancient suture zones, continental rifts and back-arc basins are well resolved in EU60. For anelastic structure, we find an anti-correlation between shear wavespeeds and anelastic attenuation at shallow depths. At greater depths, this anti-correlation becomes relatively weak, in agreement with previous attenuation studies at global scales. Consistent with radial anisotropy in 1D reference models, the European continent is dominated by features with radially anisotropic parameter xi>1, indicating the presence of horizontal flow within the upper mantle. In addition, subduction zones, such as the Apennines and Hellenic arcs, are characterized as vertical flow with xi<1 at depths greater than 150~km. For azimuthal anisotropy, we find that the direction of fast anisotropic axis is well correlated with complicated tectonic evolution in this region, such as extension along the North Atlantic Ridge, trench retreat in the Mediterranean and counter-clockwise rotation of the Anatolian Plate. The ``point spread function'' is used to assess image quality and analyze tradeoff between different model parameters.

Os and HSE of the hot upper mantle beneath southern Tibet: Indian mantle affinity?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Z.; Dale, C. W.; Pearson, D. G.; Niu, Y.; Zhu, D.; Mo, X.

2011-12-01

The subduction of the Indian plate (including cratonic continental crust and/or upper mantle) beneath southern Tibet is widely accepted from both geological and geophysical studies. Mantle-derived xenoliths from this region provide a means of directly investigating the mantle underlying the southern part of the plateau. Studies of xenoliths hosted in the Sailipu ultrapotassic volcanic rocks, erupted at ~17 Ma, have indicated that the subcontinental mantle of southern Tibetan Plateau is hot and strongly influenced by metasomatism (Zhao et al., 2008a, b; Liu et al., 2011). Here we report comprehensive EPMA and LA-ICP-MS major and trace element data for the Sailipu xenoliths and also whole rock Os isotope and HSE data in order to constrain the depletion history of the mantle and to identify the presence of any potential Indian cratonic mantle. The xenoliths, ranging in size from 0.5cm to 1.5cm in diameter, are mostly peridotites. The calculated temperatures are 1010-1230°C at the given pressures of ~1.6-2.0 GPa (n=47). These P-T conditions are similar to rift-related upper mantle regimes (e.g. Kenya), indicating the influence of regional extension beneath southern Tibet in the Miocene. A series of compositional discriminations for minerals (Cpx, Opx, Ol, and Phl), e.g. Fo<90, suggest that the xenoliths are non-cratonic spinel-peridotite (cratonic peridotite olivine Fo> ~91), with a clear metasomatic signature We obtained Os isotope data and abundances of highly siderophile elements (HSE, including Os, Ir, Ru, Pt, Pd and Re) on a set of six olivine-dominated peridotite samples from Sailipu volcanics, less than 1 cm in dimension. They allow us to further constrain the nature and state of the upper mantle beneath the southern Tibet. Sailipu samples display low total HSE abundances (Os+Ir+Ru+Pt+Pd+Re) ranging from 8.7 to 25 ppb, with nearly constant Os, Ir , and Ru, but rather varied Pt (2-13), Pd (0.4-5.2), and Re (0.01-0.5). Chondrite-normalised Pd/Ir ratios range from 0.2 to 2.4 reflecting significant metasomatism of some samples. The xenoliths exhibit 187Os/188Os ratios of 0.12213-0.12696, corresponding to γOs ranging from -4.2 to -0.4 - much higher than ancient cratonic mantle. Thus, on the basis of mineral chemistry and whole rock Os isotopes, Indian cratonic mantle is absent from our suite of xenoliths. Therefore, assuming the presence of cratonic mantle, it seems likely that the xenoliths do not sample the deep basal section of the lithosphere where cratonic Indian lithosphere is thought to be present under southern Tibet. In which case, testing of the seismic and tectonic models may not be possible without garnet-facies peridotites. More work need to be done to further reveal the mantle compostion and mantle dynamics beneath Tibet. [Financially supported by the National Key Project for Basic Research of China (Project 2011CB403102 and 2009CB421002)]. [1] Zhao Z, et al., 2008a. Acta Petrologica Sinica, 24 (2): 193-202 [2] Zhao Z, et al., 2008b. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 72, 12 (Supp.): A1095 [3] Liu C-Z, et al., 2011, Geology, in press

Thermal structure of the Kanto region, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wada, Ikuko; He, Jiangheng

2017-07-01

Using a 3-D numerical thermal model, we investigate the thermal structure of the Kanto region of Japan where two oceanic plates subduct. In a typical subduction setting with one subducting slab, the motion of the slab drives solid-state mantle flow in the overlying mantle wedge, bringing in hot mantle from the back-arc toward the forearc. Beneath Kanto, however, the presence of the subducting Philippine Sea plate between the overlying North American plate and the subducting Pacific plate prevents a typical mantle wedge flow pattern, resulting in a cooler condition. Further, frictional heating and the along-margin variation in the maximum depth of slab-mantle decoupling along the Pacific slab surface affect the thermal structure significantly. The model provides quantitative estimates of spatial variations in the temperature condition that are consistent with the observed surface heat flow pattern and distributions of interplate seismicity and arc volcanoes in Kanto.

Lower plate serpentinite diapirism in the Calabrian Arc subduction complex.

PubMed

Polonia, A; Torelli, L; Gasperini, L; Cocchi, L; Muccini, F; Bonatti, E; Hensen, C; Schmidt, M; Romano, S; Artoni, A; Carlini, M

2017-12-19

Mantle-derived serpentinites have been detected at magma-poor rifted margins and above subduction zones, where they are usually produced by fluids released from the slab to the mantle wedge. Here we show evidence of a new class of serpentinite diapirs within the external subduction system of the Calabrian Arc, derived directly from the lower plate. Mantle serpentinites rise through lithospheric faults caused by incipient rifting and the collapse of the accretionary wedge. Mantle-derived diapirism is not linked directly to subduction processes. The serpentinites, formed probably during Mesozoic Tethyan rifting, were carried below the subduction system by plate convergence; lithospheric faults driving margin segmentation act as windows through which inherited serpentinites rise to the sub-seafloor. The discovery of deep-seated seismogenic features coupled with inherited lower plate serpentinite diapirs, provides constraints on mechanisms exposing altered products of mantle peridotite at the seafloor long time after their formation.

Cretaceous subduction in the Pyrenees: Iberian plate-kinematics in a mantle reference frame

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vissers, Reinoud; van Hinsbergen, Douwe; van der Meer, Douwe; Spakman, Wim

2016-04-01

During the Cretaceous, Iberia was a microplate separated from Laurasia and Gondwana by ridges and transforms, and by a convergent margin to its northeast along which the Pyrenean fold-thrust belt developed. As a microplate, Iberia underwent a well-defined but ill-understood Albian-Aptian ~ 35° counterclockwise rotation relative to Eurasia. Three competing kinematic scenarios for Iberian motion in the late Mesozoic are all compatible with the Pyrenean geological record and comprise (1) transtensional eastward motion of Iberia versus Eurasia, (2) strike-slip motion followed by orthogonal extension and (3) scissor-style opening of the Bay of Biscay coupled with subduction in the Pyrenean realm. The last scenario is the only one consistent with paleomagnetic and ocean floor anomaly constraints showing Iberia's rotation, but is criticized because the upper mantle below the Pyrenees contains no evidence for a subducted slab. Here we show that when taking absolute plate motions into account, Aptian oceanic subduction in the Pyrenees followed by Albian slab break-off should leave a slab remnant in the present-day mid-mantle below NW Africa instead of below the Pyrenees. Mantle tomography shows a positive seismic velocity anomaly that matches the predicted position and dimension of such a slab remnant between 1900 and 1500 km depth below Reggane in Southern Algeria. Seismic tomographic imaging of the mantle structure therefore does not falsify the Pyrenean subduction hypothesis, and provides no basis to discard marine magnetic and paleomagnetic constraints on Iberia's kinematic history. Slab break-off explains the well-dated Albian-Cenomanian high-temperature metamorphism in the Pyrenees that hitherto has been interpreted as an expression of continental break-up and hyperextension. We suspect that subduction in the Pyrenees may have played a key role in driving the rapid Aptian rotation of the Iberian microplate.

The early Earth -- A perspective on the Archean

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamilton, W.B.

1993-04-01

Dominant models of Archean tectonics and magmatism involve plate-tectonic mechanisms. Common tenets of geochemistry (e.g., model ages) and petrology visualize a cold-accreted Earth in which primitive mantle gradually fractionated to produce crust during and since Archean time. These popular assumptions appear to be incompatible with cosmologic and planetologic evidence and with Archean geology. All current quantitative and semiquantitative theories agree that the Earth was largely or entirely melted (likely superheated) by giant impacts, including the Mars-size impact which splashed out the Moon, and by separation of the core. The Earth at [approximately]4.5 Ga was a violently convecting anhydrous molten ball.more » Both this history and solar-system position indicate the bulk Earth to be more refractory than chondrite. The outer part of whatever sold shell developed was repeatedly recycled by impacts before 3.9 Ga. Water and CO[sub 2] were added by impactors after the Moon-forming event; the mantle is not a source of primordial volatiles, but rather is a sink that has depleted the hydrosphere. Voluminous liquidus ultramafic lava (komatiite) indicates that much Archean upper mantle was above its solidus. Only komatiitic and basaltic magma entered Archean crust from the mantle. Variably hydrous contamination, secondary melting, and fractionation in the crust produced intermediate and felsic melts. Magmatism was concurrent over vast tracts. Within at least the small sample of Archean crust that has not been recycled into the mantle, heat loss was primarily by voluminous, dispersed magmatism, not, as in the modern Earth, primarily through spreading windows through the crust. Only in Proterozoic time did plate-tectonic mechanisms become prevalent.« less

P-wave tomography of Northeast Asia: Constraints on the western Pacific plate subduction and mantle dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Jincheng; Tian, You; Liu, Cai; Zhao, Dapeng; Feng, Xuan; Zhu, Hongxiang

2018-01-01

A high-resolution model of 3-D P-wave velocity structure beneath Northeast Asia and adjacent regions is determined by using 244,180 arrival times of 14,163 local and regional earthquakes and 319,857 relative travel-time residuals of 9988 teleseismic events recorded at ∼2100 seismic stations in the study region. Our tomographic results reveal the subducting Pacific slab clearly as a prominent high-velocity anomaly from the Japan Trench to the North-South Gravity lineament (NSGL) in East China. The NSGL is roughly coincident with the western edge of the stagnant Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone (MTZ). The subducting Pacific slab has partly sunk into the lower mantle beneath Northeast China, but under the Sino-Korean Craton the slab lies horizontally in the MTZ. The NSGL, as an important tectonic line in Mainland China, is marked by sharp differences in the surface topography, gravity anomaly, crustal and lithospheric thickness and mantle seismic velocity from the east to the west. These features of the NSGL and large-scale hot and wet upwelling in the big mantle wedge (BMW) in the east of the NSGL are all related to the subduction processes of the Western Pacific plate. The Changbai intraplate volcanic group is underlain by a striking low-velocity anomaly from the upper MTZ and the BMW up to the surface, and deep earthquakes (410-650 km depths) occur actively in the subducting Pacific slab to the east of the Changbai volcano. We propose that the Changbai volcanic group is caused by upwelling of hot and wet asthenospheric materials and active convection in the BMW. The formation of other volcanic groups in the east of the NSGL is also associated with the subduction-driven corner flow in the BMW.

Dynamic Linkages Between the Transition Zone & Surface Plate Motions in 2D Models of Subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arredondo, K.; Billen, M. I.

2013-12-01

While slab pull is considered the dominant force controlling plate motion and speed, its magnitude is controlled by slab behavior in the mantle, where tomographic studies show a wide range of possibilities from direct penetration to folding, or stagnation directly above the lower mantle (e.g. Fukao et al., 2009). Geodynamic studies have investigated various parameters, such as plate age and two phase transitions, to recreate observed behavior (e.g. Běhounková and Cízková, 2008). However, past geodynamic models have left out known slab characteristics that may have a large impact on slab behavior and our understanding of subduction processes. Mineral experiments and seismic observations have indicated the existence of additional phase transitions in the mantle transition zone that may produce buoyancy forces large enough to affect the descent of a subducting slab (e.g. Ricard et al., 2005). The current study systematically tests different common assumptions used in geodynamic models: kinematic versus free-slip boundary conditions, the effects of adiabatic heating, viscous dissipation and latent heat, compositional layering and a more complete suite of phase transitions. Final models have a complete energy equation, with eclogite, harzburgite and pyrolite lithosphere compositional layers, and seven composition-dependent phase transitions within the olivine, pyroxene and garnet polymorph minerals. Results show important feedback loops between different assumptions and new behavior from the most complete models. Kinematic models show slab weakening or breaking above the 660 km boundary and between compositional layers. The behavior in dynamic models with a free-moving trench and overriding plate is compared to the more commonly found kinematic models. The new behavior may have important implications for the depth distribution of deep earthquakes within the slab. Though the thermodynamic parameters of certain phase transitions may be uncertain, their presence and feedback to other added processes remain important, which could encourage mineralogical research into multiphase systems. Feedback from the compositionally complex slab to the dynamic trench may improve understanding on the mechanics of slab behavior in the upper and lower mantle and surface behavior of the subducting and overriding plates. Běhounková, M., and H. Cízková, Long-wavelength character of subducted slabs in the lower mantle, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 275, 43-53, 2008. Fukao, Y., M. Obayashi, T. Nakakuki, and the Deep Slab Project Group, Stagnant slab: A review, Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Science, 37, 19-46, 2009. Ricard, Y., E. Mattern, and J. Matas, Synthetic tomographic images of slabs from mineral physics, in Earth's Deep Mantle: Structure, Composition, and Evolution, Geophysical Monograph Series, vol. 160, American Geophysical Union, 2005.

Using the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Impact Melt Composition to Infer Upper Mantle Mineralogy and Timing of Potential Mantle Overturn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kring, D. A.; Needham, D. H.

2018-05-01

Observed melt composition within the SPA basin are consistent with an impact prior to mantle overturn, when the upper mantle contained clinopyroxene rather than olivine. Potentially, the impact triggered mantle overturn.

Seismic anisotropy and mantle flow below subducting slabs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walpole, Jack; Wookey, James; Kendall, J.-Michael; Masters, T.-Guy

2017-05-01

Subduction is integral to mantle convection and plate tectonics, yet the role of the subslab mantle in this process is poorly understood. Some propose that decoupling from the slab permits widespread trench parallel flow in the subslab mantle, although the geodynamical feasibility of this has been questioned. Here, we use the source-side shear wave splitting technique to probe anisotropy beneath subducting slabs, enabling us to test petrofabric models and constrain the geometry of mantle fow. Our global dataset contains 6369 high quality measurements - spanning ∼ 40 , 000 km of subduction zone trenches - over the complete range of available source depths (4 to 687 km) - and a large range of angles in the slab reference frame. We find that anisotropy in the subslab mantle is well characterised by tilted transverse isotropy with a slow-symmetry-axis pointing normal to the plane of the slab. This appears incompatible with purely trench-parallel flow models. On the other hand it is compatible with the idea that the asthenosphere is tilted and entrained during subduction. Trench parallel measurements are most commonly associated with shallow events (source depth < 50 km) - suggesting a separate region of anisotropy in the lithospheric slab. This may correspond to the shape preferred orientation of cracks, fractures, and faults opened by slab bending. Meanwhile the deepest events probe the upper lower mantle where splitting is found to be consistent with deformed bridgmanite.

Subduction controls the distribution and fragmentation of Earth’s tectonic plates.

PubMed

Mallard, Claire; Coltice, Nicolas; Seton, Maria; Müller, R Dietmar; Tackley, Paul J

2016-07-07

The theory of plate tectonics describes how the surface of Earth is split into an organized jigsaw of seven large plates of similar sizes and a population of smaller plates whose areas follow a fractal distribution. The reconstruction of global tectonics during the past 200 million years suggests that this layout is probably a long-term feature of Earth, but the forces governing it are unknown. Previous studies, primarily based on the statistical properties of plate distributions, were unable to resolve how the size of the plates is determined by the properties of the lithosphere and the underlying mantle convection. Here we demonstrate that the plate layout of Earth is produced by a dynamic feedback between mantle convection and the strength of the lithosphere. Using three-dimensional spherical models of mantle convection that self-consistently produce the plate size–frequency distribution observed for Earth, we show that subduction geometry drives the tectonic fragmentation that generates plates. The spacing between the slabs controls the layout of large plates, and the stresses caused by the bending of trenches break plates into smaller fragments. Our results explain why the fast evolution in small back-arc plates reflects the marked changes in plate motions during times of major reorganizations. Our study opens the way to using convection simulations with plate-like behaviour to unravel how global tectonics and mantle convection are dynamically connected.

Pre-subduction metasomatic enrichment of the oceanic lithosphere induced by plate flexure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilet, S.; Abe, N.; Rochat, L.; Kaczmarek, M.-A.; Hirano, N.; Machida, S.; Buchs, D. M.; Baumgartner, P. O.; Müntener, O.

2016-12-01

Oceanic lithospheric mantle is generally interpreted as depleted mantle residue after mid-ocean ridge basalt extraction. Several models have suggested that metasomatic processes can refertilize portions of the lithospheric mantle before subduction. Here, we report mantle xenocrysts and xenoliths in petit-spot lavas that provide direct evidence that the lower oceanic lithosphere is affected by metasomatic processes. We find a chemical similarity between clinopyroxene observed in petit-spot mantle xenoliths and clinopyroxene from melt-metasomatized garnet or spinel peridotites, which are sampled by kimberlites and intracontinental basalts respectively. We suggest that extensional stresses in oceanic lithosphere, such as plate bending in front of subduction zones, allow low-degree melts from the seismic low-velocity zone to percolate, interact and weaken the oceanic lithospheric mantle. Thus, metasomatism is not limited to mantle upwelling zones such as mid-ocean ridges or mantle plumes, but could be initiated by tectonic processes. Since plate flexure is a global mechanism in subduction zones, a significant portion of oceanic lithospheric mantle is likely to be metasomatized. Recycling of metasomatic domains into the convecting mantle is fundamental to understanding the generation of small-scale mantle isotopic and volatile heterogeneities sampled by oceanic island and mid-ocean ridge basalts.

Constraints of subducted slab geometries on trench migration and subduction velocities: flat slabs and slab curtains in the mantle under Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, J. E.; Suppe, J.; Renqi, L.; Lin, C.; Kanda, R. V.

2013-12-01

The past locations, shapes and polarity of subduction trenches provide first-order constraints for plate tectonic reconstructions. Analogue and numerical models of subduction zones suggest that relative subducting (Vs) and overriding (Vor) plate velocities may strongly influence final subducted slab geometries. Here we have mapped the 3D geometries of subducted slabs in the upper and lower mantle of Asia from global seismic tomography. We have incorporated these slabs into plate tectonic models, which allows us to infer the subducting and overriding plate velocities. We describe two distinct slab geometry styles, ';flat slabs' and ';slab curtains', and show their implications for paleo-trench positions and subduction geometries in plate tectonic reconstructions. When compared to analogue and numerical models, the mapped slab styles show similarities to modeled slabs that occupy very different locations within Vs:Vor parameter space. ';Flat slabs' include large swaths of sub-horizontal slabs in the lower mantle that underlie the well-known northward paths of India and Australia from Eastern Gondwana, viewed in a moving hotspot reference. At India the flat slabs account for a significant proportion of the predicted lost Ceno-Tethys Ocean since ~100 Ma, whereas at Australia they record the existence of a major 8000km by 2500-3000km ocean that existed at ~43 Ma between East Asia, the Pacific and Australia. Plate reconstructions incorporating the slab constraints imply these flat slab geometries were generated when continent overran oceanic lithosphere to produce rapid trench retreat, or in other words, when subducting and overriding velocities were equal (i.e. Vs ~ Vor). ';Slab curtains' include subvertical Pacific slabs near the Izu-Bonin and Marianas trenches that extend from the surface down to 1500 km in the lower mantle and are 400 to 500 km thick. Reconstructed slab lengths were assessed from tomographic volumes calculated at serial cross-sections. The ';slab curtain' geometry and restored slab lengths indicate a nearly stationary Pacific trench since ~43 Ma. In contrast to the flat slabs, here the reconstructed subduction zone had large subducting plate velocities relative to very small overriding plate velocities (i.e. Vs >> Vor). In addition to flat slabs and slab curtains, we also find other less widespread local subduction settings that lie at other locations in Vs:Vor parameter space or involved other processes. Slabs were mapped using Gocad software. Mapped slabs were restored to a spherical model Earth surface by two approaches: unfolding (i.e. piecewise flattening) to minimize shape and area distortions, and by evaluated mapped slab volumes. Gplates software was used to integrate the mapped slabs with plate tectonic reconstructions.

High resolution mapping of seismic properties across upper mantle discontinuities in the stagnant slab region beneath Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Y.; Shen, X.; Song, T. R. A.; Lim, H.

2016-12-01

Plate tectonic processes operating over much of the Earth's history induce long-term mantle mixing of chemical heterogeneities, recycling of volatiles into the mantle and regulate basalt geochemistry. Fundamental questions relevant to the mantle transition zone concern the nature of phase transition, the distribution of chemical heterogeneities (e.g., harzburgite, basalt), the temperature gradient, as well as the degree and extent of hydration and melting. One particularly important question is how the slab stagnation may be influenced by hydration or/and basalt enrichment in the mantle transition zone. To help answer these questions, we aim to detail upper mantle seismic discontinuity properties, including the shear velocity contrast, the density contrast, the transition sharpness and the gradient using high quality receiver functions using broadband data in South Korea, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the imaged stagnant slab near northeast China. Our approach involves broadband observation and amplitude analysis of direct converted waves (Pds) and multiples (PpPds) from the 410 and 660 seismic discontinuities, following our previous effort in a similar analysis in China. We processed waveforms from 52 broadband seismic stations of the Korea seismic array using an automatic scheme to remove noisy waveforms and retained close to 12,000 high quality receiver functions. After gathering receiver functions as a function of epicentral distance, we perform slowness stacking of direct converted waves and the multiples, respectively, at several discrete frequency bands between 1 sec and 15 sec. To avoid interferences from other mantle waves (PP, PPP, PcP, PP410s, PP660s), we stack receive functions across epicentral distances of 74-90 (62-76) degrees for the 410 (660) seismic discontinuity and obtain amplitude estimates and uncertainties through the bootstrap method. To properly calibrate the amplitudes of receiver functions, we take into account the effect of incoherent stacking due to discontinuity topography and frequency-dependent attenuation. Preliminary result will be presented and contrasted against our previous work in east China.

Seismic anisotropy of the upper mantle beneath Fennoscandia - Preliminary results of anisotropic tomography with novel code AniTomo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munzarova, Helena; Plomerova, Jaroslava; Kissling, Edi; Vecsey, Ludek; Babuska, Vladislav

2016-04-01

Seismological investigations of the continental mantle lithosphere, particularly its anisotropic structure, advance our understanding of plate tectonics and formation of continents. Orientation of the anisotropic fabrics reflect stress field during the lithosphere origin and its later deformations. We process teleseismic body waves recorded during passive seismic experiments SVEKALAPKO (1998-1999) and LAPNET (2007-2009), deployed in the south-central and northern Fennoscandia, around the contact of the Archean and Proterozoic parts of the shield, to retrieve both anisotropic and isotropic velocity images of the upper mantle. Standard isotropic teleseismic P-wave tomography distinguishes two major regions of the mantle lithosphere in the northern part of Fennoscandia, boundary of which follows the surface trace of the Baltic-Bothnia Megashear Zone (BBZ). Apart from that, joint interpretation of lateral variations of anisotropic P- and SKS-wave pattern detected domains of mantle lithosphere with differently oriented anisotropic fabrics within those two regions (Vecsey et al., Tectonophysics, 2007; Plomerova et al., Solid Earth, 2011). The retrieved anisotropy reflects fossil fabrics of the mantle lithosphere (Babuska and Plomerova, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 2006). The contact of the Proterozoic and Archean Fennoscandia appears as a broad transition in the south-central Fennoscandia (Vecsey et al., Tectonophysics, 2007), while the contact seems to be more distinct towards the north. We have developed a novel code (AniTomo) that allows us to invert relative P-wave travel time residuals for coupled isotropic-anisotropic P-wave velocity models assuming weak hexagonal anisotropy with symmetry axis oriented generally in 3D. The code was successfully tested on synthetic data and here we present results of its first application to real data. The region of Fennoscandia seems to be a right choice for the first calculation of anisotropic tomography with the new code as this Precambrian region is tectonicly stable and it has thick anisotropic mantle lithosphere (Plomerova and Babuska, Lithos, 2010) without significant thermal heterogeneities.

