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1.
According to the experimental studies on the rheology of two important mantle rocks (eclogite and harzburgite), the rheological properties of the deep subducted oceanic lithosphere are investigated by assuming a simplified harzburgite type slab model with moderate thickness of basaltic layer. When the mantle convergence rate is small or the subducting slab has been trapped in the mantle for an enough long time, the strength profile of the slab is characterized by a strong subducting crustal component lying on a weak subducting upper mantle. However, if the convergence rate is large enough, the subducting slab will be featured only by a rigid cold center. Our study suggests that the detachment of the subducting crust component from the underlying upper mantle is only likely to happen in hot slow subducting slabs, but not the cold fast subducting lithosphere. Rheological properties of the harzburgitic and the eclogitic upper mantle vary with depths. The eclogitic upper mantle is stronger than the peridotitic upper mantle across the upper mantle. Transition zone is the high strength and high viscosity layer in the upper mantle except the lithosphere.  相似文献   

2.
The mantle convection model with phase transitions, non-Newtonian viscosity, and internal heat sources is calculated for two-dimensional (2D) Cartesian geometry. The temperature dependence of viscosity is described by the Arrhenius law with a viscosity step of 50 at the boundary between the upper and lower mantle. The viscosity in the model ranges within 4.5 orders of magnitude. The use of the non-Newtonian rheology enabled us to model the processes of softening in the zone of bending and subduction of the oceanic plates. The yield stress in the model is assumed to be 50 MPa. Based on the obtained model, the structure of the mantle flows and the spatial fields of the stresses σxz and σxx in the Earth’s mantle are studied. The model demonstrates a stepwise migration of the subduction zones and reveals the sharp changes in the stress fields depending on the stage of the slab detachment. In contrast to the previous model (Bobrov and Baranov, 2014), the self-consistent appearance of the rigid moving lithospheric plates on the surface is observed. Here, the intense flows in the upper mantle cause the drift and bending of the top segments of the slabs and the displacement of the plumes. It is established that when the upwelling plume intersects the boundary between the lower and upper mantle, it assumes a characteristic two-level structure: in the upper mantle, the ascending jet of the mantle material gets thinner, whereas its velocity increases. This effect is caused by the jump in the viscosity at the boundary and is enhanced by the effect of the endothermic phase boundary which impedes the penetration of the plume material from the lower mantle to the upper mantle. The values and distribution of the shear stresses σxz and superlithostatic horizontal stresses σxx are calculated. In the model area of the subducting slabs the stresses are 60–80 MPa, which is by about an order of magnitude higher than in the other mantle regions. The character of the stress fields in the transition region of the phase boundaries and viscosity step by the plumes and slabs is analyzed. It is established that the viscosity step and endothermic phase boundary at a depth of 660 km induce heterogeneities in the stress fields at the upper/lower mantle boundary. With the assumed model parameters, the exothermic phase transition at 410 km barely affects the stress fields. The slab regions manifest themselves in the stress fields much stronger than the plume regions. This numerically demonstrates that it is the slabs, not the plumes that are the main drivers of the convection. The plumes partly drive the convection and are partly passively involved into the convection stirred by the sinking slabs.  相似文献   

3.
The effects of plate rheology (strong plate interiors and weak plate margins) and stiff subducted lithosphere (slabs) on the geoid and plate motions, considered jointly, are examined with three-dimensional spherical models of mantle flow. Buoyancy forces are based on the internal distribution of subducted lithosphere estimated from the last 160 Ma of subduction history. While the ratio of the lower mantle/upper mantle viscosity has a strong effect on the long-wavelength geoid, as has been shown before, we find that plate rheology is also significant and that its inclusion yields a better geoid model while simultaneously reproducing basic features of observed plate motion. Slab viscosity can strongly affect the geoid, depending on whether a slab is coupled to the surface. In particular, deep, high-viscosity slabs beneath the northern Pacific that are disconnected from the surface as a result of subduction history produce significant long-wavelength geoid highs that differ from the observation. This suggests that slabs in the lower mantle may be not as stiff as predicted from a simple thermally activated rheology, if the slab model is accurate.  相似文献   