Initiation of plate tectonics from post-magma ocean thermochemical convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foley, Bradford J.; Bercovici, David; Elkins-Tanton, Linda T.

2014-11-01

Leading theories for the presence of plate tectonics on Earth typically appeal to the role of present day conditions in promoting rheological weakening of the lithosphere. However, it is unknown whether the conditions of the early Earth were favorable for plate tectonics, or any form of subduction, and thus, how subduction begins is unclear. Using physical models based on grain-damage, a grainsize-feedback mechanism capable of producing plate-like mantle convection, we demonstrate that subduction was possible on the Hadean Earth (hereafter referred to as proto-subduction or proto-plate tectonics), that proto-subduction differed from modern day plate tectonics, and that it could initiate rapidly. Scaling laws for convection with grain-damage show that though either higher mantle temperatures or higher surface temperatures lead to slower plates, proto-subduction, with plate speeds of ≈1.75 cm/yr, can still be maintained in the Hadean, even with a CO2 rich primordial atmosphere. Furthermore, when the mantle potential temperature is high (e.g., above ≈2000 K), the mode of subduction switches to a "sluggish subduction" style, where downwellings are drip like and plate boundaries are diffuse. Finally, numerical models of post-magma ocean mantle convection demonstrate that proto-plate tectonics likely initiates within ˜100 Myr of magma ocean solidification, consistent with evidence from Hadean zircons. After the initiation of proto-subduction, non-plate-tectonic "sluggish subduction" prevails, giving way to modern style plate tectonics as both the mantle interior and climate cool. Hadean proto-subduction may hasten the onset of modern plate tectonics by drawing excess CO2 out of the atmosphere and cooling the climate.

Seismic Structure of Mantle Transition Zone beneath Northwest Pacific Subduction Zone and its Dynamic Implication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.; Guo, G.; WANG, X.; Chen, Q.

2017-12-01

The northwest Pacific subduction region is an ideal location to study the interaction between the subducting slab and upper mantle discontinuities. Various and complex geometry of the Pacific subducting slab can be well traced downward from the Kuril, Japan and Izu-Bonin trench using seismicity and tomography images (Fukao and Obayashi, 2013). Due to the sparse distribution of seismic stations in the sea, investigation of the deep mantle structure beneath the broad sea regions is very limited. In this study, we applied the well- developed multiple-ScS reverberations method (Wang et al., 2017) to analyze waveforms recorded by the Chinese Regional Seismic Network, the densely distributed temporary seismic array stations installed in east Asia. A map of the topography of the upper mantle discontinuities beneath the broad oceanic regions in northwest Pacific subduction zone is imaged. We also applied the receiver function analysis to waveforms recorded by stations in northeast China and obtain the detailed topography map beneath east Asia continental regions. We then combine the two kinds of topography of upper mantle discontinuities beneath oceanic and continental regions respectively, which are obtained from totally different methods. A careful image matching and spatial correlation is made in the overlapping study regions to calibrate results with different resolution. This is the first time to show systematically a complete view of the topography of the 410-km and 660-km discontinuities beneath the east Asia "Big mantle wedge" (Zhao and Ohtani, 2009) covering the broad oceanic and continental regions in the Northwestern Pacific Subduction zone. Topography pattern of the 660 and 410 is obtained and discussed. Especially we discovered a broad depression of the 410-km discontinuity covering more than 1000 km in lateral, which seems abnormal in the cold subducting tectonic environment. Based on plate tectonic reconstruction studies and HTHP mineral experiments, we argue that the east-retreat trench motion of the subducting Pacific slab might play an important role in the observed broad depression of the 410-km discontinuity.

Along-arc variation in water distribution in the upper mantle beneath Kyushu, Japan, as derived from receiver function analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abe, Y.; Ohkura, T.; Hirahara, K.; Shibutani, T.

2013-12-01

The Kyushu district, Japan, under which the Philippine Sea (PHS) plate is subducting in a WNW direction, has several active volcanoes. On the volcanic front in Kyushu, a 110 km long gap in volcanism exists in the central part of Kyushu and volcanic rocks with various degrees of contamination by slab-derived fluid are distributed. To reveal the causes of the gap in volcanism and the chemical properties of volcanic rocks and to understand the process of magma genesis and water transportation, we should reveal along-arc variation in water distribution beneath Kyushu. We investigated the seismic velocity discontinuities in the upper mantle beneath Kyushu, with seismic waveform data from 65 stations of Hi-net, which are established by National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, and 55 stations of the J-array, which are established by Japan Meteorological Agency, Kyushu University, Kagoshima University and Kyoto University. We used receiver function analyses developed especially for discontinuities with high dipping angles (Abe et al., 2011, GJI). We obtained the geometry and velocity contrasts of the continental Moho, the oceanic Moho, and the upper boundary of the PHS slab. From the geometry of these discontinuities and contrast in S wave velocities, we interpreted that the oceanic crust of the PHS slab has a low S wave velocity and is hydrated to a depth of 70 km beneath south Kyushu, to a depth of 80-90 km beneath central Kyushu, and to a depth of no more than 50 km beneath north Kyushu. We also interpreted that the fore-arc mantle beneath central Kyushu has a low velocity region (Vs < 3.2 km/s) that can contain hydrated materials and free aqueous fluid. Such a low velocity fore-arc mantle does not exist beneath north and south Kyushu. Beneath north Kyushu, the oceanic crust does not appear to convey much water in the mantle wedge. Beneath south Kyushu, water dehydrated from the slab could move to the back-arc side and cause arc volcanism, while it could move to the fore-arc side and cause a gap in volcanism and hydration of the fore-arc mantle materials.

The generation of plate tectonics from mantle convection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bercovici, David

2003-01-01

In the last decade, significant progress has been made toward understanding how plate tectonics is generated from mantle dynamics. A primary goal of plate-generation studies has been the development of models that allow the top cold thermal boundary layer of mantle convection, i.e. the lithosphere, to develop broad and strong plate-like segments separated by narrow, weak and rapidly deforming boundaries; ideally, such models also permit significant strike-slip (toroidal) motion, passive ridges (i.e. pulled rather than pried apart), and self-consistent initiation of subduction. A major outcome of work so far is that nearly all aspects of plate generation require lithospheric rheologies and shear-localizing feedback mechanisms that are considerably more exotic than rheologies typically used in simple fluid-dynamical models of mantle flow. The search for plate-generating behavior has taken us through investigations of the effects of shear weakening ('stick-slip') and viscoplastic rheologies, of melting at ridges and low-viscosity asthenospheres, and of grain-size dependent rheologies and damage mechanics. Many such mechanisms, either by themselves or in combination, have led to self-consistent fluid-mechanical models of mantle flow that are remarkably plate-like, which is in itself a major accomplishment. However, many other important problems remain unsolved, such as subduction intiation and asymmetry, temporal evolution of plate geometry, rapid changes in plate motion, and the Archaean initiation of the plate-tectonic mode of convection. This paper presents a brief review of progress made in the plate-generation problem over the last decade, and discusses unresolved issues and future directions of research in this important area.

Lateral variation in upper mantle temperature and composition beneath mid-ocean ridges inferred from shear-wave propagation, geoid, and bathymetry. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sheehan, Anne Francis

1991-01-01

Resolution of both the extent and mechanism of lateral heterogeneity in the upper mantle constraints the nature and scales of mantle convection. Oceanic regions are of particular interest as they are likely to provide the closest glimpse at the patterns of temperature anomalies and convective flow in the upper mantle because of their young age and simple crustal structure relative to continental regions. Lateral variations were determined in the seismic velocity and attenuation structure of the lithosphere and astenosphere beneath the oceans, and these seismological observations were combined with the data and theory of geoid and bathymetry anomalies in order to test and improve current models for seafloor spreading and mantle convection. Variations were determined in mantle properties on a scale of about 1000 km, comparable to the thickness of the upper mantle. Seismic velocity, geoid, and bathymetry anomalies are all sensitive to variations in upper mantle density, and inversions were formulated to combine quantitatively these different data and to search for a common origin. Variations in mantle density can be either of thermal or compositional origin and are related to mantle convection or differentiation.

Precise hypocenter distribution and earthquake generating and stress in and around the upper-plane seismic belt in the subducting Pacific slab beneath NE Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kita, S.; Okada, T.; Nakajima, J.; Matsuzawa, T.; Uchida, N.; Hasegawa, A.

2007-12-01

1. Introduction We found an intraslab seismic belt (upper-plane seismic belt) in the upper plane of the double seismic zone within the Pacific slab, running interface at depths of 70-100km beneath the forearc area. The location of the deeper limits of this belt appears to correspond to one of the facies boundaries (from jadeite lawsonite blueschist to lawsonite amphibole eclogite) in the oceanic crust [Kita et al., 2006, GRL]. In this study, we precisely relocated intraslab earthquakes by using travel time differences calculated by the waveform cross-spectrum analysis to obtain more detailed distribution of the upper plane-seismic belt within the Pacific slab beneath NE Japan. We also discuss the stress field in the slab by examining focal mechanisms of the earthquakes. 2. Data and Method We relocated events at depths of 50-00 km for the period from March 2003 to November 2006 from the JMA earthquake catalog. We applied the double-difference hypocenter location method (DDLM) by Waldhauser and Ellsworth (2000) to the arrival time data of the events. We use relative earthquake arrival times determined both by the waveform cross-spectrum analysis and by the catalog-picking data. We also determine focal mechanisms using the P wave polarity. 3. Spatial distribution of relocated hypocenters In the upper portion of the slab crust, seismicity is very active and distributed relatively homogeneously at depths of about 70-100km parallel to the volcanic front, where the upper-plane seismic belt has been found. In the lower portion of slab crust and/or the uppermost portion of the slab mantle, seismicity is spatially very limited to some small areas (each size is about 20 x 20km) at depths around 65km. Two of them correspond to the aftershock area of the 2003 Miyagi (M7.1) intraslab earthquake and that of the 1987 Iwaizumi (M6.6) intraslab earthquake, respectively. Based on the dehydration embrittelment hypothesis, the difference of the spatial distribution of the seismicity in the slab should correspond to the difference of the spatial distribution of the hydrated minerals and their dehydration reactions. In the upper slab crust, the upper-plane seismic belt is found because the hydrated minerals could be distributed homogeneously and the dehydration reaction (from jadeite lawsonite blueschist to lawsonite amphibole eclogite [Hacker et al., 2003b]) occurs perhaps largely at depth of 70-100km. Our result also suggests that in the lower portion of the slab crust and/or the uppermost portion of the slab mantle, the hydrated minerals could be inhomogeneously distributed and the seismicity occurs at depths around 65km, where another dehydration reaction may exist. 4. Characteristics of the focal mechanisms We examined the stress distribution within the slab by using focal mechanisms of the upper plane, interplane and lower plane events. From the plate interface to about 20 km below it, downdip-compressional (DC) type events are dominant. Below 20km from the plate interface, downdip-tensional (DT) type events are dominant. Many of interplane events have DC type focal mechanisms because of their locations in the uppermost portions of the slab mantle. These results indicate that the stress neutral plane from the DC type to DT type could be located at depth of about 20km from the plate interface.

Upper mantle electrical resistivity structure beneath back-arc spreading centers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seama, N.; Shibata, Y.; Kimura, M.; Shindo, H.; Matsuno, T.; Nogi, Y.; Okino, K.

2011-12-01

We compare four electrical resistivity structure images of the upper mantle across back-arc spreading centers (Mariana Trough at 18 N and 13 N, and the Eastern Lau at 19.7 S and 21.3 S) to provide geophysical constraints on issues of mantle dynamics beneath the back-arc spreading system related to the subducting slab. The central Mariana Trough at 18 N has the full spreading rate of 25 km/Myr, and shows characteristic slow-spreading features; existence of median valley neovolcanic zone and "Bull's eyes" mantle Bouguer anomaly (MBA) along the axes. On the other hand, the southern Mariana Trough at 13 N shows an EPR type axial relief in morphology and lower MBA than that in the central Mariana Trough (Kitada et al., 2006), suggesting abundance of magma supply, even though the full spreading rate is 35 km/Myr that is categorized as a slow spreading ridge. At the Eastern Lau spreading center, crustal thickness and morphology vary systematically with arc proximity and shows the opposed trends against spreading rate: The full spreading rate increases from 65 km/Myr at 21.3 S to 85 km/Myr at 19.7 S, while the crustal thicknesses decrease together with morphology transitions from shallow peaked volcanic highs to a deeper flat axis (Martinez et al., 2006). Matsuno et al. (2010) provides a resistivity structure image of the upper mantle across the central Mariana subduction system, which contains several key features: There is an uppermost resistive layer with a thickness of 80-100 km beneath the central Mariana Trough, suggesting dry residual from the plate accretion process. But there is no evidence for a conductive feature beneath the back-arc spreading center at 18 N, and this feature is clearly independent from the conductive region beneath the volcanic arc below 60 km depth that reflects melting and hydration driven by water release from the subducting slab. The resultant upper mantle resistivity structure well support that the melt supply is not abundant, resulting in characteristic slow-spreading features at the surface. We have conducted marine magnetotelluric (MT) surveys at the southern Mariana in 2010 and at the Eastern Lau in 2009-2010. We obtained 10 ocean bottom electro-magnetometer (OBEM) data from a 130 km length MT transect across the southern Mariana spreading axis at 13 N, while we obtained 2 OBEM data and 11 ocean bottom magnetometer data from two 160 km length MT transects across the Eastern Lau spreading axes at 19.7 S and 21.3 S. After calculation of MT response functions and their correction for topographic distortion, two-dimensional electrical resistivity structures will be derived using an inversion algorithm. At this meeting, first we will show the resistivity structure images of the upper mantle beneath these spreading axes. Then, these structure images will be compared to identify differences in the mantle dynamics and the melt supply beneath the back-arc spreading system related to the subducting slab.

A Model for Earth's Mantle Dynamic History for The Last 500 Ma and Its Implications for Continental Vertical Motions and Geomagnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, S.; Olson, P.; Zhang, N.

2012-12-01

Seismic tomography studies indicate that the Earth's mantle structure is characterized by African and Pacific seismically slow velocity anomalies (i.e., thermochemical piles) and circum Pacific seismically fast anomalies (i.e., degree 2) in the lower mantle. Mantle convection calculations including plate motion history for the last 120 Ma suggest that these degree 2 thermochemical structures result from plate subduction history (e.g., McNamara and Zhong, 2005). Given the important controls of mantle structure and dynamics on surface tectonics and volcanism and geodynamo in the core, an important question is the long-term evolution of mantle structures, for example, was the mantle structure in the past similar to the present-day's degree 2 structure, or significantly different from the present day? To address this question, we constructed a proxy model of plate motions for the African hemisphere for the last 450 Ma using the paleogeographic reconstruction of continents constrained by paleomagnetic and geological observations (e.g., Pangea assembly and breakup). Coupled with assumed oceanic plate motions for the Pacific hemisphere before 120 Ma, this proxy model for the plate motion history is used in three dimensional spherical models of mantle convection to study the evolution of mantle structure since the Early Paleozoic. Our model calculations reproduce well the present day degree 2 mantle structure including the African and Pacific thermochemical piles, and present-day surface heat flux, bathymetry and dynamic topography. Our results suggest that while the mantle in the African hemisphere before the assembly of Pangea is dominated by the cold downwelling structure resulting from plate convergence between Gondwana and Laurussia, it is unlikely that the bulk of the African superplume structure can be formed before ˜230 Ma. Particularly, the last 120 Ma plate motion plays an important role in generating the African thermochemical pile. We reconstruct temporal evolution of the surface and CMB heat fluxes and continental vertical motions since the Paleozoic. The predicted vertical motion histories for the Slave and Kaapvaal cratons are consistent with those inferred from thermochronology studies. The predicted CMB heat fluxes were used as time-dependent boundary conditions for geodynamo simulations. And the geodynamo modelling shows that the time-dependent CMB heat fluxes may explain to the first order the frequencies of geomagnetic polarity reversals (e.g., superchrons).

Contrasting melt equilibration conditions across Anatolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, Mary; Delph, Jonathan; Schleiffarth, W. Kirk; Cosca, Michael

2017-04-01

The widespread mafic volcanism, elevated crustal temperatures, and plateau-type topography in Central Anatolia, Turkey, could collectively be the result of lithospheric delamination, mantle upwelling, and tectonic escape in response to Arabian-Anatolian plate collision. We used the results from basalt geochemistry and a passive-source broadband seismic experiment obtained as part of an international collaborative effort (Continental Dynamics - Central Anatolia Tectonics) to investigate the crust-mantle structure and melting conditions associated with the Quaternary Hasandag Monogenic Cluster (HMC) south and west of Hasandag volcano. The HMC is unusually mafic, not only for Central Anatolia but globally, enabling meaningful comparisons between geochemical and seismic interpretations of mantle conditions. HMC basalts are characterized by orogenic signatures that could have originated (1) in mantle wedge that, after stagnating because of collision, was remobilized south and upward as a result of rollback of the African slab or, alternatively (2) by piecemeal foundering of residual mantle lithosphere into convecting upper mantle, producing small-scale convection and associated decompression melting. Melt equilibration conditions for the HMC are hot (TP ˜1335-1250˚ C, assuming 1-4 wt.% H2O) and shallow (P = 1.1 to 1.6 GPa), approaching those for MORB. Shear wave velocities are relatively constant at ˜4.1 km/s between the Moho and a depth of ˜45-50 km (˜1.4 GPa; Fig. 6), below which Vs increases with increasing depth. We infer that a melt-perfused mantle lid could be locally present between 40 and 55 km. In contrast to Central Anatolia, estimated equilibration conditions for Western Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia (east of the Inner Tauride Suture) mantle melts are hotter (by ≥60˚ C) and deeper (mostly by 0.6-1.0 GPa). They also have chemical signatures that, unlike Central Anatolia, are similar to those of intraplate basalts. These differences are likely related to the presence of a fragmenting, if quite deep, Cyprus slab beneath Central Anatolia, in contrast to absence of the Arabian slab beneath Eastern Anatolia since at least 10 Ma, and flow of deep-seated asthenosphere through a tear in the African plate under Western Anatolia. .

From the Exoplanetary Bestiary to the Exoplanetary Zoo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Unterborn, C. T.; Panero, W. R.; Stixrude, L. P.; Kellogg, L. H.; Lithgow-Bertelloni, C. R.; Diamond, M. R.

2014-12-01

While much attention has been focused on the exoplanetary "bestiary" of super-Earths, lava worlds, and diamond planets, habitable planets are more likely to be found in a more similar exoplanetary "zoo." Many planet-hosting stars are similar in composition to the Sun, with moderate variations in metal abundances. Even for those stars with O and Fe abundances similar to the Sun, many have 100% variations in the refractory, rock-forming elements such as Si, Mg, Al and Ca. For an Earth sized planet, this variation creates planets with drastically different mantle mineral assemblages and variable melting, elastic, and viscous properties, leading to variable dynamical behavior. This dynamical behavior dictates the dominant mode of heat extraction, be it through a conducting rigid lid or via plate tectonics. Without tectonics, there is no mechanism known with which to create a deep water and carbon cycle, thus creating a long-lived habitable surface. We present the results of integrated modeling in which we consider the effects of variations in bulk mantle composition on Earth-mass planets. To explore the variations expected in this planetary zoo, we present condensation sequence calculations for stars of varying refractory element abundances. These calculations constrain the potential refractory mineral reservoir from which Earth-mass terrestrial planets will form. As planets of this size inevitably will convect, the thermal structure of the mantle is controlled by surface melting temperature and the first crust can be estimated from decompression melting of a convecting mantle. The thermodynamic code HeFESTo determines the mineralogy and resulting thermoelastic properties of both the mantle and potential foundering of crustal material. Finally, with parameterized convection modeling and 2- and 3-D convection modeling, we determine terrestrial mantle's convective regime as a function of bulk composition. We therefore consider a planet's potential for Earth-like plate tectonics by applying compositional perturbations from the Earth. Aspects affecting this potential include the location of the basalt-eclogite transition in the upper mantle and the density contrast, and thus negative buoyancy, between the foundering crust and mantle. Portions of this work were initiated at the CIDER 2014 program.

How to Simulate the Interplate Domain in Thermo-mechanical Experiments of Subduction ? Critical Effects of Resolution and Rheology, and Consequences on Wet Mantle Melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arcay, D.

2017-12-01

Oceanic plate subduction implies tight interactions between converging lithospheres and surrounding mantle. Plate-mantle couplings can be modeled using thermo-chemical codes of mantle convection. But how to model correctly with a continuous fluid approach the subduction interface, characterised by strong and localised discontinuities? The present study aims at better deciphering the different mechanisms involved in the functioning of the subduction interplate, simply modeled by a weak crust layer, free to evolve. Pseudo-brittle and non-Newtonian behaviours are modelled. This study shows first that the numerical resolution is critical. If the subducting plate is 100 Myr old, subduction occurs for any crust strength. The stiffer the crust is, the shallower the interplate down-dip extent is and the hotter the fore-arc base is. Conversely, imposing a very weak subduction channel leads to an extreme mantle wedge cooling and inhibits mantle melting in wet conditions. If the incoming plate is 20 Myr old, subduction occurs only if the crust is either stiff and denser than the mantle, or weak and buoyant. These conditions lead notably to (1) fore-arc lithosphere cooling, and (2) partial or complete hindrance of wet mantle melting. Finally, subduction plane dynamics is intimately linked to the regime of subduction-induced corner flow: either focussed towards the mantle wedge tip and strongly warming the subduction plate, or, diffuse and favoring global cooling by the lengthening of the subduction plane. The thermal states simulated within the mantle wedge are compared with observations to decipher the best rheological ranges modelling the subduction channel. Two intervals of crustal activation energy are underlined: 345-385 kJ/mol to reproduce the slab surface temperature range inferred from geothermometry, and 415-455 kJ/mol to reproduce the hot mantle wedge core suggested by seismic tomographies. As these two intervals do not overlap, an extra process involved in subduction dynamics is needed. A moderate mantle viscosity reduction, caused by metasomatism in the mantle wedge, is proposed. From these results, it can be inferred that the subduction channel down-dip extent should vary with the subduction setting, consistently with the worldwide variability of sub-arc depths of the subducting plate surface.

Radial anisotropy of Northeast Asia inferred from Bayesian inversions of ambient noise data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S. J.; Kim, S.; Rhie, J.

2017-12-01

The eastern margin of the Eurasia plate exhibits complex tectonic settings due to interactions with the subducting Pacific and Philippine Sea plates and the colliding India plate. Distributed extensional basins and intraplate volcanoes, and their heterogeneous features in the region are not easily explained with a simple mechanism. Observations of radial anisotropy in the entire lithosphere and the part of the asthenosphere provide the most effective evidence for the deformation of the lithosphere and the associated variation of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). To infer anisotropic structures of crustal and upper-mantle in this region, radial anisotropy is measured using ambient noise data. In a continuation of previous Rayleigh wave tomography study in Northeast Asia, we conduct Love wave tomography to determine radial anisotropy using the Bayesian inversion techniques. Continuous seismic noise recordings of 237 broad-band seismic stations are used and more than 55,000 group and phase velocities of fundamental mode are measured for periods of 5-60 s. Total 8 different types of dispersion maps of Love wave from this study (period 10-60 s), Rayleigh wave from previous tomographic study (Kim et al., 2016; period 8-70 s) and longer period data (period 70-200 s) from a global model (Ekstrom, 2011) are jointly inverted using a hierarchical and transdimensional Bayesian technique. For each grid-node, boundary depths, velocities and anisotropy parameters of layers are sampled simultaneously on the assumption of the layered half-space model. The constructed 3-D radial anisotropy model provides much more details about the crust and upper mantle anisotropic structures, and about the complex undulation of the LAB.