4.
The rheological properties of upper mantle rocks play an important role in controlling the dynamics of the lithosphere and mantle convection. Experimental studies and microstructures in naturally deformed mantle rocks usually imply that olivine controls the upper mantle rheology. Here we show for the first time evidence from the geometry of folded compositional layers in mantle rocks from Western Norway that garnet-rich rocks can have lower solid-state viscosities than olivine-rich rocks. Modeling of melt-free and dry rheology of garnet and olivine confirms that the reversed viscosity contrast between garnet-rich and olivine-rich layers for this folding event can be achieved over a relatively wide range of temperatures at low stress conditions when the fine-grained garnet deforms by diffusion creep while the coarse-grained olivine deforms by dislocation creep and/or diffusion creep.In general, modeling of the fold viscosity contrast shows that in the stable subcontinental lithospheric mantle or convecting mantle such a reversed viscosity contrast can be formed due to diffusion creep processes in fine-grained garnets in a dry mantle environment or at conditions where the garnet-pyroxene layer is partially molten, i.e. close to solidus–liquidus conditions in the upper mantle. Alternatively in cold plate tectonic settings, e.g. in subduction zones, some water-weakening is a feasible mechanism to create the reversed viscosity contrast between garnet and olivine.  相似文献   

5.
New satellite technology to measure changes in the Earth’s gravity field gives new possibilities to detect layers of low viscosity inside the Earth. We used density models for the Earth mantle based on slab history as well as on tomography and fitted the viscosity by comparison of predicted gravity to the new CHAMP gravity model. We first confirm that the fit to the observed geoid is insensitive to the presence of a low viscosity anomaly in the upper mantle as long as the layer is thin ( 200 km) and the viscosity reduction is less than two orders of magnitude. Then we investigated the temporal change in geoid by comparing two stages of slablet sinking based on subduction history or by advection of tomography derived densities and compared the spectra of the geoid change for cases with and without a low viscosity layer, but about equal fit to the observed geoid. The presence of a low viscosity layer causes relaxation at smaller wavelength and thus leads to a spectrum with relatively stronger power in higher modes and a peak around degrees 5 and 6. Comparing the spectra to the expected degree resolution for GRACE data for a 5 years mission duration shows a weak possibility to detect changes in the Earth’s gravity field due to large scale mantle circulation, provided that other causes of geoid changes can be taken into account with sufficient accuracy. A discrimination between the two viscosity cases, however, demands a new generation of gravity field observing satellites.  相似文献   

6.
Although subducting slabs undergo a bending deformation that resists tectonic plate motions, the magnitude of this resistance is not known because of poor constraints on slab strength. However, because slab bending slows the relatively rapid motions of oceanic plates, observed plate motions constrain the importance of bending. We estimated the slab pull force and the bending resistance globally for 207 subduction zone transects using new measurements of the bending curvature determined from slab seismicity. Predicting plate motions using a global mantle flow model, we constrain the viscosity of the bending slab to be at most ~ 300 times more viscous than the upper mantle; stronger slabs are intolerably slowed by the bending deformation. Weaker slabs, however, cannot transmit a pull force sufficient to explain rapid trenchward plate motions unless slabs stretch faster than seismically observed rates of ~ 10− 15 s− 1. The constrained bending viscosity (~ 2 × 1023 Pa s) is larger than previous estimates that yielded similar or larger bending resistance (here ~ 25% of forces). This apparent discrepancy occurs because slabs bend more gently than previously thought, with an average radius of curvature of 390 km that permits subduction of strong slabs. This gentle bending may ultimately permit plate tectonics on Earth.  相似文献   