Anisotropy in the Australasian upper mantle from Love and Rayleigh waveform inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Debayle, Eric; Kennett, B. L. N.

2000-12-01

Records of both Rayleigh and Love waves have been analyzed to determine the pattern of anisotropy in the Australasian region. The approach is based on a two-stage inversion. Starting from a smooth PREM model with transverse isotropy about a vertical symmetry axis, the first step is an inversion of the waveforms of surface waves to produce path specific one-dimensional (1-D) upper mantle models. Under the assumption that the 1-D models represent averages along the paths, the results from 1584 Love and Rayleigh wave seismograms are combined in a tomographic inversion to provide a representation of three-dimensional structure for wavespeed heterogeneities and anisotropy. Polarization anisotropy with SH faster than SV is retrieved in the upper 200-250 km of the mantle for most of Precambrian Australia. In this depth interval, significant lateral variations in the level of polarization anisotropy are present. Locally, the anisotropy can be large, reaching an extreme value of 9% that is difficult to reconcile with current mineralogical models. However, the discrepancy may be explained in part by the presence of strong lateral heterogeneities along the path, or by effects introduced by the simplifying assumption of transverse isotropy for each path. The consistency between the location of polarization and azimuthal anisotropy in depth suggests that both observations share a common origin. The observation of polarization anisotropy down to at least 200 km supports a two-layered anisotropic model as constrained by the azimuthal anisotropy of SV waves. In the upper layer, 150 km thick, anisotropy would be related to past deformation frozen in the lithosphere while in the lower layer, anisotropy would reflect present day deformation due to plate motion.

Geothermal modelling and geoneutrino flux prediction at JUNO with local heat production data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, Y.; Wipperfurth, S. A.; McDonough, W. F.; Sramek, O.; Roskovec, B.; He, J.

2017-12-01

Geoneutrinos are mostly electron antineutrinos created from natural radioactive decays in the Earth's interior. Measurement of a geoneutrino flux at near surface detector can lead to a better understanding of the composition of the Earth, inform about chemical layering in the mantle, define the power driving mantle convection and plate tectonics, and reveal the energy supplying the geodynamo. JUNO (Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory) is a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector currently under construction with an expected start date in 2020. Due to its enormous mass, JUNO will detect about 400 geoneutrinos per year, making it an ideal tool to study the Earth. JUNO is located on the passive continental margin of South China, where there is an extensive continental shelf. The continental crust surrounding the JUNO detector is between 26 and 32 km thick and represents the transition between the southern Eurasian continental plate and oceanic plate of the South China Sea.We seek to predict the geoneutrino flux at JUNO prior to data taking and announcement of the particle physics measurement. To do so requires a detail survey of the local lithosphere, as it contributes about 50% of the signal. Previous estimates of the geoneutrino signal at JUNO utilized global crustal models, with no local constraints. Regionally, the area is characterized by extensive lateral and vertical variations in lithology and dominated by Mesozoic granite intrusions, with an average heat production of 6.29 μW/m3. Consequently, at 3 times greater heat production than the globally average upper crust, these granites will generate a higher than average geoneutrino flux at JUNO. To better define the U and Th concentrations in the upper crust, we collected some 300 samples within 50 km of JUNO. By combining chemical data obtained from these samples with data for crustal structures defined by local geophysical studies, we will construct a detailed 3D geothermal model of the region. Our prediction of the geoneutrino signal at JUNO will integrate data for the local (nearest 500 km to the detector) lithosphere, with a far-field model for the rest of the global lithosphere, and a model for the mantle.

Seismic evidence for a tilted mantle plume and north-south mantle flow beneath Iceland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shen, Y.; Solomon, S.C.; Bjarnason, I. Th; Nolet, G.; Morgan, W.J.; Allen, R.M.; Vogfjord, K.; Jakobsdottir, S.; Stefansson, R.; Julian, B.R.; Foulger, G.R.

2002-01-01

Shear waves converted from compressional waves at mantle discontinuities near 410- and 660-km depth recorded by two broadband seismic experiments in Iceland reveal that the center of an area of anomalously thin mantle transition zone lies at least 100 km south of the upper-mantle low-velocity anomaly imaged tomographically beneath the hotspot. This offset is evidence for a tilted plume conduit in the upper mantle, the result of either northward flow of the Icelandic asthenosphere or southward flow of the upper part of the lower mantle in a no-net-rotation reference frame. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Les xénolites ultramafiques du volcanisme alcalin quaternaire d'Oranie (Tell, Algérie occidentale), témoins d'une lithosphère cisaillée et enrichieUltramafic xenoliths from Quaternary alkali volcanism from Oranie (Tell, western Algeria): witnesses of a sheared and enriched lithosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zerka, Mohamed; Cottin, Jean-Yves; Grégoire, Michel; Lorand, Jean-Pierre; Megartsi, M'Hamed; Midoun, Mohamed

Numerous ultramafic xenoliths occur within the Aı̈n-Temouchent volcanic complex (Northwestern Oranie, Algeria). Most of them are type I mantle tectonites (lherzolites and harzburgites) and composite xenoliths (harzburgite/clinopyroxenite) are rare. Only a few samples of spinel lherzolites display relatively fertile compositions when the major part of type I xenoliths have refractory major element compositions but enriched LREE contents showing that they have been affected by mantle metasomatism. The composite xenoliths are witnesses of reactions of alkaline magmas with the upper mantle. An asthenospheric rising, in relation with the large strike slip fault affecting the North African plate margin at Trias time is proposed as a possible geodynamical setting. To cite this article: M. Zerka et al., C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 387-394.

Cooling of the Earth in the Archaean: Consequences of pressure-release melting in a hotter mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vlaar, N. J.; van Keken, P. E.; van den Berg, A. P.

1994-01-01

A model is presented to describe the cooling of the Earth in the Archaean. At the higher Archaean mantle temperatures pressure-release melting starts deeper and generates a thicker basaltic or komatiitic crust and depleted harzburgite layer compared with the present-day situation. Intrinsic compositional stability and lack of mechanical coherency renders the mechanism of plate tectonics ineffective. It is proposed that the Archaean continents stabilised early on top of a compositionally stratified root. In the Archaean oceanic lithosphere, hydrated upper crust can founder and recycle through its high-pressure phase eclogite. Eclogite remelting and new pressure-release melting generates new crustal material. Migration of magma and latent heat release by solidification at the surface provides an efficient mechanism to cool the mantle by several hundreds of degrees during the Archaean. This can satisfactorily explain the occurrence of high extrusion temperature komatiites and lower extrusion temperature basalts in greenstone belts as being derived from the same source by different mechanisms.

Application of normal mode theory to seismic source and structure problems: Seismic investigations of upper mantle lateral heterogeneity. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Okal, E. A.

1978-01-01

The theory of the normal modes of the earth is investigated and used to build synthetic seismograms in order to solve source and structural problems. A study is made of the physical properties of spheroidal modes leading to a rational classification. Two problems addressed are the observability of deep isotropic seismic sources and the investigation of the physical properties of the earth in the neighborhood of the Core-Mantle boundary, using SH waves diffracted at the core's surface. Data sets of seismic body and surface waves are used in a search for possible deep lateral heterogeneities in the mantle. In both cases, it is found that seismic data do not require structural differences between oceans and continents to extend deeper than 250 km. In general, differences between oceans and continents are found to be on the same order of magnitude as the intrinsic lateral heterogeneity in the oceanic plate brought about by the aging of the oceanic lithosphere.

A combined geodynamical-geochemical modelling approach to investigating the Lu-Hf isotopic evolution of the terrestrial mantle and crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, R.; Van Keken, P. E.; Hauri, E.; Vervoort, J. D.; Ballentine, C. J.

2017-12-01

The chemical and isotopic evolution of the Earth's mantle is largely influenced by the formation of oceanic and continental crust at spreading ridges and through arc volcanism, and the subsequent recycling of this crust back into the mantle via subduction. In this study we use a combined geodynamical-geochemical modelling approach to investigate the Lu-Hf isotopic evolution of the terrestrial mantle and crust. We utilise the geodynamic mantle convection model developed by Brandenburg et al., 2008. This model satisfies the geophysical constraints of oceanic heat flow and average plate velocities, as well as geochemical observations such as 40Ar in the atmosphere. It has also been shown to reproduce the observed geochemical distributions in multiple isotope systems (U-Th-Pb, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Re-Os) that define the DMM, HIMU and EM1 mantle endmembers. We go on to extend this application to investigate the Lu-Hf isotope system, specifically in combination with Sm-Nd. The model has been updated to include a self-consistent reorganisation of the plates with regions of up-/down-wellings. The model is initiated at 4.55 Ga, assumes continental crust is produced from 4 Ga and that a transition from `dry' to `wet' subduction occurs at 3 Ga. The results of the geodynamic model suggest that the ƐHf composition and evolution of the upper mantle can be generated through the extraction and recycling of oceanic crust, which creates an enriched and radiogenic reservoir at the core-mantle boundary. The formation of continental crust, which is extracted at each time-step from the oceanic crust to imitate subduction zone processes, and the recycling of this continental crust as sediments, plays a lesser role. Depending on the selected partition coefficients DMM, FOZO and HIMU mantle endmember compositions are also produced via the simple extraction and recycling of oceanic crust. The formation of continental crust produces spread in the ƐNd vs. ƐHf array and extends the model values into the HIMU region of the terrestrial array. We go on to use this geodynamic-geochemical model to investigate different models of continental growth, by observing the effects on the coupled crustal-mantle reservoirs. Brandenburg, J.P., Hauri, E.H., van Keken, P.E., Ballentine, C.J., 2008. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 276, 1-13.

Seismic Velocity Structure of the Pacific Upper Mantle in the NoMelt Region from Finite-Frequency Traveltime Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, S. H.; Lin, P. Y.; Gaherty, J. B.; Russell, J. B.; Jin, G.; Collins, J. A.; Lizarralde, D.; Evans, R. L.; Hirth, G.

2017-12-01

Surface wave dispersion and magnetotelluric survey from the NoMelt Experiment conducted on 70 Ma central Pacific seafloor revealed an electrically resistive, high shear wave velocity lid of 80 km thick underlain by a non-highly conductive, low-velocity layer [Sarafian et al., 2015; Lin et al., 2016]. The vertical structure of the upper mantle consistent with these observational constraints suggests a plausible convection scenario, where the seismically fast, dehydrated lithosphere preserving very strong fossil spreading fabric moves at a constant plate speed over the hydrated, melt-free athenospheric mantle with the presence of either pressure-driven return flow or thermally-driven small scale circulation. To explore 3-D variations in compressional shear wave velocities related to the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle dynamics, we employ a multichannel cross correlation method to measure relative traveltime residuals based on the vertical P and traverse S waveforms filtered at 10-33 s from telseismic earthquakes at epicentral distance between 30 and 98 degrees. The obtained P and S residuals show on average peak-to-peak variations of ±0.5 s and ±1 s, respectively, across the NoMelt OBS array. Particularly, the P residuals for most of the events display an asymmetrical pattern with respect to an axis oriented nearly N-S to NE-SW through the array. Preliminary ray-based P tomography results reveal similar asymmetric variations in the uppermost 100 km mantle. To verify the resulting structural features, we will further perform both the P and S traveltime tomography and resolution tests based on a multiscale finite-frequency approach which properly takes into account both the 3D off-path sensitivities of the measured residuals and data-adaptive resolution of the model.

The effect of a realistic thermal diffusivity on numerical model of a subducting slab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maierova, P.; Steinle-Neumann, G.; Cadek, O.

2010-12-01

A number of numerical studies of subducting slab assume simplified (constant or only depth-dependent) models of thermal conductivity. The available mineral physics data indicate, however, that thermal diffusivity is strongly temperature- and pressure-dependent and may also vary among different mantle materials. In the present study, we examine the influence of realistic thermal properties of mantle materials on the thermal state of the upper mantle and the dynamics of subducting slabs. On the basis of the data published in mineral physics literature we compile analytical relationships that approximate the pressure and temperature dependence of thermal diffusivity for major mineral phases of the mantle (olivine, wadsleyite, ringwoodite, garnet, clinopyroxenes, stishovite and perovskite). We propose a simplified composition of mineral assemblages predominating in the subducting slab and the surrounding mantle (pyrolite, mid-ocean ridge basalt, harzburgite) and we estimate their thermal diffusivity using the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds. The resulting complex formula for the diffusivity of each aggregate is then approximated by a simpler analytical relationship that is used in our numerical model as an input parameter. For the numerical modeling we use the Elmer software (open source finite element software for multiphysical problems, see http://www.csc.fi/english/pages/elmer). We set up a 2D Cartesian thermo-mechanical steady-state model of a subducting slab. The model is partly kinematic as the flow is driven by a boundary condition on velocity that is prescribed on the top of the subducting lithospheric plate. Reology of the material is non-linear and is coupled with the thermal equation. Using the realistic relationship for thermal diffusivity of mantle materials, we compute the thermal and flow fields for different input velocity and age of the subducting plate and we compare the results against the models assuming a constant thermal diffusivity. The importance of the realistic description of thermal properties in models of subducted slabs is discussed.

Hot-field tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zonenshain, L. P.; Kuzmin, M. I.; Bocharova, N. Yu.

1991-12-01

Intraplate, hot spot related volcanic occurrences do not have a random distribution on the Earth's surface. They are concentrated in two large regions (up to 10,000 km in diameter), the Pacific and the African, and two smaller areas (2000-3000 km in diameter), the Central Asian and the Tasmanian. These regions are considered as manifestations of hot fields in the mantle, whereas the regions lying in between are expressions of cold fields in the mantle. Large-scale anomalies coincide with the hot fields: topographic swells, geoid highs, uplifts of the "asthenospheric table", inferred heated regions in the lowermost mantle according to seismic tomographic images, geochemical anomalies showing the origin of volcanics from undepleted mantle sources. Hot fields are relatively stable features, having remained in the same position on the Earth's surface during the last 120 Ma, although they have other configurations and other positions in the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic. Available data show that two main hot fields (Pacific and African) are possibly moving one with respect to the other, converging along the Eastern Pacific subduction system and diverging along that of the Western Pacific. If so, well-known differences between these subduction systems can also be connected with related displacement of the hot fields. Hot fields are assumed to correspond to upwelling branches of mantle and rather deep mantle convection, and cold fields to downwelling branches. Thus, hot fields can be regarded as expressions of deeper tectonics, comparative to the plate tectonics, which is operating in the upper layers of the Earth. We call it hot-field tectonics. Plate tectonics is responsible for the opening and closure of oceans and for the formation of orogenic belts, whereas hot-field tectonics accounts for a larger cyclicity of the Earth's evolution and for amalgamation and break up of Pangea-type supercontinents. Hot-field tectonics seems to be the only process to have existed on all of the terrestrial planets. We speculate that hot-field tectonics governs the global geodynamics of the Earth.

Adakitic-like volcanism in Southern Mexico and subduction of the Tehuantepec Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manea, M.; Manea, V. C.

2007-05-01

The origin of El Chichón volcano is poorly understood, and our attempt in this study is to demonstrate that Tehuantepec Ridge, a major tectonic discontinuity on the Cocos plate, plays a key role in the slab dehydration budget and therefore in partial melting of the mantle beneath El Chichón. Using marine magnetic anomalies we show that the upper mantle beneath TR undergo partial serpentinization, a 5-7 km thick serpentinized root extending along TR and below the oceanic crust. Another key aspect of the magnetic anomaly over southern México is a long-wavelength (~150 km) high amplitude (~500 nT) magnetic anomaly located between the trench and the coast. Using a 2D joint magnetic-gravity forward model, constrained by the subduction P-T structure, slab geometry and seismicity, we find a highly magnetic and low-density source located at 40-130 km depth. We interpret this result as a serpentinized mantle wedge by fluids expelled from the subducting Cocos plate beneath southern Mexico. Such a deep hydrated mantle requires a low temperature wedge (T<600° C) because serpentine is stable below this temperature and also the magnetic properties are preserved for temperature less than the Currie point for magnetite (~580° C). This result explains the lack of volcanism in southern México where the slab depth is ~ 100 km. Using phase diagrams for sediments, basalt and peridotite, and the subduction P-T structure beneath El Chichón we find that sediments and basalt dehydrate ~ 50% at depths corresponding with the location of serpentinized mantle wedge, whereas the serpentinized root beneath TR strongly dehydrates (60-80%) at higher depths (170-180 km) comparable with the slab depth beneath El Chichón. We conclude that this strong deserpentinization pulse of mantle lithosphere beneath TR at great depths triggers arc melting, explaining the unusual location and probably the adakitic signature of El Chichón.

Asthenospheric outflow from the shrinking Philippine Sea Plate: Evidence from Hf-Nd isotopes of southern Mariana lavas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, Julia M.; Stern, Robert J.; Martinez, Fernando; Woodhead, Jon; Chen, Min; Ohara, Yasuhiko

2017-11-01

At subduction zones, sinking of the downgoing lithosphere is thought to enable a return flow of asthenospheric mantle around the slab edges, so that the asthenosphere from underneath the slab invades the ambient mantle flowing underneath the volcanic arc and the backarc basin. For instance at the northern end of the Lau Basin, trench retreat and slab rollback enable toroidal return flow of Samoan mantle beneath a transform margin to provide a supply of fresh, undepleted Indian mantle that feeds the backarc spreading center. Questions, however, arise about the sense of mantle flow when plate kinematics predict that the trench is advancing, as seen in the Mariana convergent margin. Does the mantle flow in or does it escape outward through slab tears or gaps? Here, we address the origin and sense of asthenospheric mantle flow supplying the southern Mariana convergent margin, a region of strong extension occurring above the subducting Pacific plate. Does the asthenosphere flow northward, from underneath the Pacific plate and Caroline hotspot through a slab tear or gap, or does it flow outward from the Mariana Trough, which possesses a characteristic Indian Ocean isotopic signature? To address these questions, we integrate geodetic data along with new Hf-Nd isotopic data for fresh basaltic lavas from three tectonic provinces in the southernmost Marianas: the Fina Nagu volcanic complex, the Malaguana-Gadao backarc spreading ridge and the SE Mariana forearc rift. Our results indicate that Indian mantle flows outward and likely escapes through slab tears or gaps to accommodate shrinking of the Philippine Sea plate. We thus predict that asthenospheric flow around the Pacific slab at the southern Mariana Trench is opposite to that predicted by most subduction-driven mantle flow models.

Using global, quantitative models of the coupled plates/mantle system to understand Late Miocene dynamics of the Pacific plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stotz, Ingo; Iaffaldano, Giampiero; Rhodri Davies, D.

2017-04-01

Knowledge of the evolution of continents, inferred from a variety of geological data, as well as observations of the ocean-floor magnetization pattern provide an increasingly-detailed picture of past and present-day plate motions. These are key to study the evolving balance of shallow- and deep-rooted forces acting upon plates and to unravel the dynamics of the coupled plates/mantle system. Here we focus on the clockwise rotation of the Pacific plate motion relative to the hotspots reference frame between 10 and 5 Ma, which is evidenced by a bend in the Hawaiian sea mount chain (Cox & Engebretson, 1985) as well as by marine magnetic and bathymetric data along the Pacific/Antarctica Ridge (Croon et al., 2008). It has been suggested that such a kinematic change owes to the arrival of the Ontong-Java plateau, the biggest oceanic plateau on the Pacific plate, at the Australia/Pacific subducting margin between 10 and 5 Ma, and to its collision with the Melanesian arc. This could have changed the local buoyancy forces and/or sparked a redistribution of the forces already acting within the Pacific realm, causing the Pacific plate to rotate clockwise. Such hypotheses have never been tested explicitly against the available kinematic reconstructions. We do so by using global numerical models of the coupled plates/mantle system. Our models build on the available codes Terra and Shells. Terra is a global, spherical finite-element code for mantle convection, developed by Baumgardner (1985) and Bunge et al. (1996), and further advanced by Yang (1997; 2000) and Davies et al. (2013), among others. Shells is a thin-sheet, finite-element code for lithosphere dynamics (e.g., Bird, 1998). By merging these two independent models we are able to simulate the rheological behavior of the brittle lithosphere and viscous mantle. We compare the plate velocities output by our models with the available kinematic reconstructions to test the above-mentioned hypotheses, and simulate the impact of the evolving mantle buoyancy-field and plate-boundary forces on the Pacific plate motion. Our approach allows linking geodynamical models and observations on the recent dynamics of the Pacific plate.

Mantle structure beneath Africa and Arabia from adaptively parameterized P-wave tomography: Implications for the origin of Cenozoic Afro-Arabian tectonism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, Samantha E.; Nyblade, Andrew A.; Benoit, Margaret H.

2012-02-01

While the Cenozoic Afro-Arabian Rift System (AARS) has been the focus of numerous studies, it has long been questioned if low-velocity anomalies in the upper mantle beneath eastern Africa and western Arabia are connected, forming one large anomaly, and if any parts of the anomalous upper mantle structure extend into the lower mantle. To address these questions, we have developed a new image of P-wave velocity variations in the Afro-Arabian mantle using an adaptively parameterized tomography approach and an expanded dataset containing travel-times from earthquakes recorded on many new temporary and permanent seismic networks. Our model shows a laterally continuous, low-velocity region in the upper mantle beneath all of eastern Africa and western Arabia, extending to depths of ~ 500-700 km, as well as a lower mantle anomaly beneath southern Africa that rises from the core-mantle boundary to at least ~ 1100 km depth and possibly connects to the upper mantle anomaly across the transition zone. Geodynamic models which invoke one or more discrete plumes to explain the origin of the AARS are difficult to reconcile with the lateral and depth extent of the upper mantle low-velocity region, as are non-plume models invoking small-scale convection passively induced by lithospheric extension or by edge-flow around thick cratonic lithosphere. Instead, the low-velocity anomaly beneath the AARS can be explained by the African superplume model, where the anomalous upper mantle structure is a continuation of a large, thermo-chemical upwelling in the lower mantle beneath southern Africa. These findings provide further support for a geodynamic connection between processes in Earth's lower mantle and continental break-up within the AARS.

Elasticity of Orthoenstatite at High Pressure and Temperature: Implications for the Origin of Low VP/VS Zones in the Mantle Wedge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Wangsheng; Wang, Wenzhong; Zou, Fan; Wu, Zhongqing

2018-01-01

Orthopyroxene (opx) is an important mineral in petrologic models for the upper mantle. Its elastic properties are fundamental for understanding the chemical composition and geodynamics of the upper mantle. Here we calculate the elastic properties of orthoenstatite (MgSiO3), the Mg end-member orthopyroxene under upper mantle pressure and temperature conditions using first principle calculations with local density approximation. Bulk and shear moduli increase nonlinearly with pressure at mantle temperatures, but the shear modulus and VS show very weak pressure dependence in comparison with VP. Compared to other major minerals in the upper mantle, orthoenstatite has the lowest compressional velocities (VP), shear velocities (VS), and VP/VS ratio down to the depth of approximately 300 km. The enrichment of opx in the upper mantle can cause the unusually low VP/VS observed in the mantle wedge.

Geochemical and isotopic constraints on island arc, synorogenic, post-orogenic and anorogenic granitoids in the Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, F. A.; Foden, J. D.; Collins, A. S.

2015-04-01

The Arabian Shield preserves a protracted magmatic record of repeated amalgamation of juvenile subduction terranes that host granite intrusions ranging in age from the early Neoproterozoic to the Cambrian, which were emplaced into convergent and within-plate settings. Geochronology and whole-rock geochemistry of sampled Saudi Arabian granitoids define and distinguish four discrete age groups: 1) ~ 845-700 Ma island arc and synorogenic granitoids (IA + Syn), 2) ~ 640-610 Ma granitoids from the Nabitah and Halaban Suture (NHSG), 3) ~ 610-600 Ma post-orogenic perthitic (hypersolvus) granitoids (POPG), and 4) < 600 Ma anorogenic aegirine-bearing perthitic (hypersolvus) granitoids (AAPG). Groups 1, 2 and 3 include suites ranging from I-S- to A-type granites that have REE signatures typical of volcanic arc settings and show intra-suite variation that could be controlled by a combination of crustal assimilation and fractional crystallisation. Their mafic parental magmas have N-MORB-, or arc-tholeiite-like geochemistry. By contrast, group 4 A-type granites are more enriched in HREE and in incompatible elements such as Nb, Rb, Ga, Nd, Zr and Y and have lower Ce/Yb and higher Y/Nb ratios. These granitoids are interpreted to have been emplaced into within-plate and back-arc settings. Granitoid data also provide evidence that there may be two distinct mantle sources to the mafic parents of the granite suites. These are distinguished as contaminated and enriched mantle using Nb and Y and Nd isotopes. All granitoid suites are isotopically juvenile (ɛNd + 3 to + 6) and fall between the upper field crustal values of the Paleoproterozoic Khida terrane (ɛNd + 1) and contemporary depleted mantle. However, Nd isotopes distinguish contamination in group 1-3 mafic end-members beneath sutures which are interpreted to be derived from the contemporary MORB-type mantle wedge with subsequent crustal assimilation and fractionation to I- and A-type granitoids. The youngest (after 600 Ma) A-types (group 4) emplaced into extensional within-plate and back-arc settings require a new enriched mantle source that this study interprets to be associated with delamination.

Numerical simulations of water transport in subduction zone: Influences of serpentinized layer in oceanic slabs on subduction dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakao, A.; Hikaru, I.; Nakakuki, T.; Suzuki, Y.; Nakamura, H.

2017-12-01

Water liberated from subducting oceanic slabs can affect the subduction dynamics such as mantle wedge flows and plate motion (e.g., Gerya & Meilick, 2011; Horiuchi & Iwamori, 2016; Nakao et al., 2016). However, how water liberated from the slabs, in particular a hydrated part within the oceanic lithosphere (e.g., Fujie et al., 2013), is transported and affects the subduction dynamics has not been fully understood. In order to clarify the roles of water in subduction dynamics, we conducted 2-D dynamical simulations of water transport and mantle convection without imposing the geometry and velocity of subducting slabs. Using the simulations with various thicknesses (0-20 km) of a partially serpentinized layer (hereafter referred to as "SL") underlaying the altered oceanic basalt crust (AOC) in the subducting oceanic lithosphere, we estimate the subduction rate, back-arc spreading, trench migration, and slab geometry. The simulations show that the plate motion significantly changes depending on the amount of liberated water. When the SL is absent (0 km thick), the AOC mostly dehydrates at shallow depths (< 70 km). In this case, the plate subducts slowly, the trench is stationary, and the slab penetrates the 660-km boundary. If the SL is 7.5 km in thickness, it dehydrates at a greater depth compared to AOC, and more water enters the mantle wedge and the back-arc region. The liberated water reduces the viscosity of mantle wedge, and consequently, the subduction rate increases, the trench migrates seaward, and the slab stagnates on the 660-km. If the SL is 20 km in thickness, the upper SL releases much water into the mantle wedge and the back-arc region, whereas the lower SL does not dehydrate because of water uptake by phase A and phase D. In this case, because buoyancy of the subducting slab increases, the subduction is slow, back-arc spreading is weakened, and the slab penetrates the 660-km. Our results imply that the observed variety of subducting slabs reflects different amounts of water liberated from and within the slabs.

High-resolution Imaging of the Philippine Sea Plate subducting beneath Central Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padhy, S.; Furumura, T.

2016-12-01

Thermal models predict that the oceanic crust of the young (<20 Ma) and warmer Philippine-sea plate (PHP) is more prone to melting. Deriving a high-resolution image of the PHP, including slab melting and other features of the subduction zone, is a key to understand the basics of earthquake occurrence and origin of magma in complex subduction zone like central Japan, where both the PHP and Pacific (PAC) Plates subduct. To this purpose, we analyzed high-resolution waveforms of moderate sized (M 4-6), intermediate-to-deep (>150 km) PAC earthquakes occurring in central Japan and conducted numerical simulation to derive a fine-scale PHP model, which is not constrained in earlier studies. Observations show spindle-shaped seismograms with strong converted phases and extended coda with very slow decay from a group of PAC events occurring in northern part of central Japan and recorded by high-sensitivity seismograph network (Hi-net) stations in the region. We investigate the mechanism of propagation of these anomalous waveforms using the finite difference method (FDM) simulation of wave propagation through the subduction zone. We examine the effects on waveform changes of major subduction zone features, such as the melting of oceanic crust in PHP, serpentinized mantle wedge, hydrated layer on the PAC due to slab dehydration, and anomaly in upper mantle between the PAC and PHP. Simulation results show that the waveform anomaly is primarily explained by strong scattering and absorption of high-frequency energy by the low-velocity anomalous mantle structure, with a strong coda excitation yielding spindle-shaped waveforms. The data are secondarily explained by melting of PHP in the basaltic crust. The location of the mantle anomaly is tightly constrained by the observation and evidence of PAC thinning in the region; these localized low-velocity structures aid in ascending the slab-derived fluids around the slab thinning. We expect that the results of this study will enhance our present understanding on the mechanism of intermediate to deep earthquakes in the region.

Modelling the isotopic evolution of the Earth.

PubMed

Paul, Debajyoti; White, William M; Turcotte, Donald L

2002-11-15

We present a flexible multi-reservoir (primitive lower mantle, depleted upper mantle, upper continental crust, lower continental crust and atmosphere) forward-transport model of the Earth, incorporating the Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, U-Th-Pb-He and K-Ar isotope-decay systematics. Mathematically, the model consists of a series of differential equations, describing the changing abundance of each nuclide in each reservoir, which are solved repeatedly over the history of the Earth. Fluxes between reservoirs are keyed to heat production and further constrained by estimates of present-day fluxes (e.g. subduction, plume flux) and current sizes of reservoirs. Elemental transport is tied to these fluxes through 'enrichment factors', which allow for fractionation between species. A principal goal of the model is to reproduce the Pb-isotope systematics of the depleted upper mantle, which has not been done in earlier models. At present, the depleted upper mantle has low (238)U/(204)Pb (mu) and (232)Th/(238)U (kappa) ratios, but Pb-isotope ratios reflect high time-integrated values of these ratios. These features are reproduced in the model and are a consequence of preferential subduction of U and of radiogenic Pb from the upper continental crust into the depleted upper mantle. At the same time, the model reproduces the observed Sr-, Nd-, Ar- and He-isotope ratios of the atmosphere, continental crust and mantle. We show that both steady-state and time-variant concentrations of incompatible-element concentrations and ratios in the continental crust and upper mantle are possible. Indeed, in some cases, incompatible-element concentrations and ratios increase with time in the depleted mantle. Hence, assumptions of a progressively depleting or steady-state upper mantle are not justified. A ubiquitous feature of this model, as well as other evolutionary models, is early rapid depletion of the upper mantle in highly incompatible elements; hence, a near-chondritic Th/U ratio in the upper mantle throughout the Archean is unlikely. The model also suggests that the optimal value of the bulk silicate Earth's K/U ratio is close to 10000; lower values suggested recently seem unlikely.

Structural record of Lower Miocene westward motion of the Alboran Domain in the Western Betics, Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frasca, Gianluca; Gueydan, Frédéric; Brun, Jean-Pierre

2015-08-01

In the framework of the Africa-Europe convergence, the Mediterranean system presents a complex interaction between subduction rollback and upper-plate deformation during the Tertiary. The western end of the system shows a narrow arcuate geometry across the Gibraltar arc, the Betic-Rif belt, in which the relationship between slab dynamics and surface tectonics is not well understood. The present study focuses on the Western Betics, which is characterized by two major thrusts: 1) the Internal/External Zone Boundary limits the metamorphic domain (Alboran Domain) from the fold-and-thrust belts in the External Zone; 2) the Ronda Peridotites Thrust allows the juxtaposition of a strongly attenuated lithosphere section with large bodies of sub-continental mantle rocks on top of upper crustal rocks. New structural data show that two major E-W strike-slip corridors played a major role in the deformation pattern of the Alboran Domain, in which E-W dextral strike-slip faults, N60° thrusts and N140° normal faults developed simultaneously during dextral strike-slip simple shear. Olistostromic sediments of Lower Miocene age were deposited and deformed in this tectonic context and hence provide an age estimate for the inferred continuous westward translation of the Alboran Domain that is accommodated by an E-W lateral (strike-slip) ramp and a N60° frontal thrust. The crustal emplacement of large bodies of sub-continental mantle may occur at the onset of this westward thrusting in the Western Alboran domain. At lithosphere-scale, we interpret the observed deformation pattern as the subduction upper-plate expression of a lateral slab tear and its westward propagation since the Lower Miocene.

Modulation of Intraplate Deformation in Arizona due to Far-Reaching Postseismic Relaxation Following Plate Boundary Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreemer, C.; Broermann, J.; Bennett, R. A.; Blewitt, G.

2016-12-01

The Basin and Range of southern Arizona is mostly devoid of active faults and seismicity, although M7+ earthquakes are known to have occurred in the Quaternary. Before the 2010 Mw=7.2 El-Mayor Cucapah (EMC) earthquake, we found from GPS data 2 mm/yr of extension across this region. After the EMC, we find that the extension across southern Arizona has been reduced to near-zero; this is part of a widespread change in the region's post-EMC deformation field that can be explained by viscoelastic relaxation of the lower crust and upper mantle. If the relaxation after the EMC is so wide-spread, similar affects must have occurred after other previous large earthquakes such that the deformation field is probably ever-changing, slowly. This transient deformation field obscures any long-term deformation and makes it difficult to assess the driving forces responsible for the deformation. To model the transient deformation we consider that the observed GPS-time-series record postseismic relaxation from the most recent large earthquakes: 1992 Landers, 1999 Hector Mine, 2009 Gulf of California, 2010 EMC, and 2012 Gulf of California. The postseismic model assumes an elastic upper crust to a depth of 15 km, a Maxwell visco-elastic lower crust at 15-30 km, a Burger's body rheology for the lithospheric mantle at 30-60 km, and an asthenosphere below 60 km. A best fitting viscosity was found by a random search over the parameter space of the three viscous layers and minimizing the misfit between the corrected time series and a least squares model that includes intercept, velocity, offsets at times of earthquakes and equipment offsets and annual and semi-annual terms. The overall best fitting viscosity for the lower crust 1019.9 Pa-s, lithospheric mantle 1019.6 Pa-s, and asthenospheric mantle 1018.8 Pa-s. Both the mantle viscosities are treated as Burger rheologies with a Kelvin Voigt element 1/10 of the Maxwell element. These viscosities predict very small present-day velocity gradients associated with relaxation from pre-1992 events. We will use the corrected GPS velocity field to explore the driving sources behind the velocity field; i.e., plate motion and spatial variation in gravitational potential energy.

Dominant controls of deep afterslip and viscous relaxation on postseismic displacements following the 2015 Mw7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, B.; Burgmann, R.; Hu, Y.; Tan, K.; Wang, D.; Ghosh, A.

2016-12-01

The Mw7.8 Gorkha earthquake unzipped the lower edge of the locked east central segment of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) on April 25, 2015. Addressing the potential postseismic deformation mechanisms following the earthquake is important for understanding the laterally heterogeneous rheology structure between the India plate and south Tibetan Plateau, the earthquake deformation cycle of shallowly-dipping thrust faults and for assessing seismic hazard of the surrounding un-ruptured fault zone. Here we first analyze three dimensional GPS coordinate time series both in Nepal and in south Tibetan, and calculate the initial 180-day postseismic displacements. We then investigate the contributions of kinematic afterslip, viscous relaxation in the lower crust and upper mantle, and poroelastic rebound models individually. The results show a kinematic afterslip model can explain the GPS observed three dimensional displacements very well, however it needs a very broad distribution and afterslip to depths of more than 30 km, which is unlikely according to the inferred the interseismic coupling pattern, the distribution of coseismic stress increases and evidences from seismic tomography. A viscous relaxation model can fit the far field GPS data in south Tibetan, however it fails to predict the near field GPS data in north Nepal using either homogeneous or heterogeneous rheology earth structure. The poroelastic rebound deformation model alone is also incapable to explain the observations. After removing viscous deformation derived from trial and error using stress-driven finite element model or VISCO2.5D, we obtain a reasonable kinematic afterslip model, showing narrow aseismic slip occurred to 15 to 27km depth, which is close to the average depth of aftershocks. The model inversion finds subtle afterslip in the shallow portion of the MHT and the moment release is about 2.68×1019 Nm, equivalent to a magnitude of Mw7.0. We also constrain the laterally heterogeneous rheology between the India and south Tibetan, an initial effective viscosity of 1018Pa s in Tibet's lower crust and upper mantle below 30 km, and higher viscosity of 1020Pa s in the Indian plate upper mantle.

Structure and seismicity of the upper mantle using deployments of broadband seismographs in Antarctica and the Mariana Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barklage, Mitchell

We determine shear wave splitting parameters of teleseismic SKS and SKKS phases recorded at 43 broadband seismometers deployed in South Victoria Land as part of the Transantarctic Mountains seismic experiment (TAMSEIS) from 2000-2003. We use an eigenvalue technique to linearize the rotated and shifted shear wave particle motions and determine the best splitting parameters. The data show a fairly consistent fast direction of azimuthal anisotropy oriented approximately N60°E with splitting times of about 1 second. Based on a previous study of the azimuthal variations of Rayleigh wave phase velocities which show a similar fast direction, we suggest the anisotropy is localized in the uppermost mantle, with a best estimate of 3% anisotropy in a layer of about 150 km thickness. We suggest that the observed anisotropy near the Ross Sea coast, a region underlain by thin lithosphere, results either from upper mantle flow related to Cenozoic Ross Sea extension or to edge-driven convection associated with a sharp change in lithospheric thickness between East and West Antarctica. Both hypotheses are consistent with the more E-W fast axis orientation for stations on Ross Island and along the coast, sub-parallel to the extension direction and the lithospheric boundary. Anisotropy in East Antarctica, which is underlain by cold thick continental lithosphere, must be localized within the lithospheric upper mantle and reflect a relict tectonic fabric from past deformation events. Fast axes for the most remote stations in the Vostok Highlands are rotated by 20° and are parallel to splitting measurements at South Pole. These observations seem to delineate a distinct domain of lithospheric fabric, which may represent the extension of the Darling Mobile Belt or Pinjarra Orogen into the interior of East Antarctica. Seismic tomography imaging provides an opportunity to constrain mantle wedge processes associated with subduction, volatile transport, arc volcanism, and back-arc spreading. We investigate seismic velocity structure of the upper mantle across the Central Mariana subduction system using data from the 2003-2004 Mariana Subduction Factory Imaging Experiment. This 11-month experiment consisted of 20 broadband seismic stations deployed on islands and 58 semi-broadband ocean bottom seismographs deployed across the forearc, island arc, and back-arc spreading center. We determine Vp and Vp/Vs structure on a three dimensional grid using over 25,000 local travel time observations as well as over 2000 teleseismic arrival times determined by waveform cross correlation. The mantle wedge is characterized by a region of low velocity and high Vp/Vs beneath the forearc, an inclined zone of low velocity underlying the volcanic front, and a broad region of low velocity beneath the back-arc spreading center. The slow velocity anomalies are strongest at roughly 20-30 km depth in the forearc, 60-70 km depth beneath the volcanic arc, and 20-30 km beneath the back-arc spreading center. The slow velocity anomalies beneath the arc and back-arc appear as separate and distinct features in our images, with a small channel of connectivity occurring at approximately 75 km depth. The subducting Pacific plate is characterized by high seismic velocities. An exception occurs in the forearc beneath the big blue seamount and at the top of the slab at roughly 80 km depth where slow velocities are observed. We interpret the forearc anomalies to represent a region of large scale serpentinization of the mantle whereas the arc and back-arc anomalies represent regions of high temperature with a small amount of increased water content and/or melt and constrain the source regions in the mantle for arc and back-arc lavas. We investigate the double seismic zone (dsz) beneath the Central Mariana Arc using data from a land-sea array of 58 ocean bottom seismographs and 20 land seismographs deployed during 2003-2004. Nearly 600 well-recorded earthquakes were located using a P and S wave arrival times and a double difference relocation technique. The double seismic zone is well imaged from the forearc region to a depth of nearly 200 km. The width of the dsz is approximately 30 km at shallow depths and gradually becomes narrower with depth until it is now longer resolvable at depths greater than 180-200 km. Focal mechanisms determined from P and S wave polarities and amplitudes indicate that events from 70-150 km depth show along strike extension, whereas events greater than 150 km show downdip extension. Both the upper and lower zones of the dsz show similar focal mechanisms, demonstrating that the dsz is not caused by bending or unbending stresses. Along-strike tension may result from stresses related to the increasing curvature of the Mariana slab over the past few million years, as indicated by plate reconstructions. Downdip extension may result from slab pull forces consistent with the strong density anomaly of an old, cold plate relative to the surrounding mantle.

Volcanology: Petit spots go big

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snow, Jonathan E.

2016-12-01

Mantle enrichment processes were thought to be limited to parts of oceanic plates influenced by plumes and to continental interiors. Analyses of mantle fragments of the Pacific Plate suggest that such enrichment processes may operate everywhere.

Early and long-term mantle processing rates derived from xenon isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhopadhyay, S.; Parai, R.; Tucker, J.; Middleton, J. L.; Langmuir, C. H.

2015-12-01

Noble gases, particularly xenon (Xe), in mantle-derived basalts provide a rich portrait of mantle degassing and surface-interior volatile exchange. The combination of extinct and extant radioactive species in the I-Pu-U-Xe systems shed light on the degassing history of the early Earth throughout accretion, as well as the long-term degassing of the Earth's interior in association with plate tectonics. The ubiquitous presence of shallow-level air contamination, however, frequently obscures the mantle Xe signal. In a majority of the samples, shallow air contamination dominates the Xe budget. For example, in the gas-rich popping rock 2ΠD43, 129Xe/130Xe ratios reach 7.7±0.23 in individual step-crushes, but the bulk composition of the sample is close to air (129Xe/130Xe of 6.7). Thus, the extent of variability in mantle source Xe composition is not well-constrained. Here, we present new MORB Xe data and explore constraints placed on mantle processing rates by the Xe data. Ten step-crushes were obtained on a depleted popping glass that was sealed in ultrapure N2 after dredge retrieval from between the Kane-Atlantis Fracture Zone of the Mid Atlantic Ridge in May 2012. 9 steps yielded 129Xe/130Xe of 7.50-7.67 and one yielded 7.3. The bulk 129Xe/130Xe of the sample is 7.6, nearly identical to the estimated mantle source value of 7.7 for the sample. Hence, the sample is virtually free of shallow-level air contamination. Because sealing the sample in N2upon dredge retrieval largely eliminated air contamination, for many samples, contamination must be added after sample retrieval from the ocean bottom. Our new high-precision Xe isotopic measurements in upper mantle-derived samples provide improved constraints on the Xe isotopic composition of the mantle source. We developed a forward model of mantle volatile evolution to identify solutions that satisfy our Xe isotopic data. We find that accretion timescales of ~10±5 Myr are consistent with I-Pu-Xe constraints, and the last giant impact occurred 45-70 Myr after the start of the solar system. After the giant impact stage, the Pu-U-Xe system indicates that degassing of the planet via solid-state mantle convection and plate tectonics continued to liberate volatiles to the atmosphere and has led to between ~5-8 mantle turnovers over the age of the Earth.

Evolution of the viscosity of Earth's upper mantle: Grain-boundary sliding and the role of microstructure in olivine deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, Lars N.

Many features of plate tectonics cannot be explained with standard rheological models of the upper mantle. In particular, the localization of deformation at plate boundaries requires the viscosity of the constituent rocks to evolve spatially and temporally. Such rheological complexity may arise from changing microstructural state variables (e.g., grain size and crystallographic-fabric strength), but the degree to which microstructure contributes to the evolution of viscosity is unclear given our current understanding of deformation mechanisms in mantle minerals. Dislocation-accommodated grain-boundary sliding (GBS) is a potentially critical mechanism for localizing deformation in olivine because it imparts a sensitivity of the viscosity to the state of the microstructure while simultaneously providing mechanisms for changing the microstructure. However, many details of GBS in olivine are currently unknown including 1) the magnitude of the sensitivity of strain rate to crystallographic fabric and grain size, 2) the strength of the crystallographic fabrics produced, and 3) the anisotropy in viscosity of polycrystalline aggregates. Detailed knowledge of these unknowns is necessary to assess the importance of microstructural evolution in the operation of plate tectonics. This dissertation investigates the details of GBS in olivine through four sets of laboratory-based experiments. In Chapter 2, triaxial compressive creep experiments on aggregates of San Carlos olivine are used to develop a flow law for olivine deforming by GBS. Extrapolations of strain rate to geological conditions using the derived flow law indicate that GBS is the dominant deformation mechanism throughout the uppermost mantle. Crystallographic fabrics observed in deformed samples are consistent with upper-mantle seismic anisotropy. In Chapter 3, torsion experiments on iron-rich olivine are used to determine the rheological behavior of olivine deforming by GBS at large strains. The sensitivity of the strain rate to grain size and stress is demonstrated to be consistent with low-strain experiments. Additionally, the sensitivity of strain rate to the development of a crystallographic fabric is determined. Constitutive relationships including microstructural evolution are developed that accurately predict the observed stress as a function of strain. The results of Chapter 3 confirm that significant weakening is associated with both grain-size reduction and crystallographic-fabric development. In Chapter 4, torsion experiments on iron-rich olivine are used to determine if microstructural evolution can lead to strain localization. Experiments were conducted with either constant-strain-rate or constant-stress boundary conditions. Localization is only observed in samples deformed at constant-stress, which suggests boundary conditions affect the critical size of strength perturbation necessary for localization to occur. Strain localization is correlated with fine-grained regions, and a feedback mechanism between grain-size reduction and strain rate is proposed. In Chapter 5, both torsion and tension experiments are used to assess the mechanical anisotropy of previously deformed samples. Based on the direction of the applied stress relative to the orientation of a pre-existing crystallographic fabric, the viscosity is demonstrated to vary by over an order of magnitude. This observation suggests deformation can localize in regions that were previously deformed and retained a strong crystallographic fabric. The results of this dissertation elucidate the interplay between microstructure and deformation of olivine in the GBS regime. Because the viscosity of olivine-rich rocks deforming by GBS is dependent on both grain size and crystallographic fabric, heterogeneities in these microstructural parameters can lead to spatial and temporal variations in viscosity, possibly explaining the large-scale patterns of deformation in the upper mantle. Future numerical simulations can test the importance of microstructure in geodynamic processes by incorporating the constitutive relationships outlined in this dissertation.

Trench dynamics: Effects of dynamically migrating trench on subducting slab morphology and characteristics of subduction zones systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Masaki

2017-07-01

Understanding the mechanisms of trench migration (retreat or advance) is crucial to characterizing the driving forces of Earth's tectonics plates, the origins of subducting slab morphologies in the deep mantle, and identifying the characteristics of subduction zones systems, which are among the fundamental issues of solid Earth science. A series of numerical simulations of mantle convection, focusing on plate subduction in a three-dimensional (3-D) regional spherical shell coordinate system, was performed to examine subduction zone characteristics, including geodynamic relationships among trench migration, back-arc stress, and slab morphology. The results show that a subducting slab tends to deflect around the base of the mantle transition zone and form a sub-horizontal slab because its front edge (its 'toe') is subject to resistance from the highly viscous lower mantle. As the sub-horizontal slab starts to penetrate into the lower mantle from its 'heel,' the toe of the slab is drawn into the lower mantle. The results for models with dynamically migrating trenches suggest that trench retreat is the dynamically self-consistent phenomenon in trench migration. The reason for this is that the strong lateral mantle flow that is generated as a sequence of events leading from corner flow at the subduction initiation to return flow of the formation of a sub-horizontal slab in the shallower part of mantle wedge produces the retreat of the subducting slab. In fact, a 'mantle suction force,' which is generated in the mantle wedge to fill space left by the retreating subducting plate, is enhanced by the subsequent trench retreat. Even when upwelling flow with significant positive buoyancy originates just above a mantle phase boundary at a depth of 410 km (as inferred from independent seismic tomographic, geodynamic, geochemical, and mineral physics), reaches the base of the overriding plate, and the overriding plate is slightly thinned, lithospheric stress tends to be compressed above the upwelling flow. The reason for this is that the strong lateral mantle flow originating from the upwelling flow generates resistance drag force at the base of the overriding plates. This situation may apply to a case of East Asia, under which the typical morphology of sub-horizontal slabs can be seen by seismic tomography. The strong lateral velocity observed in the shallower mantle wedge in the present numerical simulation may account for both the compressional subduction tectonics and back arc compression in the Japan-Kuril-Kamchatka, Aleutian, and South Chile trenches, as well as for weak plate-slab coupling, strong seismic coupling, and the possibility of great earthquakes along these trenches.

Seismic imaging of mantle transition zone discontinuities beneath the northern Red Sea and adjacent areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamed, A. A.; Gao, S. S.; Elsheikh, A. A.; Liu, K. H.; Yu, Y.; Fat-Helbary, R. E.

2014-11-01

The dramatic asymmetry in terms of surface elevation, Cenozoic volcanisms and earthquake activity across the Red Sea is an enigmatic issue in global tectonics, partially due to the unavailability of broad-band seismic data on the African Plate adjacent to the Red Sea. Here, we report the first comprehensive image of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) discontinuities using data from the Egyptian National Seismic Network, and compare the resulting depths of the 410 and 660-km discontinuities with those observed on the Arabian side. Our results show that when a standard earth model is used for time-to-depth conversion, the resulting depth of the discontinuities increases systematically towards the axis of the Afro-Arabian Dome (AAD) from both the west and east. Relative to the westernmost area, the maximum depression of the 410-km discontinuity is about 30 km, and that of the 660-km discontinuity is about 45 km. The observed systematic variations can best be explained by a model involving a hydrated MTZ and an upper-mantle low-velocity zone beneath the AAD. Models invoking one or more mantle plumes originated from the MTZ or the lower-mantle beneath the study area are not consistent with the observations.

Seismic Evidence for Widespread Serpentinized Forearc Mantle Along the Mariana Convergence Margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tibi, R.; Wiens, D. A.

2007-12-01

We use P-to-S converted phases from teleseisms recorded at broadband stations in the Mariana Islands to image the forearc and arc regions of the Mariana convergence margin. The Moho in the subducting Pacific plate is observed at depths between 75 and 110 km beneath the region extending from Rota to Saipan. The S-wave velocity in the subducting crust is inferred to be ~10% slower than the surrounding mantle. This demonstrates that the crust has not yet undergone conversion to eclogite at these depths, in agreement with observations made for other arcs. A low velocity zone (LVZ), approximately 10--25 km thick, whose upper boundary is imaged at about 40--55 km depth, is detected in the forearc region of the mantle wedge along the entire margin. The anomaly is located too shallow to represent subducted oceanic crust. We interpret the LVZ as a serpentinized region in the forearc mantle, resulting from hydration by slab-expelled water. The occurrence of the serpentinized zone along the entire margin suggests that serpentinization of the forearc mantle is a widespread phenomenon in the Mariana arc. The inferred S wave velocity in the LVZ of as low as ~3.6 km/s represents a level of serpentinization of 30--50%, corresponding to a water content of about 4--6 wt%.

How the interior viscosity structure of a terrestrial planet controls plate driving forces and plate tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoeink, T.; Lenardic, A.; Jellinek, M.; Richards, M. A.

2011-12-01

One of the fundamental unresolved problems in Earth and planetary science is the generation of plate tectonics from mantle convection. Important achievements can be made when considering rheological properties in the context of mantle convection dynamics. Among these milestones are (1) a deeper understanding of the balance of forces that drive and resist plate motion and (2) the dynamic generation of narrow plate boundaries (that lead to a piecewise continuous surface velocity distribution). Extending classic plate-tectonic theory we predict a plate driving force due to viscous coupling at the base of the plate from fast flow in the asthenosphere. Flow in the asthenosphere is due to shear-driven contributions from an overriding plate and due to additional pressure-driven contributions. We use scaling analysis to show that the extent to which this additional plate-driving force contributes to plate motions depends on the lateral dimension of plates and on the relative viscosities and thicknesses of lithosphere and asthenosphere. Whereas slab-pull forces always govern the motions of plates with a lateral extent greater than the mantle depth, asthenosphere-drive forces can be relatively more important for smaller (shorter wavelength) plates, large relative asthenosphere viscosities or large asthenosphere thicknesses. Published plate velocities, tomographic images and age-binned mean shear wave velocity anomaly data allow us to estimate the relative contributions of slab-pull and asthenosphere-drive forces driving the motions of the Atlantic and Pacific plates. At the global scale of terrestrial planets, we use 3D spherical shell simulations of mantle convection with temperature-, depth- and stress dependent rheology to demonstrate that a thin low-viscosity layer (asthenosphere) governs convective stresses imparted to the lithosphere. We find, consistent with theoretical predictions, that convective stresses increase for thinner asthenospheres. This result might eliminate the need for special weakening mechanisms to generate plate tectonics from mantle convection. Our results elucidate the role of the asthenosphere for plate tectonics on Earth, and also provide insights into the differences in tectonic styles between Earth and Venus.

Gravity modeling of the Muertos Trough and tectonic implications (north-eastern Caribbean)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Granja, Bruna J.L.; Muñoz-Martín, A.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Carbó-Gorosabel, Andrés; Llanes, Estrada P.; Martín-Dávila, J.; Cordoba-Barba, D.; Catalan, Morollon M.

2010-01-01

The Muertos Trough in the northeast Caribbean has been interpreted as a subduction zone from seismicity, leading to infer a possible reversal subduction polarity. However, the distribution of the seismicity is very diffuse and makes definition of the plate geometry difficult. In addition, the compressive deformational features observed in the upper crust and sandbox kinematic modeling do not necessarily suggest a subduction process. We tested the hypothesized subduction of the Caribbean plate's interior beneath the eastern Greater Antilles island arc using gravity modeling. Gravity models simulating a subduction process yield a regional mass deficit beneath the island arc independently of the geometry and depth of the subducted slab used in the models. This mass deficit results from sinking of the less dense Caribbean slab beneath the lithospheric mantle replacing denser mantle materials and suggests that there is not a subducted Caribbean plateau beneath the island arc. The geologically more realistic gravity model which would explain the N-S shortening observed in the upper crust requires an overthrusted Caribbean slab extending at least 60 km northward from the deformation front, a progressive increase in the thrusting angle from 8?? to 30?? reaching a maximum depth of 22 km beneath the insular slope. This new tectonic model for the Muertos Margin, defined as a retroarc thrusting, will help to assess the seismic and tsunami hazard in the region. The use of gravity modeling has provided targets for future wide-angle seismic surveys in the Muertos Margin. ?? 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Horizontal mantle flow controls subduction dynamics.

PubMed

Ficini, E; Dal Zilio, L; Doglioni, C; Gerya, T V

2017-08-08

It is generally accepted that subduction is driven by downgoing-plate negative buoyancy. Yet plate age -the main control on buoyancy- exhibits little correlation with most of the present-day subduction velocities and slab dips. "West"-directed subduction zones are on average steeper (~65°) than "East"-directed (~27°). Also, a "westerly"-directed net rotation of the lithosphere relative to the mantle has been detected in the hotspot reference frame. Thus, the existence of an "easterly"-directed horizontal mantle wind could explain this subduction asymmetry, favouring steepening or lifting of slab dip angles. Here we test this hypothesis using high-resolution two-dimensional numerical thermomechanical models of oceanic plate subduction interacting with a mantle flow. Results show that when subduction polarity is opposite to that of the mantle flow, the descending slab dips subvertically and the hinge retreats, thus leading to the development of a back-arc basin. In contrast, concordance between mantle flow and subduction polarity results in shallow dipping subduction, hinge advance and pronounced topography of the overriding plate, regardless of their age-dependent negative buoyancy. Our results are consistent with seismicity data and tomographic images of subduction zones. Thus, our models may explain why subduction asymmetry is a common feature of convergent margins on Earth.

Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity maps and three-dimensional shear velocity structure of the western US from local non-plane surface wave tomography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pollitz, F.F.; Snoke, J. Arthur

2010-01-01

We utilize two-and-three-quarter years of vertical-component recordings made by the Transportable Array (TA) component of Earthscope to constrain three-dimensional (3-D) seismic shear wave velocity structure in the upper 200 km of the western United States. Single-taper spectral estimation is used to compile measurements of complex spectral amplitudes from 44 317 seismograms generated by 123 teleseismic events. In the first step employed to determine the Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity structure, we implement a new tomographic method, which is simpler and more robust than scattering-based methods (e.g. multi-plane surface wave tomography). The TA is effectively implemented as a large number of local arrays by defining a horizontal Gaussian smoothing distance that weights observations near a given target point. The complex spectral-amplitude measurements are interpreted with the spherical Helmholtz equation using local observations about a succession of target points, resulting in Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity maps at periods over the range of 18–125 s. The derived maps depend on the form of local fits to the Helmholtz equation, which generally involve the nonplane-wave solutions of Friederich et al. In a second step, the phase-velocity maps are used to derive 3-D shear velocity structure. The 3-D velocity images confirm details witnessed in prior body-wave and surface-wave studies and reveal new structures, including a deep (>100 km deep) high-velocity lineament, of width ∼200 km, stretching from the southern Great Valley to northern Utah that may be a relic of plate subduction or, alternatively, either a remnant of the Mojave Precambrian Province or a mantle downwelling. Mantle seismic velocity is highly correlated with heat flow, Holocene volcanism, elastic plate thickness and seismicity. This suggests that shallow mantle structure provides the heat source for associated magmatism, as well as thinning of the thermal lithosphere, leading to relatively high stress concentration. Our images also confirm the presence of high-velocity mantle at 100 km depth beneath areas of suspected mantle delamination (southern Sierra Nevada; Grande Ronde uplift), low velocity mantle underlying active rift zones, and high velocity mantle associated with the subducting Juan de Fuca plate. Structure established during the Proterozoic appears to exert a lasting influence on subsequent volcanism and tectonism up to the Present.

Intracontinental mantle plume and its implications for the Cretaceous tectonic history of East Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryu, In-Chang; Lee, Changyeol

2017-12-01

A-type granitoids, high-Mg basalts (e.g., picrites), adakitic rocks, basin-and-range-type fault basins, thinning of the North China Craton (NCC), and southwest-to-northeast migration of the adakites and I-type granitoids in southern Korea and southwestern Japan during the Cretaceous are attributed to the passive upwelling of deep asthenospheric mantle or ridge subduction. However, the genesis of these features remains controversial. Furthermore, the lack of ridge subduction during the Cretaceous in recently suggested plate reconstruction models poses a problem because the Cretaceous adakites in southern Korea and southwestern Japan could not have been generated by the subduction of the old Izanagi oceanic plate. Here, we speculate that plume-continent (intracontinental plume-China continent) and subsequent plume-slab (intracontinental plume-subducted Izanagi oceanic plate) interactions generated the various intracontinental magmatic and tectonic activities in eastern China, Korea, and southwestern Japan. We support our proposal using three-dimensional numerical models: 1) An intracontinental mantle plume is dragged into the mantle wedge by corner flow of the mantle wedge, and 2) the resultant channel-like flow of the mantle plume in the mantle wedge apparently migrated from southwest to northeast because of the northeast-to-southwest migration of the East Asian continental blocks with respect to the Izanagi oceanic plate. Our model calculations show that adakites and I-type granitoids can be generated by increased slab-surface temperatures because of the channel-like flow of the mantle plume in the mantle wedge. We also show that the southwest-to-northeast migration of the adakites and I-type granitoids in southern Korea and southwestern Japan can be attributable to the opposite migration of the East Asian continental blocks with respect to the Izanagi oceanic plate. This correlation implies that an intracontinental mantle plume existed in eastern China during the Cretaceous and that the mantle plume was entrained into the mantle wedge as a channel-like flow. An intracontinental mantle plume can explain the adakitic rocks, A-type granitoids, high-Mg basalts, and basin-and-range-type fault basins distributed in eastern China. Thus, the mantle plume and its interaction with the overlying continent and subducting slab through time plausibly explain the Cretaceous tectonic history of East Asia.

Length-scales of Slab-induced Asthenospheric Deformation from Geodynamic Modeling, Mantle Deformation Fabric, and Synthetic Shear Wave Splitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jadamec, M. A.; MacDougall, J.; Fischer, K. M.

2017-12-01

The viscosity structure of the Earth's interior is critically important, because it places a first order constraint on plate motion and mantle flow rates. Geodynamic models using a composite viscosity based on experimentally derived flow laws for olivine aggregates show that lateral viscosity variations emerge in the upper mantle due to the subduction dynamics. However, the length-scale of this transition is still not well understood. Two-dimensional numerical models of subduction are presented that investigate the effect of initial slab dip, maximum yield stress (slab strength), and viscosity formulation (Newtonian versus composite) on the emergent lateral viscosity variations in the upper-mantle and magnitude of slab-driven mantle flow velocity. Significant viscosity reductions occur in regions of large flow velocity gradients due to the weakening effect of the dislocation creep deformation mechanism. The dynamic reductions in asthenospheric viscosity (less than 1018 Pa s) occur within approximately 500 km from driving force of the slab, with peak flow velocities occurring in models with a lower yield stress (weaker slab) and higher stress exponent. This leads to a sharper definition of the rheological base of the lithosphere and implies lateral variability in tractions along the base of the lithosphere. As the dislocation creep mechanism also leads to mantle deformation fabric, we then examine the spatial variation in the LPO development in the asthenosphere and calculate synthetic shear wave splitting. The models show that olivine LPO fabric in the asthenosphere generally increases in alignment strength with increased proximity to the slab, but can be transient and spatially variable on small length scales. The vertical flow fields surrounding the slab tip can produce shear-wave splitting variations with back-azimuth that deviate from the predictions of uniform trench-normal anisotropy, a result that bears on the interpretation of complexity in shear-wave splitting observed in real subduction zones.

Intra-continental subduction and contemporaneous lateral extrusion of the upper plate: insights into Alps-Adria interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Gelder, Inge; Willingshofer, Ernst; Sokoutis, Dimitrios; Cloetingh, Sierd

2017-04-01

A series of physical analogue experiments were performed to simulate intra-continental subduction contemporaneous with lateral extrusion of the upper plate to study the interferences between these two processes at crustal levels and in the lithospheric mantle. The lithospheric-scale models are specifically designed to represent the collision of the Adriatic microplate with the Eastern Alps, simulated by an intra-continental weak zone to initiate subduction and a weak confined margin perpendicular to the direction of convergence in order to allow for extrusion of the lithosphere. The weak confined margin is the analog for the opening of the Pannonian back-arc basin adjacent to the Eastern Alps with the direction of extension perpendicular to the strike of the orogen. The models show that intra-continental subduction and coeval lateral extrusion of the upper plate are compatible processes. The obtained deformation structures within the extruding region are similar compared to the classical setup where lateral extrusion is provoked by lithosphere-scale indentation. In the models a strong coupling across the subduction boundary allows for the transfer of abundant stresses to the upper plate, leading to laterally varying strain regimes that are characterized by crustal thickening near a confined margin and dominated by lateral displacement of material near a weak lateral confinement. During ongoing convergence the strain regimes propagate laterally, thereby creating an area of overlap characterized by transpression. In models with oblique subduction, with respect to the convergence direction, less deformation of the upper plate is observed and as a consequence the amount of lateral extrusion decreases. Additionally, strain is partitioned along the oblique plate boundary leading to less subduction in expense of right lateral displacement close to the weak lateral confinement. Both oblique and orthogonal subduction models have a strong resemblance to lateral extrusion tectonics of the Eastern Alps, where subduction of the adjacent Adriatic plate beneath the Eastern Alps is debated. Our results highlight that both indentation and subduction of Adria are valid collisional mechanisms to provoke lateral extrusion-type deformation within the Eastern Alps lithosphere, i.e. the upper plate. Moreover, the insights suggest that the Oligocene to Late Miocene structural evolution of the Eastern Alps is best described by phases of oblique and subsequent orthogonal subduction which is in line with Miocene rotations of the Adriatic plate. Furthermore, oblique subduction of the Adriatic plate provides a viable mechanism to explain the rapid decrease in slab length beneath the Eastern Alps towards the Pannonian Basin, also implying that the Adriatic slab can behave and form independently with regards to the adjacent subduction of Adria beneath the Dinarides.

The impact of the South-American plate motion and the Nazca Ridge subduction on the flat subduction below South Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Hunen, Jeroen; van den Berg, Arie P.; Vlaar, Nico J.

2002-07-01

Flat subduction near Peru occurs only where the thickened crust of the Nazca Ridge subducts. Furthermore, the South-America continent shows a westward absolute plate motion. Both the overriding motion of South-America and the subduction of the Nazca Ridge have been proposed to explain the flat slab segment below South Peru. We have conducted a series of numerical model experiments to investigate the relative importance of both mechanisms. Results suggest that the average upper mantle viscosity should be about 3.5 × 1020 Pa s or less and basaltic crust should be able to survive 600 to 800°C ambient temperature before transforming into eclogite to explain the slab geometry below Peru. The effect of the overriding plate is estimated to be as large or twice as large as that of the plateau subduction.

Reconstructing plate motion paths where plate tectonics doesn't strictly apply

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handy, M. R.; Ustaszewski, K.

2012-04-01

The classical approach to reconstructing plate motion invokes the assumption that plates are rigid and therefore that their motions can be described as Eulerian rotations on a spherical Earth. This essentially two-dimensional, map view of plate motion is generally valid for large-scale systems, but is not practicable for small-scale tectonic systems in which plates, or significant parts thereof, deform on time scales approaching the duration of their motion. Such "unplate-like" (non-rigid) behaviour is common in systems with a weak lithosphere, for example, in Mediterranean-type settings where (micro-)plates undergo distributed deformation several tens to hundreds of km away from their boundaries. The motion vector of such anomalous plates can be quantified by combining and comparing information from two independent sources: (1) Balanced cross sections that are arrayed across deformed zones (orogens, basins) and provide estimates of crustal shortening and/or extension. Plate motion is then derived by retrodeforming the balanced sections in a stepwise fashion from external to internal parts of mountain belts, then applying these estimates as successive retrotranslations of points on stable parts of the upper plate with respect to a chosen reference frame on the lower plate. This approach is contingent on using structural markers with tight age constraints, for example, depth-sensitive metamorphic mineral parageneses and syn-orogenic sediments with known paleogeographic provenance; (2) Geophysical images of 3D subcrustal structure, especially of the MOHO and the lithospheric mantle in the vicinity of the deformed zones. In the latter case, travel-time seismic tomography of velocity anomalies can be used to identify subducted lithospheric slabs that extend downwards from the zones of crustal shortening to the mantle transitional zone and beyond. Synthesizing information from these two sources yields plate motion paths whose validity can be tested by the degree of consistency between crustal shortening estimates and the amount of subducted lithosphere imaged at depth. This approach has several limitations: (1) shortening values in mountain belts are usually minimum estimates due to the erosion of deformational fronts and out-of-sequence thrusting that obscure or even eliminate zones of shortening. Also, subduction may occur without accretion of material to the upper plate; (2) sedimentary ages are often loosely bracketed and only high-retentivity isotopic systems yield ages near the age of mineral formation in metamorphic rocks; (3) images of seismic velocity anomalies are highly model-dependent and the anomalies themselves may have been partly lost to thermal erosion, especially in areas that have experienced heating, for example, beneath extensional basins. Thus, only a few orogens studied so far (e.g., the circum-Mediterreanean belts) have the density of geological and geophysical data needed to constrain the translation of a sufficient number of reference points to obtain a reliable plate-motion vector. Nevertheless, this approach complements established methods for determining plate motion (plate-circuits using paleomagnetic information, ocean-floor magnetic lineaments) and provides a viable alternative where such paleomagnetic information is sparse or lacking.

Global plate motion frames: Toward a unified model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torsvik, Trond H.; Müller, R. Dietmar; van der Voo, Rob; Steinberger, Bernhard; Gaina, Carmen

2008-09-01

Plate tectonics constitutes our primary framework for understanding how the Earth works over geological timescales. High-resolution mapping of relative plate motions based on marine geophysical data has followed the discovery of geomagnetic reversals, mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, and seafloor spreading, cementing the plate tectonic paradigm. However, so-called "absolute plate motions," describing how the fragments of the outer shell of the Earth have moved relative to a reference system such as the Earth's mantle, are still poorly understood. Accurate absolute plate motion models are essential surface boundary conditions for mantle convection models as well as for understanding past ocean circulation and climate as continent-ocean distributions change with time. A fundamental problem with deciphering absolute plate motions is that the Earth's rotation axis and the averaged magnetic dipole axis are not necessarily fixed to the mantle reference system. Absolute plate motion models based on volcanic hot spot tracks are largely confined to the last 130 Ma and ideally would require knowledge about the motions within the convecting mantle. In contrast, models based on paleomagnetic data reflect plate motion relative to the magnetic dipole axis for most of Earth's history but cannot provide paleolongitudes because of the axial symmetry of the Earth's magnetic dipole field. We analyze four different reference frames (paleomagnetic, African fixed hot spot, African moving hot spot, and global moving hot spot), discuss their uncertainties, and develop a unifying approach for connecting a hot spot track system and a paleomagnetic absolute plate reference system into a "hybrid" model for the time period from the assembly of Pangea (˜320 Ma) to the present. For the last 100 Ma we use a moving hot spot reference frame that takes mantle convection into account, and we connect this to a pre-100 Ma global paleomagnetic frame adjusted 5° in longitude to smooth the reference frame transition. Using plate driving force arguments and the mapping of reconstructed large igneous provinces to core-mantle boundary topography, we argue that continental paleolongitudes can be constrained with reasonable confidence.

Record of the Pacific Large Low Shear Velocity Province Upwellings Preserved in the Cretaceous Large Igneous Provinces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madrigal, P.; Gazel, E.; Flores, K. E.; Bizimis, M.; Jicha, B. R.

2015-12-01

As the surface expression of deep mantle dynamics, Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are associated with the edges of large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVP) rooted at the core-mantle boundary. Instabilities in the LLSVP can cause periodic upwellings of material in the form of mantle plumes, which impact the lithosphere forming LIPs. However, the time frames of these massive lava outpourings are still uncertain. While continental LIPs are more readily accessible, oceanic LIPs have only been studied through drilling and sampling of fragments accreted to continental margins or island arcs, hence, they are relatively less understood. The impact of oceanic LIPs on oceanic biota is conspicuously recorded in global occurrences of black shale deposits that evidence episodes of anoxia and mass extinctions shortly after the formation of LIPs that ultimately can affect life on the entire planet. Our new geochemical and geochronological data of accreted Pacific LIPs found in the coasts of Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica record three LIP pulses possibly reflecting upwelling periods of the LLSVP at 140, 120 and 90 Ma. In order to test different models of origin of these LIPS, we created a complete reconstruction of the Pacific Plate configuration from the Mid-Jurassic to Upper-Cretaceous to show the existing correlation between upwelling pulses at edges of the Pacific LLSVP, oceanic anoxic events and the age from Pacific LIPs. We propose that since the formation of the Pacific plate at circa 175-180 Ma, a series of upwellings that interacted with mid-ocean ridge systems separated by 10-20 Ma have affected the planet periodically forming oceanic LIPs that still can be found today on the Pacific seafloor and accreted along the plate margins.

Mantle heterogeneities beneath the Northeast Indian Ocean as sampled by intra-plate volcanism at Christmas Island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taneja, Rajat; Rushmer, Tracy; Blichert-Toft, Janne; Turner, Simon; O'Neill, Craig

2016-10-01

The intra-plate region of the Northeast Indian Ocean, located between the Ninetyeast Ridge and the North West Shelf of Australia, contains numerous submerged seamounts and two sub-aerially exposed volcanic island groups. While the Cocos (Keeling) Archipelago is a coral atoll, Christmas Island is the only sub-aerially exposed volcanic island and contains Late Cretaceous, Eocene and Pliocene lavas. The lavas are predominantly basaltic in composition, except for one sampled flow that is trachytic. Although the evolution of the western margin of Australia, and the seismicity in the intra-plate region, has received considerable attention, the origin of the seamount province in the Northeast Indian Ocean is still a matter of debate. In order to constrain the origin of volcanism on Christmas Island and the associated Seamount Province we analysed 14 Christmas Island samples for major and trace element abundances and 12 of these for Nd, Hf and Pb isotope compositions. The trace element patterns of the lavas are similar to many ocean island basalts, while high 208Pb/204Pb and 207Pb/204Pb at a given 206Pb/204Pb suggest affiliation with the DUPAL anomaly. The reconstructed position of Christmas Island during the Eocene (44-37 Ma) places the island in close proximity to the (present-day) upper mantle low-seismic velocity anomalies. Moreover, an enriched mantle (EM-2) type component in addition to the DUPAL anomaly is observed in the Eocene volcanic phase. The younger Pliocene ( 4 Ma) sequences at Christmas Island are inferred to be the product of partial melting of existing material induced by lithospheric flexure.

Fault friction, regional stress, and crust-mantle coupling in southern California from finite element models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bird, P.; Baumgardner, J.

1984-01-01

To determine the correct fault rheology of the Transverse Ranges area of California, a new finite element to represent faults and a mangle drag element are introduced into a set of 63 simulation models of anelastic crustal strain. It is shown that a slip rate weakening rheology for faults is not valid in California. Assuming that mantle drag effects on the crust's base are minimal, the optimal coefficient of friction in the seismogenic portion of the fault zones is 0.4-0.6 (less than Byerly's law assumed to apply elsewhere). Depending on how the southern California upper mantle seismic velocity anomaly is interpreted, model results are improved or degraded. It is found that the location of the mantle plate boundary is the most important secondary parameter, and that the best model is either a low-stress model (fault friction = 0.3) or a high-stress model (fault friction = 0.85), each of which has strong mantel drag. It is concluded that at least the fastest moving faults in southern California have a low friction coefficient (approximtely 0.3) because they contain low strength hydrated clay gouges throughout the low-temperature seismogenic zone.

Redox Heterogenity in MORB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cottrell, E.; Kelley, K. A.

2012-12-01

Mantle oxygen fugacity (fO2) has a first-order effect on the petrogenesis of mantle-derived melts and the speciation of mantle fluids. Current debate centers on the spatial uniformity of upper mantle fO2 and its constancy through geologic time. We use iron K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (μXANES) spectroscopy to provide Fe3+ /ΣFe ratios of submarine mantle-derived basalts from mid-ocean ridges (MORB) as a proxy for fO2. A global survey of primitive (>8.75 wt% MgO) MORB glasses at spreading centers, unaffected by plumes, reveals a decrease in Fe3+ /ΣFe ratio of 12% relative with indices of mantle enrichment such as 87/86Sr, 208/204Pb, Ba/La, and Rb/Sr ratios. The strong negative correlation between upper mantle fO2 and enrichment recorded by MORB glasses contrasts with the positive relationship hinted at by abyssal peridotite oxybarometry (e.g. Ballhaus, CMP, 1993) and the general prediction of a positive correlation born of the expectation that Fe3+ can be treated as more incompatible than Fe2+ during mantle melting. These data unequivocally link upper mantle oxidation state to mantle source enrichment. EMORB generation is commonly attributed to subduction-related processes. That EMORB is more reduced than NMORB implies that deeply subducted and recycled lithologies, such as anoxic sediment, may be more reduced than ambient mantle. Negative correlations between traditional tracers of recycled sediment (e.g. +Nb anomaly, high 87/86Sr, high LILE/LREE) and redox support this hypothesis. Preservation of redox signatures on plate-recycling timescales of hundreds of millions to billions of years would require the mantle to be very poorly buffered. Alternatively, MORB Fe3+ /ΣFe ratios may be generated in situ beneath ridges as a function of variable carbon content. The shallow MORB source is too oxidized to stabilize graphite (Cottrell and Kelley, EPSL, 2011) and carbon exists as oxides. Decreasing fO2 with increasing depth eventually stabilizes reduced carbon species (diamond, carbides, alloys), however, and aCO2 may buffer mantle assemblages. Upon ascent, reduced carbon in upwelling mantle must oxidize, reducing Fe in the process such that more carbon-rich mantle would arrive at the surface with a lower Fe3+ /ΣFe ratio. We cannot directly correlate Fe3+ /ΣFe ratios with CO2 concentrations because submarine basalts have variably degassed CO2; however, the unequivocally carbon-rich sample 2πD43 (popping rock) does record a low Fe3+ /ΣFe ratio. CO2 variations on the order of 80 ppm in the mantle source would explain the range of MORB/EMORB Fe3+ /ΣFe ratios we observe, indicating a possible range of carbon concentrations in subduction-related lithologies. The relationships between MORB Fe3+ /ΣFe ratios, trace elements, and isotopes are consistent with modeled mixtures of depleted melts and low-degree carbonatitic melts of ancient subducted igneous crust plus 5-15% sediment (Stracke et al., G3, 2001) using the near-solidus carbonatitic partition coefficients of Dasgupta et al., Chem Geol, (2009). It may be that low degree carbonatitic melts even act through geologic time to scavenge and fractionate trace elements, creating enriched high-carbon reservoirs. Low Fe3+ /ΣFe ratios, and even EMORB itself, may therefore herald greater carbon concentrations, and the influence of low-degree carbonatitic melts, in Earth's mantle.

Constraints on upper mantle Vp/Vs ratio variations beneath eastern North China from receiver function tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, Shaokun; Tian, Xiaobo; Gao, Rui

2017-05-01

To detect the thinning, modification, and replacement of the basement of the lithosphere is a key step in understanding the destruction mechanism of the North China lithosphere. The difference of the basement of the lithosphere is mainly displayed by the variation of the peridotite composition and its physical state. Vp/Vs ratio (hereafter referred to as velocity ratio) is more sensitive to this change than Vp or Vs alone. By means of the strong dependence of the travel-time of the wave converted at the 410-km discontinuity (P410s) observed in the receiver function (RF) on the velocity ratio in the upper mantle, we developed a new mapping method to constrain the velocity ratio between the Moho and 410-km discontinuity. Using the RFs extracted from 246 broadband stations beneath the North China Craton (NCC), we obtained a high-resolution velocity ratio image of the upper mantle. The abnormal velocity ratio indicates a strong lateral variation of the mineral composition in the upper mantle beneath North China. Two low-velocity-ratio patches are imaged at the top of the upper mantle and the 410 km depth, respectively. The former may be related to the orthopyroxene enrichment in the lithospheric mantle, and the latter may reflect the stagnant Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone (MTZ). A prominent high-velocity-ratio anomaly is also imaged in the upper mantle beneath the Shaanxi-Shanxi rift system in the central NCC, with the highest anomaly reaching 10%. We speculate that the high velocity ratio of upper mantle is related to convective flow due to slab dehydration in the MTZ. The dehydration of the retained slab in the MTZ results in partial melting and upwelling of upper mantle materials. Such convective flow and their melting are closely related to the Cenozoic basalt eruption in the northern section of the Shaanxi-Shanxi rift system.

Kinematics and dynamics of the East Pacific Rise linked to a stable, deep-mantle upwelling

PubMed Central

Rowley, David B.; Forte, Alessandro M.; Rowan, Christopher J.; Glišović, Petar; Moucha, Robert; Grand, Stephen P.; Simmons, Nathan A.

2016-01-01

Earth’s tectonic plates are generally considered to be driven largely by negative buoyancy associated with subduction of oceanic lithosphere. In this context, mid-ocean ridges (MORs) are passive plate boundaries whose divergence accommodates flow driven by subduction of oceanic slabs at trenches. We show that over the past 80 million years (My), the East Pacific Rise (EPR), Earth’s dominant MOR, has been characterized by limited ridge-perpendicular migration and persistent, asymmetric ridge accretion that are anomalous relative to other MORs. We reconstruct the subduction-related buoyancy fluxes of plates on either side of the EPR. The general expectation is that greater slab pull should correlate with faster plate motion and faster spreading at the EPR. Moreover, asymmetry in slab pull on either side of the EPR should correlate with either ridge migration or enhanced plate velocity in the direction of greater slab pull. Based on our analysis, none of the expected correlations are evident. This implies that other forces significantly contribute to EPR behavior. We explain these observations using mantle flow calculations based on globally integrated buoyancy distributions that require core-mantle boundary heat flux of up to 20 TW. The time-dependent mantle flow predictions yield a long-lived deep-seated upwelling that has its highest radial velocity under the EPR and is inferred to control its observed kinematics. The mantle-wide upwelling beneath the EPR drives horizontal components of asthenospheric flows beneath the plates that are similarly asymmetric but faster than the overlying surface plates, thereby contributing to plate motions through viscous tractions in the Pacific region. PMID:28028535

Kinematics and dynamics of the East Pacific Rise linked to a stable, deep-mantle upwelling.

PubMed

Rowley, David B; Forte, Alessandro M; Rowan, Christopher J; Glišović, Petar; Moucha, Robert; Grand, Stephen P; Simmons, Nathan A

2016-12-01

Earth's tectonic plates are generally considered to be driven largely by negative buoyancy associated with subduction of oceanic lithosphere. In this context, mid-ocean ridges (MORs) are passive plate boundaries whose divergence accommodates flow driven by subduction of oceanic slabs at trenches. We show that over the past 80 million years (My), the East Pacific Rise (EPR), Earth's dominant MOR, has been characterized by limited ridge-perpendicular migration and persistent, asymmetric ridge accretion that are anomalous relative to other MORs. We reconstruct the subduction-related buoyancy fluxes of plates on either side of the EPR. The general expectation is that greater slab pull should correlate with faster plate motion and faster spreading at the EPR. Moreover, asymmetry in slab pull on either side of the EPR should correlate with either ridge migration or enhanced plate velocity in the direction of greater slab pull. Based on our analysis, none of the expected correlations are evident. This implies that other forces significantly contribute to EPR behavior. We explain these observations using mantle flow calculations based on globally integrated buoyancy distributions that require core-mantle boundary heat flux of up to 20 TW. The time-dependent mantle flow predictions yield a long-lived deep-seated upwelling that has its highest radial velocity under the EPR and is inferred to control its observed kinematics. The mantle-wide upwelling beneath the EPR drives horizontal components of asthenospheric flows beneath the plates that are similarly asymmetric but faster than the overlying surface plates, thereby contributing to plate motions through viscous tractions in the Pacific region.

Absolute plate motions relative to deep mantle plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shimin; Yu, Hongzheng; Zhang, Qiong; Zhao, Yonghong

2018-05-01

Advances in whole waveform seismic tomography have revealed the presence of broad mantle plumes rooted at the base of the Earth's mantle beneath major hotspots. Hotspot tracks associated with these deep mantle plumes provide ideal constraints for inverting absolute plate motions as well as testing the fixed hotspot hypothesis. In this paper, 27 observed hotspot trends associated with 24 deep mantle plumes are used together with the MORVEL model for relative plate motions to determine an absolute plate motion model, in terms of a maximum likelihood optimization for angular data fitting, combined with an outlier data detection procedure based on statistical tests. The obtained T25M model fits 25 observed trends of globally distributed hotspot tracks to the statistically required level, while the other two hotspot trend data (Comores on Somalia and Iceland on Eurasia) are identified as outliers, which are significantly incompatible with other data. For most hotspots with rate data available, T25M predicts plate velocities significantly lower than the observed rates of hotspot volcanic migration, which cannot be fully explained by biased errors in observed rate data. Instead, the apparent hotspot motions derived by subtracting the observed hotspot migration velocities from the T25M plate velocities exhibit a combined pattern of being opposite to plate velocities and moving towards mid-ocean ridges. The newly estimated net rotation of the lithosphere is statistically compatible with three recent estimates, but differs significantly from 30 of 33 prior estimates.

The Presence of Dense Material in the Deep Mantle: Implications for Plate Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stein, C.; Hansen, U.

2017-12-01

The dense material in the deep mantle strongly interacts with the convective flow in the mantle. On the one hand, it has a restoring effect on rising plumes. On the other hand, the dense material is swept about by the flow forming dense piles. Consequently this affects the plate motion and, in particular, the onset time and the style of plate tectonics varies considerably for different model scenarios. In this study we apply a thermochemical mantle convection model combined with a rheological model (temperature- and stress-dependent viscosity) that allows for plate formation according to the convective flow. The model's starting condition is the post-magma ocean period. We analyse a large number of model scenarios ranging from variations in thickness, density and depth of a layer of dense material to different initial temperatures.Furthermore, we present a mechanism in which the dense layer at the core-mantle boundary forms without prescribing the thickness or the density contrast. Due to advection-assisted diffusion, long-lived piles can be established that act on the style of convection and therefore on plate motion. We distinguish between the subduction-triggered regime with early plate tectonics and the plume-triggered regime with a late onset of plate tectonics. The formation of piles by advection-assisted diffusion is a typical phenomenon that appears not only at the lower boundary, but also at internal boundaries that form in the layering phase during the evolution of the system.

Upper Mantle Responses to India-Eurasia Collision in Indochina, Malaysia, and the South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hongsresawat, S.; Russo, R. M.

2016-12-01

We present new shear wave splitting and splitting intensity measurements from SK(K)S phases recorded at seismic stations of the Malaysian National Seismic Network. These results, in conjunction with results from Tibet and Yunnan provide a basis for testing the degree to which Indochina and South China Sea upper mantle fabrics are responses to India-Eurasia collision. Upper mantle fabrics derived from shear wave splitting measurements in Yunnan and eastern Tibet parallel geodetic surface motions north of 26°N, requiring transmission of tractions from upper mantle depths to surface, or consistent deformation boundary conditions throughout the upper 200 km of crust and mantle. Shear wave splitting fast trends and surface velocities diverge in eastern Yunnan and south of 26°N, indicating development of an asthenospheric layer that decouples crust and upper mantle, or corner flow above the subducted Indo-Burma slab. E-W fast shear wave splitting trends southwest of 26°N/104°E indicate strong gradients in any asthenospheric infiltration. Possible upper mantle flow regimes beneath Indochina include development of olivine b-axis anisotropic symmetry due to high strain and hydrous conditions in the syntaxis/Indo-Burma mantle wedge (i.e., southward flow), development of strong upper mantle corner flow in the Indo-Burma wedge with olivine a-axis anisotropic symmetry (i.e., westward flow), and simple asthenospheric flow due to eastward motion of Sundaland shearing underlying asthenosphere. Further south, shear-wave splitting delay times at Malaysian stations vary from 0.5 seconds on the Malay Peninsula to over 2 seconds at stations on Borneo. Splitting fast trends at Borneo stations and Singapore trend NE-SW, but in northern Peninsular Malaysia, the splitting fast polarization direction is NW-SE, parallel to the trend of the Peninsula. Thus, there is a sharp transition from low delay time and NW-SE fast polarization to high delay times and fast polarization directions that parallel the strike of the now-inoperative spreading center in the South China Sea. This transition appears to occur in the central portion of Peninsular Malaysia and may mark the boundary between Tethyan upper mantle extruded from the India-Asia collision zone and supra-subduction upper mantle of the Indonesian arc.

Secular rotational motions and the mechanical structure of a dynamical viscoelastic earth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yuen, D. A.; Sabadini, R.

1984-01-01

A survey is presented of analytical methods for computing the linear responses of the rotational axis of a layered viscoelastic earth to surface loading. Theoretical research in this area is first summarized, and the differences between the mechanical boundary conditions to be applied at the interface separating the upper and lower mantles for an adiabatically and chemically stratified mantle are discussed. Some examples of polar wander and secular variation of the spin rate from glacial excitation are presented for various types of chemical and viscosity stratifications. The effects of an artificial density jump at the base of the lithosphere in models are examined, and certain issues concerning the fluid tidal Love number for different types of density stratification are addressed. The meaning of effective plate thickness over geological time scales for rotational dynamics is discussed.

Using Global, Quantitative Models of the Coupled Plates/Mantle System to Understand Late Neogene Dynamics of the Pacific Plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stotz, I.; Davies, R.; Iaffaldano, G.

2016-12-01

Knowledge of the evolution of continents, inferred from a variety of geological data, as well as observations of the ocean-floor magnetization pattern provide an increasingly-detailed picture of past and present-day plate motions. These are key to study the evolving balance of shallow- and deep-rooted forces acting upon plates and to unravel the dynamics of the coupled plates/mantle system. Here we focus on the clockwise rotation of the Pacific plate motion relative to the hotspots reference frame between 10 and 5 Ma, which is evidenced by a bend in the Hawaiian sea mount chain (Cox & Engebretson, 1985) as well as by marine magnetic and bathymetric data along the Pacific/Antarctica Ridge (Croon et al., 2008). It has been suggested that such a kinematic change owes to the arrival of the Ontong-Java plateau, the biggest oceanic plateau on the Pacific plate, at the Australia/Pacific subducting margin between 10 and 5 Ma, and to its collision with the Melanesian arc. This could have changed the local buoyancy forces and/or sparked a redistribution of the forces already acting within the Pacific realm, causing the Pacific plate to rotate clockwise. Such hypotheses have never been tested explicitly against the available kinematic reconstructions. We do so by using global numerical models of the coupled plates/mantle system. Our models build on the available codes Terra and Shells. Terra is a global, spherical finite-element code for mantle convection, developed by Baumgardner (1985) and Bunge et al. (1996), and further advanced by Yang (1997; 2000) and Davies et al. (2013), among others. Shells is a thin-sheet, finite-element code for lithosphere dynamics (e.g., Bird, 1998). By merging these two independent models we are able to simulate the rheological behavior of the brittle lithosphere and viscous mantle. We compare the plate velocities output by our models with the available kinematic reconstructions to test the above-mentioned hypotheses, and simulate the impact of the evolving mantle buoyancy-field and plate-boundary forces on the Pacific plate motion. Our approach allows distinguishing between the top-down and bottom-up controls on the recent dynamics of the Pacific plate.

A new back-and-forth iterative method for time-reversed convection modeling: Implications for the Cenozoic evolution of 3-D structure and dynamics of the mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glišović, Petar; Forte, Alessandro M.

2016-06-01

The 3-D distribution of buoyancy in the convecting mantle drives a suite of convection-related manifestations. Although seismic tomography is providing increasingly resolved images of the present-day mantle heterogeneity, the distribution of mantle density variations in the geological past is unknown, and, by implication, this is true for the convection-related observables. The one major exception is tectonic plate motions, since geologic data are available to estimate their history and they currently provide the only available constraints on the evolution of 3-D mantle buoyancy in the past. We developed a new back-and-forth iterative method for time-reversed convection modeling with a procedure for matching plate velocity data at different instants in the past. The crucial aspect of this reconstruction methodology is to ensure that at all times plates are driven by buoyancy forces in the mantle and not vice versa. Employing tomography-based retrodictions over the Cenozoic, we estimate the global amplitude of the following observables: dynamic surface topography, the core-mantle boundary ellipticity, the free-air gravity anomalies, and the global divergence rates of tectonic plates. One of the major benefits of the new data assimilation method is the stable recovery of much shorter wavelength changes in heterogeneity than was possible in our previous work. We now resolve what appears to be two-stage subduction of the Farallon plate under the western U.S. and a deeply rooted East African Plume that is active under the Ethiopian volcanic fields during the Early Eocene.

Topography of the overriding plate during progressive subduction: A dynamic model to explain forearc subsidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Z.; Schellart, W. P.; Duarte, J. C.; Strak, V.

2017-12-01

Topography that forms at the free top surface of the lithosphere contains important information about the dynamics of the tectonic plates and the sub-lithospheric mantle. Investigating topography around subduction zones can provide quantitative and conceptual insights into the interaction between the plates, the slabs, mantle flow, and the associated stresses. To achieve this, geodynamic modelling can be an effective tool. In this study, we used techniques of stereoscopic photogrammetry and Particle Image Velocimetry to monitor simultaneously the topography of the overriding plate and the velocity field of the subduction-induced mantle flow occurring in the mantle wedge. Model results show that the overriding plate topography is characterized by an area of forearc topographic subsidence, with a magnitude scaling to 1.44-3.97 km in nature, and a transient local topographic high located between the forearc depression and the trench. These topographic features rapidly develop during the slab sinking phase and gradually decrease during the slab rollback phase. We propose that these topographic transient features predominantly result from the variation of the vertical component of the trench suction along the subduction zone interface, which is minimum near the trench and maximum near the tip of the mantle wedge and is caused by the gradual slab steepening during the initial transient slab sinking phase. The downward mantle flow in the nose of the mantle wedge plays a minor role in the formation of the forearc subsidence. Our findings provide a new mechanism for the formation of forearc topographic subsidence, which has been commonly observed at natural subduction zones.

A migratory mantle plume on Venus: Implications for Earth?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chapman, M.G.; Kirk, R.L.

1996-01-01

A spatially fixed or at least internally rigid hotspot reference frame has been assumed for determining relative plate motions on Earth. Recent 1:5,000,000 scale mapping of Venus, a planet without terrestrial-style plate tectonics and ocean cover, reveals a systematic age and dimensional progression of corona-like arachnoids occurring in an uncinate chain. The nonrandom associations between arachnoids indicate they likely formed from a deep-seated mantle plume in a manner similar to terrestrial hotspot features. However, absence of expected convergent "plate" margin deformation suggests that the arachnoids are the surface expression of a migratory mantle plume beneath a stationary surface. If mantle plumes are not stationary on Venus, what if any are the implications for Earth?

Upper Mantle Seismic Anisotropy Beneath West Antarctica from Shear Wave Splitting Analysis of POLENET/ANET Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Accardo, N.; Wiens, D. A.; Hernandez, S.; Aster, R. C.; Nyblade, A.; Anandakrishnan, S.; Huerta, A. D.; Wilson, T. J.

2011-12-01

We constrain azimuthal anisotropy in the Antarctic upper mantle using shear wave splitting parameters obtained from teleseismic SKS, SKKS, and PKS phases recorded at 30 broad-band seismometers deployed in West Antarctica, and the Transantarctic Mountains as a part of POLENET/ANET. The first seismometers were deployed in late 2007 and additional seismometers were deployed in 2008 and 2009. The seismometers generally operate year-round using solar power, insulated boxes, and either rechargeable AGM or primary lithium batteries. We used an eigenvalue technique to linearize the rotated and shifted shear wave particle motions and determine the best splitting parameters. Robust windows around the individual phases were chosen using the Teanby cluster-analysis algorithm. We visually inspected all results and assigned a quality rating based on factors including signal-to-noise ratios, particle motions, and error contours. The best results for each station were then stacked to get an average splitting direction and delay time. The delay times range from 0.33 to 1.33 s, but generally average about 1 s. We conclude that the splitting results from anisotropy in the upper mantle, since the large splitting times cannot be accumulated in the relatively thin crust (20-30 km) of the region. Overall, fast directions in West Antarctica are at large angles to the direction of Antarctic absolute plate motion in either hotspot or no-net rotation frameworks, showing that the anisotropic fabric does not result from shear associated with the motion of Antarctica over the mantle. The West Antarctic fast directions are also much different than those found in East Antarctica by previous studies. We suggest that the East Antarctic splitting results from anisotropy frozen into the cold cratonic continental lithosphere, whereas West Antarctic splitting is related to Cenozoic tectonism. Stations within the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS), a region of Cenozoic extension, show fast directions subparallel to the inferred WARS extension direction. Stations located in the Ellsworth-Whitmore Mountains (EWM) show fast directions parallel to those found within WARS. Furthermore, results from WARS and from EWM all show relatively large splitting times of 0.6 - 1.33 s. These results suggest upper mantle anisotropy that results from mantle flow and deformation related to the extensional deformation of the region. Two stations were installed in the Pensacola Mountains which are located grid-north of the EWM. The results from this region deviate from the dominant fast orientation seen in WARS but appear to be approximately perpendicular to the strike of the mountain range. Stations in Marie Byrd Land (MBL) show inconsistent fast directions and a wide range of delay times (0.3 - 0.9 s), perhaps as a result of complex mantle fabric related to a possible MBL hotspot.

Plate tectonics and planetary habitability: current status and future challenges.

PubMed

Korenaga, Jun

2012-07-01

Plate tectonics is one of the major factors affecting the potential habitability of a terrestrial planet. The physics of plate tectonics is, however, still far from being complete, leading to considerable uncertainty when discussing planetary habitability. Here, I summarize recent developments on the evolution of plate tectonics on Earth, which suggest a radically new view on Earth dynamics: convection in the mantle has been speeding up despite its secular cooling, and the operation of plate tectonics has been facilitated throughout Earth's history by the gradual subduction of water into an initially dry mantle. The role of plate tectonics in planetary habitability through its influence on atmospheric evolution is still difficult to quantify, and, to this end, it will be vital to better understand a coupled core-mantle-atmosphere system in the context of solar system evolution. © 2012 New York Academy of Sciences.

Interaction of a mantle plume and a segmented mid-ocean ridge: Results from numerical modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgen, Jennifer E.

2014-04-01

Previous investigations have proposed that changes in lithospheric thickness across a transform fault, due to the juxtaposition of seafloor of different ages, can impede lateral dispersion of an on-ridge mantle plume. The application of this “transform damming” mechanism has been considered for several plume-ridge systems, including the Reunion hotspot and the Central Indian Ridge, the Amsterdam-St. Paul hotspot and the Southeast Indian Ridge, the Cobb hotspot and the Juan de Fuca Ridge, the Iceland hotspot and the Kolbeinsey Ridge, the Afar plume and the ridges of the Gulf of Aden, and the Marion/Crozet hotspot and the Southwest Indian Ridge. This study explores the geodynamics of the transform damming mechanism using a three-dimensional finite element numerical model. The model solves the coupled steady-state equations for conservation of mass, momentum, and energy, including thermal buoyancy and viscosity that is dependent on pressure and temperature. The plume is introduced as a circular thermal anomaly on the bottom boundary of the numerical domain. The center of the plume conduit is located directly beneath a spreading segment, at a distance of 200 km (measured in the along-axis direction) from a transform offset with length 100 km. Half-spreading rate is 0.5 cm/yr. In a series of numerical experiments, the buoyancy flux of the modeled plume is progressively increased to investigate the effects on the temperature and velocity structure of the upper mantle in the vicinity of the transform. Unlike earlier studies, which suggest that a transform always acts to decrease the along-axis extent of plume signature, these models imply that the effect of a transform on plume dispersion may be complex. Under certain ranges of plume flux modeled in this study, the region of the upper mantle undergoing along-axis flow directed away from the plume could be enhanced by the three-dimensional velocity and temperature structure associated with ridge-transform-ridge geometry. It is suggested that, for a setting where a plume-ridge system has one or more transforms, a location-specific model with appropriate plate boundary geometry be used to assess the importance of ridge offsets on upper mantle geodynamics

Rayleigh and S wave tomography constraints on subduction termination and lithospheric foundering in central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jiang, Chengxin; Schmandt, Brandon; Hansen, Steven M.; Dougherty, Sara L.; Clayton, Robert W.; Farrell, Jamie; Lin, Fan-Chi

2018-01-01

The crust and upper mantle structure of central California have been modified by subduction termination, growth of the San Andreas plate boundary fault system, and small-scale upper mantle convection since the early Miocene. Here we investigate the contributions of these processes to the creation of the Isabella Anomaly, which is a high seismic velocity volume in the upper mantle. There are two types of hypotheses for its origin. One is that it is the foundered mafic lower crust and mantle lithosphere of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith. The alternative suggests that it is a fossil slab connected to the Monterey microplate. A dense broadband seismic transect was deployed from the coast to the western Sierra Nevada to fill in the least sampled areas above the Isabella Anomaly, and regional-scale Rayleigh and S wave tomography are used to evaluate the two hypotheses. New shear velocity (Vs) tomography images a high-velocity anomaly beneath coastal California that is sub-horizontal at depths of ∼40–80 km. East of the San Andreas Fault a continuous extension of the high-velocity anomaly dips east and is located beneath the Sierra Nevada at ∼150–200 km depth. The western position of the Isabella Anomaly in the uppermost mantle is inconsistent with earlier interpretations that the Isabella Anomaly is connected to actively foundering foothills lower crust. Based on the new Vs images, we interpret that the Isabella Anomaly is not the dense destabilized root of the Sierra Nevada, but rather a remnant of Miocene subduction termination that is translating north beneath the central San Andreas Fault. Our results support the occurrence of localized lithospheric foundering beneath the high elevation eastern Sierra Nevada, where we find a lower crustal low Vs layer consistent with a small amount of partial melt. The high elevations relative to crust thickness and lower crustal low Vs zone are consistent with geological inferences that lithospheric foundering drove uplift and a ∼3–4 Ma pulse of basaltic magmatism.

Rayleigh and S wave tomography constraints on subduction termination and lithospheric foundering in central California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Chengxin; Schmandt, Brandon; Hansen, Steven M.; Dougherty, Sara L.; Clayton, Robert W.; Farrell, Jamie; Lin, Fan-Chi

2018-04-01

The crust and upper mantle structure of central California have been modified by subduction termination, growth of the San Andreas plate boundary fault system, and small-scale upper mantle convection since the early Miocene. Here we investigate the contributions of these processes to the creation of the Isabella Anomaly, which is a high seismic velocity volume in the upper mantle. There are two types of hypotheses for its origin. One is that it is the foundered mafic lower crust and mantle lithosphere of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith. The alternative suggests that it is a fossil slab connected to the Monterey microplate. A dense broadband seismic transect was deployed from the coast to the western Sierra Nevada to fill in the least sampled areas above the Isabella Anomaly, and regional-scale Rayleigh and S wave tomography are used to evaluate the two hypotheses. New shear velocity (Vs) tomography images a high-velocity anomaly beneath coastal California that is sub-horizontal at depths of ∼40-80 km. East of the San Andreas Fault a continuous extension of the high-velocity anomaly dips east and is located beneath the Sierra Nevada at ∼150-200 km depth. The western position of the Isabella Anomaly in the uppermost mantle is inconsistent with earlier interpretations that the Isabella Anomaly is connected to actively foundering foothills lower crust. Based on the new Vs images, we interpret that the Isabella Anomaly is not the dense destabilized root of the Sierra Nevada, but rather a remnant of Miocene subduction termination that is translating north beneath the central San Andreas Fault. Our results support the occurrence of localized lithospheric foundering beneath the high elevation eastern Sierra Nevada, where we find a lower crustal low Vs layer consistent with a small amount of partial melt. The high elevations relative to crust thickness and lower crustal low Vs zone are consistent with geological inferences that lithospheric foundering drove uplift and a ∼3-4 Ma pulse of basaltic magmatism.

Anisotropy and tectonic deformation in the Ordos basin revealed by an active source seismic experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jun, W. S.; Wang, F.; Xu, T.

2016-12-01

With the purpose of exploring the Ordos block, western North China Craton, two controlled-source deep seismic transects were conducted across this region. The first one is a 650 km long profile oriented N-S; the second is 1530 km and is oriented E-W. The upper mantle P wave-velocity derived from these profiles features a 0.25 km/s difference between them. Being the E-W higher that the N-S. The results obtained from both seismic profiles indicate that the upper mantle beneath the Ordos block presents seismic anisotropy in terms of discrepancy in Pn-wave velocity, such as the apparent seismic velocities observed along the two reference profiles demonstrate. This result is consistent with SKS-wave splitting measurements in the interior of the Ordos block. This indicates that the compressive stress state in Ordos during the Mesozoic became an extensional stress state in the Cenozoic. The high-velocity anomaly in the uppermost mantle under the west-east profile suggests that the lithospheric mantle is still not water-rich. Unlike what happened in the NCC to east of the Taihang Mountains, where the lithosphere experienced its thinning and destruction since the Mesozoic, the lithosphere in the interior of Ordos has suffered less deformation and remained tectonically stable. Keywords: wide-angle seismic profiling, Pn phase, high-velocity anomaly, upper mantle anisotropy, Ordos block, North China Craton. ReferencesChen L., 2009. Lithospheric structure variations between the eastern and central North China Craton from S- and P-receiver function migration. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 173, 216-227. Gao S., Rudnick R.L., Xu W.L., et al., 2008. Recycling deep cratonic lithosphere and generation of intraplate magmatism in the North China Craton. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 270, 41-53. Xu T., Zhang Z.J., Gao E.G., et al., 2010. Segmentally iterative ray tracing in complex 2D and 3D heterogeneous block models. Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 100, 841-850. Zhu R.X., Zheng T.Y., 2009. Destruction geodynamics of the North China Craton and its Paleoproterozoic plate tectonics. Chinese Sci. Bull. 54(14), 1950-1961 (in Chinese).

Linking plate reconstructions with deforming lithosphere to geodynamic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, R. D.; Gurnis, M.; Flament, N.; Seton, M.; Spasojevic, S.; Williams, S.; Zahirovic, S.

2011-12-01

While global computational models are rapidly advancing in terms of their capabilities, there is an increasing need for assimilating observations into these models and/or ground-truthing model outputs. The open-source and platform independent GPlates software fills this gap. It was originally conceived as a tool to interactively visualize and manipulate classical rigid plate reconstructions and represent them as time-dependent topological networks of editable plate boundaries. The user can export time-dependent plate velocity meshes that can be used either to define initial surface boundary conditions for geodynamic models or alternatively impose plate motions throughout a geodynamic model run. However, tectonic plates are not rigid, and neglecting plate deformation, especially that of the edges of overriding plates, can result in significant misplacing of plate boundaries through time. A new, substantially re-engineered version of GPlates is now being developed that allows an embedding of deforming plates into topological plate boundary networks. We use geophysical and geological data to define the limit between rigid and deforming areas, and the deformation history of non-rigid blocks. The velocity field predicted by these reconstructions can then be used as a time-dependent surface boundary condition in regional or global 3-D geodynamic models, or alternatively as an initial boundary condition for a particular plate configuration at a given time. For time-dependent models with imposed plate motions (e.g. using CitcomS) we incorporate the continental lithosphere by embedding compositionally distinct crust and continental lithosphere within the thermal lithosphere. We define three isostatic columns of different thickness and buoyancy based on the tectonothermal age of the continents: Archean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. In the fourth isostatic column, the oceans, the thickness of the thermal lithosphere is assimilated using a half-space cooling model. We also define the thickness of the thermal lithosphere for different continental types, with the exception of the deforming areas that are fully dynamic. Finally, we introduce a "slab assimilation" method in which the thermal structure of the slab, derived analytically, is progressively assimilated into the upper mantle through time. This method not only improves the continuity of slabs in forward models with imposed plate motions, but it also allows us to model flat slab segments that are particularly relevant for understanding dynamic surface topography. When it comes to post-processing and visualisation, GPlates allows the user to import time-dependent model output image stacks to visualise mantle properties (e.g. temperature) at a given depth through time, with plate boundaries and other data attached to plates overlain. This approach provides an avenue to simultaneously investigate the contributions of lithospheric deformation and mantle flow to surface topography. Currently GPlates is being used in conjunction with the codes CitcomS, Terra, BEMEarth and the adaptive mesh refinement code Rhea. A GPlates python plugin infrastructure makes it easy to extend interoperability with other geodynamic modelling codes.

Looking at the roots of the highest mountains: the lithospheric structure of the Himalaya-Tibet and the Zagros orogens. Results from a geophysical-petrological study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tunini, L.; Jimenez-Munt, I.; Fernandez, M.; Villasenor, A.; Afonso, J. C.; Verges, J.

2013-12-01

The Himalaya-Tibet and Zagros orogens are the two most prominent mountain belts built by continental collision. They are part of a huge belt of Cenozoic age which runs from the Pyrenees to Burma. In its central sector, the collision with the southern margin of the Eurasian plate has resulted not only in the building of mountain ranges over the north-eastern edges of the Arabian and Indian plates but also in widespread deformation 1000-3000 km from the suture zones. Zagros and Himalaya-Tibet orogens share many geodynamic processes but at different rates, amount of convergence and stage of development. The study of their present-day structures provides new insights into their quasi coeval collisional event pointing out differences and similarities in the mountain building processes. We present 2D crust and upper mantle cross-sections down to 400 km depth, along four SW-NE trending profiles. Two profiles cross the Zagros Mountains, running from the Mesopotamian Foreland Basin up to the Alborz and Central Iran. Two other profiles run through the Himalaya-Tibetan orogen: the western transect crosses the western Himalaya, Tarim Basin, Tian Shan Mountains and Junggar Basin; the eastern transect runs from the Indian shield to the Beishan Basin, crossing the eastern Himalaya, Tibetan Plateau, Qaidam Basin and Qilian Mountains. We apply the LitMod-2D code which integrates potential fields (gravity and geoid), isostasy (elevation) and thermal (heat flow and temperature distribution) equations, and mantle petrology. The resulting crust and upper mantle structure is constrained by available data on elevation, Bouguer anomaly, geoid height, surface heat flow and seismic data including P- and S-wave tomography models. Our results show distinct deformation patterns between the crust and the lithospheric mantle beneath the Zagros and Himalaya-Tibetan orogens, indicating a strong strain partitioning in both areas. At crustal level, we found a thickening beneath the Zagros and the Alborz ranges, more pronounced in the southern profile. At sub-crustal level, a lithospheric mantle thinning affects the whole area beneath the Zagros range extending to the north through the zone below the Alborz and the central Iran. In the Himalaya-Tibet region our results show stronger strain partitioning in the horizontal (east-west) direction than in the vertical (depth) direction. At crustal level, the Tibetan Plateau extends more than 1000 km in the eastern profile, whereas it is squeezed between the Himalayan Mountains and the Tarim Basin along the western profile (~600 km). At sub-crustal level, the lithospheric mantle is more homogeneous in thickness and mineral composition along the western profile than the eastern one. Finally, our results on mineral composition show that both collisional regions are characterised by a predominant lherzolitic lithospheric mantle, whereas we observe compositional variations around the suture zones, probably related to subduction and mantle delamination processes.

The many impacts of building mountain belts on plate tectonics and mantle flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamato, Philippe; Husson, Laurent

2015-04-01

During the Cenozoic, the number of orogens on Earth increased. This observation readily indicates that in the same time, compression in the lithosphere became gradually more and more important. Such an increase of stresses in the lithosphere can impact on plate tectonics and mantle dynamics. We show that mountain belts at plate boundaries increasingly obstruct plate tectonics, slowing down and reorienting their motions. In turn, this changes the dynamic and kinematic surface conditions of the underlying flowing mantle. Ultimately, this modifies the pattern of mantle flow. This forcing could explain many first order features of Cenozoic plate tectonics and mantle flow. Among these, one can cite the compression of passive margins, the important variations in the rates of spreading at oceanic ridges, or the initiation of subduction, the onset of obduction, for the lithosphere. In the mantle, such change in boundary condition redesigns the pattern of mantle flow and, consequently, the oceanic lithosphere cooling. In order to test this hypothesis we first present thermo-mechanical numerical models of mantle convection above which a lithosphere rests. Our results show that when collision occurs, the mantle flow is highly modified, which leads to (i) increasing shear stresses below the lithosphere and (ii) to a modification of the convection style. In turn, the transition between a 'free' convection (mobile lid) and an 'upset' convection (stagnant -or sluggish- lid) highly impacts the dynamics of the lithosphere at the surface of the Earth. Thereby, on the basis of these models and a variety of real examples, we show that on the other side of a collision zone, passive margins become squeezed and can undergo compression, which may ultimately evolve into subduction or obduction. We also show that much further, due to the blocking of the lithosphere, spreading rates decrease at the ridge, a fact that may explain a variety of features such as the low magmatism of ultraslow spreading ridges or the departure of slow spreading ridges from the half-space cooling model.

Lithosphere/Asthenosphere Boundary depth inferred from global surface wave tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgos, G.; Montagner, J.-P.; Beucler, E.; Trampert, J.; Ritzwoller, M. H.; Capdeville, Y.; Shapiro, N. M.

2012-04-01

The coupling between the rigid lithosphere and the weaker underlying asthenosphere is a key point of Plate Tectonics and Mantle dynamics. The characterization of the properties of the Lithosphere/Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB) is essential for understanding the Upper Mantle. Recent studies, using receiver functions for example, provide local constraints. In this study a global view by surface wave tomography is given. A large amount of data from different groups (Harvard, Boulder, Utrecht, Paris) has been collected. There are more than 100,000 phase and group velocities measurements on the fundamental mode of Rayleigh and Love waves. This global scale dataset in the period range 15s-200s, enables us to investigate the LAB with an approximative lateral resolution of 500km. The regionalization of the path-averaged velocities is performed to extract isotropic and azimuthally anisotropic terms of local velocities. We derive our own crustal model (taking account of topography-bathymetry, sediments and crustal thickness) by a MonteCarlo inversion with the shorter periods of the data. A forward estimation of the LAB properties on a global map is provided. We choose a low parametrization (isotropic Vs layers) of the Upper Mantle adjusted with the larger periods of the data by MonteCarlo inversion. Then we present a new tomographic model obtained by inverting the larger periods of phase velocities in the least square sense, including isotropic Vs velocity, radial anisotropy and azimuthal anisotropy. Different proxies for the LAB are builded from this 3D Upper Mantle model, such as the strongest negative Sv velocity gradient or the variation of azimuthal anisotropy fast axis. LAB determination seems consistent in oceanic regions in all of the proxies, presenting a good correlation with ocean floor ages. While the estimated depths beneath continents still unclear depending on the type of parametrizations compared to receiver functions or heat flux studies.

Proxies of Lithosphere/Asthenosphere Boundary from global surface wave tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgos, G.; Montagner, J.; Beucler, E.; Trampert, J.; Ritzwoller, M. H.; Capdeville, Y.; Shapiro, N. M.

2011-12-01

The coupling between rigid lithosphere and the weaker underlying asthenosphere is a key point of Plate Tectonics and Mantle dynamics. The characterization of the properties of the Lithosphere/Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB) is essential for understanding the Upper Mantle. Recent studies, using receiver functions for example, provide local constraints. In this study a global view by surface wave tomography is given. A large amount of data from different groups (Harvard, Boulder, Utrecht, Paris) has been collected. There are more than 100,000 phase and group velocities measurements on the fundamental mode of Rayleigh and Love waves. This global scale dataset in the period range 15s-200s, enables us to investigate the LAB with an approximative lateral resolution of 500km. The regionalization of the path-averaged velocities is performed to extract isotropic and azimuthally anisotropic terms of local velocities. We derive our own crustal model (taking account of topography-bathymetry, sediments and crustal thickness) by a MonteCarlo inversion with the shorter periods of the data. A forward estimation of the LAB properties on a global map is provided. We choose a low parametrization (isotropic Vs layers) of the Upper Mantle ajusted with the larger periods of the data by MonteCarlo inversion. Then we present a new tomographic model obtained by inverting the larger periods of phase velocities in the least square sense, including isotropic Vs velocity, radial anisotropy and azimuthal anisotropy. Different proxies for the LAB are builded from this 3D Upper Mantle model, such as the strongest negative Sv velocity gradient or the variation of azimuthal anisotropy fast axis. LAB determination seems consistent in oceanic regions in all of the proxies, presenting a good correlation with ocean floor ages. While the estimated depths beneath continents still unclear depending on the type of parametrizations compared to receiver functions or heat flux studies.

On the potential asthenospheric linkage between Apenninic slab rollback and Alpine topographic uplift: insights from P wave tomography and seismic anisotropy analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malusa', Marco Giovanni; Salimbeni, Simone; Zhao, Liang; Guillot, Stéphane; Pondrelli, Silvia; Margheriti, Lucia; Paul, Anne; Solarino, Stefano; Aubert, Coralie; Dumont, Thierry; Schwartz, Stéphane; Wang, Qingchen; Xu, Xiaobing; Zheng, Tianyu; Zhu, Rixiang

2017-04-01

The role of surface and deep-seated processes in controlling the topography of complex plate-boundary areas is a highly debated issue. In the Western Alps, which include the highest summits in Europe, factors controlling topographic uplift still remain poorly understood. In the absence of active convergence, recent works have suggested a potential linkage between slab breakoff and fast uplift, but this hypothesis is ruled out by the down-dip continuity of the Alpine slab documented by recent tomographic images of the upper mantle beneath the Alpine region (Zhao et al. 2016). In order to shed light on this issue, we use a densely spaced array of temporary broadband seismic stations and previously published observations to analyze the seismic anisotropy pattern along the transition zone between the Alps and the Apennines, within the framework of the upper mantle structure unveiled by P wave tomography. Our results show a continuous trend of anisotropy fast axes near-parallel to the western alpine arc, possibly due to an asthenospheric counterflow triggered by the eastward retreat of the Apenninic slab. This trend is located in correspondence of a low velocity anomaly in the European upper mantle, and beneath the Western Alps region characterized by the highest uplift rates, which may suggest a potential impact of mantle dynamics on Alpine topography. We propose that the progressive rollback of the Apenninic slab induced a suction effect and an asthenospheric counterflow at the rear of the unbroken Alpine slab and around its southern tip, as well as an asthenospheric upwelling, mirrored by low P wave velocities, which may have favored the topographic uplift of the Alpine belt from the Mt Blanc to the Ligurian coast. Zhao L. et al., 2016. Continuity of the Alpine slab unraveled by high-resolution P wave tomography. J. Geophys. Res., doi:10.1002/2016JB013310.

Modeling the role of back-arc spreading in controlling 3-D circulation and temperature patterns in subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kincaid, C.

2005-12-01

Subduction of oceanic lithosphere provides a dominant driving force for mantle dynamics and plate tectonics, and strongly modulates the thermal evolution of the mantle. Magma generation in arc environments is related to slab temperatures, slab dehydration/wedge hydration processes and circulation patterns in the mantle wedge. A series of laboratory experiments is used to model three-dimensional aspects of flow in subduction zones, and the consequent temperature variations in the slab and overlying mantle wedge. The experiments utilize a tank of glucose syrup to simulate the mantle and a Phenolic plate to represent subducting oceanic lithosphere. Different modes of plate sinking are produced using hydraulic pistons. The effects of longitudinal, rollback and slab-steepening components of slab motions are considered, along with different thicknesses of the over-riding lithosphere. Models look specifically at how distinct modes of back-arc spreading alter subduction zone temperatures and flow in the mantle wedge. Results show remarkably different temperature and circulation patterns when spreading is produced by rollback of the trench-slab-arc relative to a stationary overriding back-arc plate versus spreading due to motion of the overriding plate away from a fixed trench location. For rollback-induced spreading, flow trajectories in the wedge are shallow (e.g., limited upwelling), both the sub-arc and back-arc regions are supplied by material flowing around the receding slab. Flow lines in the sub-arc wedge are strongly trench-parallel. In these cases, strong lateral variations in slab surface temperature (SST) are recorded (hot at plate center, cool at plate edge). When the trench is fixed in space and spreading is produced by motion of the overriding plate, strong vertical flow velocities are recorded in the wedge, both the shallow sub-arc and back-arc regions are supplied by flow from under the overriding plate producing strong vertical shear. In these cases SSTs are nearly uniform across the plate. Results have implications for geochemical and seismic models of 3-D flow in subduction zones influenced by back-arc spreading, such as the Marianas.

Seismic Imaging of Mantle Plumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nataf, Henri-Claude

The mantle plume hypothesis was proposed thirty years ago by Jason Morgan to explain hotspot volcanoes such as Hawaii. A thermal diapir (or plume) rises from the thermal boundary layer at the base of the mantle and produces a chain of volcanoes as a plate moves on top of it. The idea is very attractive, but direct evidence for actual plumes is weak, and many questions remain unanswered. With the great improvement of seismic imagery in the past ten years, new prospects have arisen. Mantle plumes are expected to be rather narrow, and their detection by seismic techniques requires specific developments as well as dedicated field experiments. Regional travel-time tomography has provided good evidence for plumes in the upper mantle beneath a few hotspots (Yellowstone, Massif Central, Iceland). Beneath Hawaii and Iceland, the plume can be detected in the transition zone because it deflects the seismic discontinuities at 410 and 660 km depths. In the lower mantle, plumes are very difficult to detect, so specific methods have been worked out for this purpose. There are hints of a plume beneath the weak Bowie hotspot, as well as intriguing observations for Hawaii. Beneath Iceland, high-resolution tomography has just revealed a wide and meandering plume-like structure extending from the core-mantle boundary up to the surface. Among the many phenomena that seem to take place in the lowermost mantle (or D''), there are also signs there of the presence of plumes. In this article I review the main results obtained so far from these studies and discuss their implications for plume dynamics. Seismic imaging of mantle plumes is still in its infancy but should soon become a turbulent teenager.

Magnesium Isotopic Compositions of Continental Basalts From Various Tectonic Settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, W.; Li, S.; Tian, H.; Ke, S.

2016-12-01

Recycled sedimentary carbonate through subduction is the main light Mg isotopic reservoir in Earth's deep interior, thus Mg isotopic variation of mantle-derived melts provides a fresh perspective on investigating deep carbon cycling. Here we investigate Mg isotopic compositions of continental basalts from various tectonic settings: (1) The Cenozoic basalts from eastern China, coinciding with the stagnant Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone revealed by seismic tomography; (2) The Cenozoic basalts from Tengchong area, southwestern China, which comprises a crucial part of the collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian plates; (3) The Permian basalts from Emeishan large igneous province, related to a mantle plume. The Cenozoic basalts from both eastern China and Tengchong area exhibit light Mg isotopic compositions (δ26Mg = -0.60 to -0.30‰ and -0.51 to -0.33‰), suggesting recycled sedimentary carbonates in their mantle sources. This is supported by their low Fe/Mn, high CaO/Al2O3, low Hf/Hf* and low Ti/Ti* ratios, which are typical features of carbonated peridotite-derived melt. The Tengchong basalts also show high 87Sr/86Sr, high radiogenic Pb and upper crustal-like trace element pattern, indicating contribution of recycled continental crustal materials. By contrast, all Emeishan basalts display a mantle-like Mg isotopic composition, with δ26Mg ranging from -0.35 to -0.19‰. Since the Emeishan basalts derived from a mantle plume, their mantle-like Mg isotopic composition may indicate limited sedimentary carbonated recycled into the lower mantle. This is consistent with a recent experimental study which concluded that direct recycling of carbon into the lower mantle may have been highly restricted throughout most of the Earth's history.

Wet plume atop of the flattening slab: Insight into intraplate volcanism in East Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Lijuan

2017-08-01

Geophysical observations imply the intraplate volcanism in East Asia is related to dehydration of slab stagnating in the transition zone. To better understand the dynamics of such process, a thermochemical mantle convection model is constructed to simulate numerically the thermal evolution of slab and the transportation of water in the process of slab downgoing, flattening and stagnation. Equation of water transfer is included, and water effects on density and viscosity are considered. Model results indicate the warming of slab by surrounding mantle is rather slow. Water could be successfully dragged into the transition zone if the reference viscosity of the hydrous layer (with initial water of 2 wt%) is higher than 1017 Pa s and that of mantle is 1021 Pa s. Wet plumes could then originate in the flat-lying part of the slab, relatively far from the trench. Generally, the viscosity of the hydrous layer governs the initiation of wet plume, whereas the viscosity of the overlying mantle wedge controls the activity of the ascending wet plumes - they are more active in the weaker wedge. The complex fluid flow superposed by corner flow and free thermal convection influences greatly the water transport pattern in the upper mantle. Modeling results together with previous modeling infer three stages of water circulation in the big mantle wedge: 1) water is brought into the mantle transition zone by downward subducting slab under some specific thermo-rheological conditions, otherwise water is released at shallow depth near wedge tip; 2) wet plume generates from surface of the flattening slab warmed by surrounding mantle, and 3) water spreads over the big mantle wedge. Wet plume from the flattening Pacific Plate arrives at the lithospheric base and induces melting, which can explain the intraplate Cenozoic volcanoes in East Asia.

Episodic kinematics in continental rifts modulated by changes in mantle melt fraction.

PubMed

Lamb, Simon; Moore, James D P; Smith, Euan; Stern, Tim

2017-07-05

Oceanic crust is created by the extraction of molten rock from underlying mantle at the seafloor 'spreading centres' found between diverging tectonic plates. Modelling studies have suggested that mantle melting can occur through decompression as the mantle flows upwards beneath spreading centres, but direct observation of this process is difficult beneath the oceans. Continental rifts, however-which are also associated with mantle melt production-are amenable to detailed measurements of their short-term kinematics using geodetic techniques. Here we show that such data can provide evidence for an upwelling mantle flow, as well as information on the dimensions and timescale of mantle melting. For North Island, New Zealand, around ten years of campaign and continuous GPS measurements in the continental rift system known as the Taupo volcanic zone reveal that it is extending at a rate of 6-15 millimetres per year. However, a roughly 70-kilometre-long segment of the rift axis is associated with strong horizontal contraction and rapid subsidence, and is flanked by regions of extension and uplift. These features fit a simple model that involves flexure of an elastic upper crust, which is pulled downwards or pushed upwards along the rift axis by a driving force located at a depth greater than 15 kilometres. We propose that flexure is caused by melt-induced episodic changes in the vertical flow forces that are generated by upwelling mantle beneath the rift axis, triggering a transient lower-crustal flow. A drop in the melt fraction owing to melt extraction raises the mantle flow viscosity and drives subsidence, whereas melt accumulation reduces viscosity and allows uplift-processes that are also likely to occur in oceanic spreading centres.

Geometry of the Arabia-Somalia Plate Boundary into Afar: Preliminary Results from the Seismic Profile Across the Asal Rift (Djibouti)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vergne, J.; Doubre, C.; Mohamed, K.; Tiberi, C.; Leroy, S.; Maggi, A.

2010-12-01

In the Afar Depression, the Asal-Ghoubbet Rift in Djibouti is a young segment on land at the propagating tip of the Aden Ridge. This segment represents an ideal laboratory to observe the mechanisms of extension and the structural evolutions involved, from the continental break-up to the first stage of oceanic spreading. However, we lack first order information about the crustal and upper mantle structure in this region, which for example prevent detailed numerical modeling of the deformations observed at the surface from GPS or InSAR. Moreover the current permanent network is not well suited to precisely constrain the ratio of seismic/aseismic deformation and to characterize the active deformation and the rifting dynamics. Since November 2009 we have maintained a temporary network of 25 seismic stations deployed along a 150 km-long profile. Because we expect rapid variations of the lithospheric structure across the 10 km-wide central part of the rift, we gradually decreased the inter-stations spacing to less than 1 km in the middle section of the profile. In order to obtain a continuous image of the plate boundary, from the topographic surface to the upper mantle, several techniques and methods will be applied: P and S wave receiver functions, tomographies based on body waves, surface waves and seismic noise correlation, anisotropy, and finally a gravity-seismic joint inversion. We present some preliminary results deduced from the receiver functions applied to the data acquired during the first months of the experiment. We migrate several sets of receiver functions computed in various frequency bands to resolve both mantle interfaces and fine scale structures within the thin crust in the center of the rift. These first images confirm a rapid variation of the Moho depth on both sides of the rift and a very complex lithospheric structure in the central section with several low velocity zones within the top 50km that might correspond to magma lenses.

Model for the Evolution of an Oceanic Core Complex and its Hydrothermal Vent on the Ultraslow-Spreading Mid Cayman Spreading Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harding, J.; Van Avendonk, H. J.; Hayman, N. W.; Grevemeyer, I.; Peirce, C.

2016-12-01

The Mid Cayman Spreading Center (MCSC) is an ultraslow-spreading center (15 mm yr-1 full rate) along the Caribbean-North American plate boundary. Despite the paradigm that ultraslow-spreading centers are amagmatic and cold, two hydrothermal vent fields have recently been discovered along the MCSC. The Beebe Vent Field is a black smoker in the northern axial deep, and the Von Damm Vent Field (VDVF) is a moderate-temperature, talc precipitating vent found atop an oceanic core complex (OCC). This OCC, "Mt. Dent", is a large (3 km high) massif that formed beneath a detachment fault, which exhumed lower crustal and upper mantle material. The CaySeis Experiment was conducted in April, 2015 in order to collect wide-angle refraction data of the MCSC crust and upper mantle. We modeled the across-axis crustal structure of Mt. Dent as well as the surrounding lithosphere using 2.5D P-wave tomography. Using this tomographic model, along with geochemistry, we propose a model for the formation and evolution of the OCC Mt. Dent and the VDVF. A detachment fault formed in a magma-poor environment due to a pulse of magmatism, producing a large gabbro body that was then exhumed and rotated into the OCC footwall. Once magmatism waned and the gabbroic body cooled, the OCC was faulted and fractured due to plate flexure and increased tectonic extensional stress in the naturally cold and thick lithosphere. These faults provide a permeable and deep network of hydrothermal pathways that mine deep lithospheric heat and expose gabbro and fresh mantle peridotite. This model is consistent with the basalt geochemistry, hydrothermal fluid geochemistry, and the distribution of brittle vs. ductile structures along the detachment shear zone. The VDVF is therefore a product of a pulse of magmatism in an overall melt-poor environment, conditions that may be found at other ultraslow-spreading ridges.

Upper and lower mantle anisotropy inferred from comprehensive SKS and SKKS splitting measurements from India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Sunil K.; Ravi Kumar, M.; Srinagesh, D.

2014-04-01

In this study, we investigate the upper mantle anisotropy beneath India using high quality SKS and SKKS waveforms from 382 teleseismic earthquakes recorded at 119 broadband seismic stations. In addition, we present evidence for anisotropy in the D″ layer beneath southeast Asia using SKS and SKKS splitting discrepancies on the same seismogram. During this exercise, we obtain 200 new splitting measurements from 35 stations recently deployed in the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), central India and northeast India. While the delay times between the fast and slow axes of anisotropy (δt) range from 0.3 to 1.7 s, the fast polarization azimuths (Φ) at a majority of stations in the IGP and central India coincide with the absolute plate motion of India implying shear at the base of the lithosphere as the dominant mechanism for forging anisotropy. However, stations in NE India reveal fast polarization azimuths mainly in the ENE-WSW direction suggestive of lithospheric strain induced by the ongoing Indo-Eurasian collision. Our analysis for D″ anisotropy yielded a total of 100 SKS-SKKS pairs, which can be categorized into those exhibiting (I) null measurements for one phase and significant splitting for the other phase, (II) null measurement for both the phases, (III) significant splitting for both the phases. A pair is considered to be anomalous if the splitting difference between SKS and SKKS is ⩾0.5 s and the individual split time is ⩾0.5 s. Using this criterion, we obtain 12 measurements under category III and 9 under category I that show a null measurement for SKS and large splitting for the SKKS phase. Further, we quantify the strength of the lower mantle anisotropy by correcting the SKKS measurement for the upper mantle anisotropy obtained by the SKS phase on the same seismogram. The SKS delay times are found to be consistently less than SKKS times, suggesting that the SKS phases do not capture the lower mantle anisotropy in comparison to their SKKS counterparts. Seven coherent measurements thus obtained reveal measurable D″ anisotropy, with fast polarization azimuths oriented mainly in the ENE-WSW direction. These results suggest presence of a large region of deformation in the lowermost mantle beneath southeast Asia. A possible model for anisotropy in these regions could be the presence of slab material that pounded upon the core mantle boundary (CMB) and is experiencing large shear deformation, resulting in lattice preferred orientation (LPO) of the lower mantle (Van der Hilst and Kárason, 1999; Long, 2009). The other possibility is the phase transformation from MgSiO3 perovskite to a more stable post-perovskite phase under favorable conditions, which results in LPO of the lower mantle.

Scales of Heterogeneities in the Continental Crust and Upper Mantle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tittgemeyer, M.; Wenzel, F.; Ryberg, T.; Fuchs, K.

1999-09-01

A seismological characterization of crust and upper mantle can refer to large-scale averages of seismic velocities or to fluctuations of elastic parameters. Large is understood here relative to the wavelength used to probe the earth.¶In this paper we try to characterize crust and upper mantle by the fluctuations in media properties rather than by their average velocities. As such it becomes evident that different scales of heterogeneities prevail in different layers of crust and mantle. Although we cannot provide final models and an explanation of why these different scales exist, we believe that scales of inhomogeneities carry significant information regarding the tectonic processes that have affected the lower crust, the lithospheric and the sublithospheric upper mantle.¶We focus on four different types of small-scale inhomogeneities (1) the characteristics of the lower crust, (2) velocity fluctuations in the uppermost mantle, (3) scattering in the lowermost lithosphere and on (4) heterogeneities in the mantle transition zone.

Geometry of the Cocos Plate Under North American Plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Campos, X.

2015-12-01

The Cocos plate subducts under the North American plate with a complex geometry, and previous seismicity studies revealed some of this complexity. However, details of the geometry and the depth that the plate penetrates werelargely unknown. Since 2004, temporary experiments and the expansion of the permanent network of the Servicio Sismológico Nacional (SSN, Mexican National Seismological Service) have improved resolution of the plate geometry and have helped to map its descent into the upper mantle. Going from northwest to southeast, the Cocos plate appears to be fragmenting into north and south segments. The north segment subducts with an angle of ~30º and the south with an angle of ~10-15º. The transition is smooth near the trench and progresses to a tear at depth; this coincides with the projection of the Orozco Fracture Zone to depth. Also, this transition marks the limit of the presence to the south of an ultra slow velocity layer (USL) on top of the slab.South of this transition, the Cocos plate subducts horizontally , underplating the North American plate for a distance of ~140 to ~300 km from the trench. Along this horizontal region, silent slow events (SSE) and tectonic tremor (TT) have been observed. At a distance of 300 km from the trench (beneath central Mexico), the plate dives into the mantle with an angle of 76º to a depth of 500 km. This geometry changes abruptly to the south, marking the eastern limit of the USL. This change seems to be also characterized by a tear on the slab. Finally to the south, the Cocos plate subducts with a constant angle of 26º. This presentation summarizes the work of many contributors including A. Arciniega-Ceballos, M. Brudzinski, E. Cabral-Cano, T. Chen, R. Clayton,F. Cordoba-Montiel,P. Davis,S. Dougherty,F. Green, M. Gurnis, D. V. Helmberger, A. Husker,A. Iglesias, Y. Kim, V. Manea, D. Melgar, M. Rodríguez-Domínguez,S. K. Singh, T.-R. A. Song, C. M. Valdés-González, D. Valencia-Cabrera

Stress Rotation Across the Cascadia Megathrust Requires a Weak Subduction Plate Boundary at Seismogenic Depths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, D.; McGuire, J. J.; Liu, Y.; Hardebeck, J.

2017-12-01

Despite the great effort spent investigating subduction zones, there are very limited constraints on the stress state on the plate boundary fault at the depth of megathrust earthquakes. Here we utilize a focal mechanism dataset, including observations from the Cascadia Initiative ocean bottom seismograph experiment, to constrain the stress orientations. We present a high-resolution inversion for the principal stress orientations both above and below the thrust interface in the southern Cascadia Subduction zone. The distinctive stresses above and below the interface require a significant stress rotation within 10 km of the plate boundary. To quantify the implications of this rotation for the strength of the plate boundary, we designed an inversion that solves for the absolute stress tensors in a three-layer model subject to assumptions about the strength of the subducting mantle. Our approach utilizes the continuous traction boundary conditions between layers as well as the observed principal stress orientations and the relative magnitude ratios in the crust and subducting mantle as constraints. Our results indicate that the shear stress on the plate boundary fault is likely no more than about 50 MPa at 20 km depth. Regardless of the assumed upper mantle strength, we infer a relatively weak megathrust fault with an effective friction coefficient of 0 to 0.2 at seismogenic depths. The central question for the Cascadia subduction zone is why it remains seismically quiet despite the 300+ years of stress accumulation since the last megathrust earthquake. For example, we also document that no thrust earthquakes were recorded by the 2-year Cascadia Initiative expedition down to magnitude 2.0, despite the stress perturbation generated by a nearby Mw5.7 earthquake on Jan 28th, 2015, on the Mendocino Transform fault. To help answer that question, we provide a new and fundamental constraint on the absolute level of stress accumulation to date in the current seismic cycle. Our technique for evaluating the absolute level of stress in subduction zones can be applied at a number of regions around the globe as datasets improve.

New Constraints on Extensional Environments through Analysis of Teleseisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eilon, Zachary Cohen

We apply a variety of teleseismic methodologies to investigate the upper mantle structure in extensional environments. Using a body wave dataset collected from a regional deployment in the Woodlark Rift, Papua New Guinea, we image anisotropic velocity structure of a rapidly extending rift on the cusp of continental breakup. In the process, we develop a technique for azimuthal anisotropy tomography that is generally applicable to regions of relatively simple anisotropic structure. The Cascadia Initiative ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) deployment provides coverage of an entire oceanic plate in unprecedented detail; we measure attenuation and velocities of teleseisms to characterize the temperature and melt structure from ridge to trench. Our study of shear wave splitting reveals strong azimuthal anisotropy within the Woodlark Rift with fairly uniform fast directions parallel to extension. This observation differs markedly from other continental rifts and resembles the pattern seen at mid-ocean ridges. This phenomenon is best explained by extension-related strain causing preferential alignment of mantle olivine. We develop a simple relationship that links total extension to predicted splitting, and show that it explains the apparent dichotomy in rifts' anisotropy. Finite frequency tomography using a dataset of teleseismic P- and S-wave differential travel times reveals the upper mantle velocity structure of the Woodlark Rift. A well developed slow rift axis extending >250 km along strike from the adjacent seafloor spreading centers demonstrates the removal of mantle lithosphere prior to complete crustal breakup. We argue that the majority of this rift is melt-poor, in agreement with geochemical results. A large temperature gradient arises from the juxtaposition of upwelled axial asthenosphere with a previously unidentified cold structure north of the rift that hosts well located intermediate depth earthquakes. Localization of upper mantle extension is apparent from the velocity structure of the rift axis and may result from the presence of water following recent subduction. In order to resolve potential tradeoffs between anisotropy and velocity gradients, we develop a novel technique for the joint inversion of Delta VS and strength of azimuthal anisotropy using teleseismic direct S-waves. This approach exploits the natural geometry of the regional tectonics and the relative consistency of observed splits; the imposed orthogonality of anisotropic structure takes care of the non-commutative nature of multi-layer splitting. Our tomographic models reveal the breakup of continental lithosphere in the anisotropy signal, as pre-existing fabric breaks apart and is replaced by upwelling asthenosphere that simultaneously advects and accrues an extension-related fabric. Accounting for anisotropy removes apparent noise in isotropic travel times and clarifies the velocity model. Taken together, our results paint a detailed and consistent picture of a highly extended continental rift. Finally, we collect a dataset of differential travel time (delta T) and attenuation (Deltat*) measurements of P- and S-waves recorded on OBS stations that span the Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates. We observe large gradients in Delta t*, with values as high as 2.0 s for S-waves at the ridge axes. Such high values of differential attenuation are not compatible with a purely thermal control, nor are they consistent with focusing effects. We assert that melt, grainsize, and water enhance anelastic effects beneath the ridge. The combination of attenuation and velocity measurements enables us to place quantitative constraints on the properties of the upper mantle in the vicinity of the spreading axis.

Generation and Initiation of Plate Tectonics on Terrestrail Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foley, Bradford J.

The question of why plate tectonics occurs on Earth, but not on the other planets of our solar system, is one of the most fundamental issues in geophysics and planetary science. I study this problem using numerical simulations of mantle convection with a damage-grainsize feedback (grain-damage) to constrain the conditions necessary for plate tectonics to occur on a terrestrial planet, and how plate tectonics initiates. In Chapter 2, I use numerical simulations to determine how large a viscosity ratio, between pristine lithosphere and mantle, damage can offset to allow mobile (plate-like) convection. I then use the numerical results to formulate a new scaling law to describe the boundary between stagnant lid and plate-like regimes of mantle convection. I hypothesize that damage must reduce the viscosity of shear zones in the lithosphere to a critical value, equivalent to the underlying mantle viscosity, in order for plate tectonics to occur, and demonstrate that a scaling law based on this hypothesis reproduces the numerical results. For the Earth, damage is efficient in the lithosphere and provides a viable mechanism for the operation of plate tectonics. I apply my theory to super-Earths and map out the transition between plate-like and stagnant lid convection with a "planetary plate-tectonic phase" diagram in planet size-surface temperature space. Both size and surface temperature are important, with plate tectonics being favored for larger, cooler planets. This gives a natural explanation for Earth, Venus, and Mars, and implies that plate tectonics on exoplanets should correlate with size, incident solar radiation, and atmospheric composition. In Chapters 3 and 4 I focus on the initiation of plate tectonics. In Chapter 3, I develop detailed scaling laws describing plate speed and heat flow for mantle convection with grain-damage across a wide parameter range, with the intention of applying these scaling laws to the early Earth in Chapter 4. Convection with grain-damage scales differently than Newtonian convection; whereas the Nusselt number, Nu, typically scales with the Rayleigh number, Ra, to the 1/3 power, for grain-damage this exponent is larger because increasing Ra also enhances damage. In addition, Nu and plate velocity are also functions of the damage to healing ratio, (D/H); increasing D/H increases Nu (or plate speed) because more damage leads to more vigorous convection. In Chapter 4, I demonstrate that subduction can be sustained on the early Earth, that the style of subduction at this time was different than modern day plate tectonics, and that such subduction (or proto-subduction) can initiate rapidly after magma ocean solidification. The scaling laws from Chapter 3 show that, though either higher interior mantle temperatures or higher surface temperatures lead to slower plates, proto-subduction, with plate speeds of at least 1.5 cm/yr, can still be maintained in the Hadean, even if the primordial atmosphere was CO2 rich. Furthermore, when the interior mantle temperature is high (e.g. above ≈ 2000 K), the mode of subduction switches to a "sluggish subduction" style, where downwellings are more drip-like than slab-like and plate boundaries are more diffuse. Numerical models of post-magma ocean mantle convection, and a scaling analysis based on the results of these models, demonstrate that proto-plate tectonics likely initiates within ˜100 Myrs of magma ocean solidification. Combined with the conclusion that proto-subduction could be maintained on the early Earth, my results are consistent with evidence for Hadean subduction from zircon data, and indicate that the subduction inferred from zircons may have been distinct from modern day plate tectonics. After the initiation of proto-subduction, which occurs as a rapid overturn of the whole lithosphere, mobile lid convection takes place as non-plate tectonic "sluggish subduction" As both the mantle interior and climate cool, modern style plate tectonics develops. The rapid, initial subduction event may help hasten the onset of modern style plate tectonics by drawing excess CO 2 out of the atmosphere and cooling the climate.

Subduction Related Crustal and Mantle Deformations and Their Implications for Plate Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okeler, Ahmet

Ocean-continent convergence and subsequent continental collision are responsible for continental growth, mountain building, and severe tectonic events including volcanic eruptions and earthquake activity. They are also key driving forces behind the extensive thermal and compositional heterogeneities at crustal and mantle depths. Active subduction along the Calabrian Arc in southern Italy and the Hellenic Arc are examples of such collisional tectonics. The first part of this thesis examines the subduction related deformations within the crust beneath the southern Apennines. By modeling regional surface wave recordings of the largest temporary deployment in the southern Apennines, a lower-crustal/upper-mantle low-velocity volume extending down to 50 km beneath the mountain chain is identified. The magnitude (˜ 0.4 km/s slower) and anisotropic nature (˜ 10%) of the anomaly suggest the presence of hot and partially molten emplacement that may extend into the upper-crust towards Mt. Vulture, a once active volcano. Since the Apulian basement units are deformed during the compressional and consequent extensional events, our observations favor the "thick-skin" tectonic growth model for the region. In the deeper mantle, active processes are thermodynamically imprinted on the depth and strength of the phase transitions. This thesis examines more than 15000 SS precursors and provides the present-day reflectivity structure and topography associated with these phase transitions. Through case studies I present ample evidence for both slab penetration into the lower mantle (beneath the Hellenic Arc, Kurile Island and South America) and slab stagnation at the bottom of the Mantle Transition Zone (beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea and eastern China). Key findings include (1) thermal anomalies (˜ 200 K) at the base of the MTZ, which represent the deep source for Cenozoic European Rift Zone, Mount Etna and Mount Cameroon volcanism, (2) significant depressions (by 20-40 km) at the bottom of the Mantle Transition Zone beneath subducting slabs, (3) a strong 520-km reflector near subducting slabs, (4) a weak and elevated (15-25 km) 410-km reflector within active deformation zones, (5) strong lower mantle reflectors (˜ 900 km) while slabs penetrate into the lower mantle, and (6) consistency between the topography of a 300-km reflector and an exothermic phase transformation.