7.
The D″ layer is a dense and chemically distinct layer at the base of the convecting mantle. Numerical modeling of the entrainment of this layer by mantle convection requires the solution of the advective transport equation without introducing numerical diffusion across sharp material boundaries. We use our improved second moment numerical method to solve the equation. The method conserves the amount of material and the first and second moments of material distribution in each control volume. We first consider two examples of isothermal Rayleigh–Taylor instability to illustrate the performance of our method by comparing our results with those of a number of field, tracer and marker chain methods. We show that the performance of our method in minimizing the numerical diffusion is better than the field methods and comparable to the tracer and marker chain methods. We then study the instability of the dense D″ layer and its interaction with the overlying mantle. A range of density contrast between the D″ layer and the mantle, layer thickness, and the Rayleigh number, Ra, is examined. We show that for higher values of these parameters, the amount of entrainment decreases and the layer remains stable over longer periods of time. For very thick D″ layers and high Ra values, internal convection can take place within the layer.  相似文献   

8.
Joint bulk-sound and shear tomography for Western Pacific subduction zones   总被引：7，自引：0，他引：7  
Detailed regional body wave tomographic inversion of the Western Pacific region has been performed using P and S travel times from common sources and receivers, with a joint inversion in terms of bulk-sound and shear wave-speed variations in the mantle. This technique allows the separation of the influence of bulk and shear moduli, and hence a more direct comparison with mineral physics information. The study region is parameterized with cells of side 0.5° to 2° and 19 layers to a depth of 1500 km, while the rest of the mantle was parameterized with 5×5° cells with 16 layers between the surface and the core–mantle boundary. A simultaneous inversion is made for regional and global structures to minimize the influence of surrounding structures on the regional image. A nested iterative inversion scheme is employed with local linearization and three-dimensional ray tracing through the successive model updates. The results of the regional tomographic inversion reveal the penetration of a subducted slab below the 660 km discontinuity at the Kurile–Kamchatka trench, while flattening of slabs above this depth is observed in the Japan and Izu–Bonin subduction zones on both the bulk-sound and shear wave-speed images. The penetration of a subducted slab down to a depth of at least 1200 km is seen below the southern part of the Bonin trench, Mariana, Philippine, and Java subduction zones. Fast shear wave-speed perturbations associated with the subducted slabs, down to the 410 km transition zone, are larger than the comparable bulk-sound perturbations for all these subduction zones except the Philippines. The bulk-sound signature for the subducted slab is more pronounced than for shear in the Philippines, Talaud, New Guinea, Solomon, and Tonga subduction zones, where penetration of the slab into the middle mantle is observed. Variation in the amplitude ratio between bulk-sound and shear wave-speed anomalies correlates well with the subduction parameters of the descending slab. Slabs younger than 90 Ma at the trench show bulk-sound dominance in the upper mantle, while older slabs have a stronger shear wave-speed signature. Spreading of the fast shear wave-speed zone between 800 and 1000 km is observed in the areas of deep subducted slab penetration, but has no comparable expression in the bulk-sound images. This high-velocity feature may reflect physical or chemical disequilibria introduced to the lower mantle by subducted slabs.  相似文献   

9.
We use geodynamic models with imposed plate velocities to test the forward-modeled history of subduction based on a particular plate motion model against alternative seismic tomography models. We utilize three alternative published reference frames: a hybrid moving hotspot-palaeomagnetic, a hybrid moving hotspot-true polar wander corrected-palaeomagnetic, and a Subduction Reference Frame, a plate model including longitudinal shifts of subduction zones by matching subduction volumes imaged by P-wave tomography, to assess which model best predicts present day mantle structure compared with seismic tomography and volumetrically derived subduction history. Geodynamic modeling suggests paleo-longitudinal corrections applied to the Subduction Reference Frame result in lower mantle slab material beneath North America and East Asia accumulating up to 10–15° westward of that imaged by tomography, whereas the hybrid models develop material offset by 2–9°. However, the Subduction Reference Frame geodynamic model produces slab material beneath the Tethyan Domain coinciding with slab volumes imaged by tomography, whereas the hybrid reference frame models do not, suggesting regional paleo-longitudinal corrections are required to constrain slab locations. We use our models to test inferred slab sinking rates in the mantle focusing on well-constrained regions. We derive a globally averaged slab-sinking rate of 13 ± 3 mm/yr by combining the ages of onset and cessation of subduction from geological data and kinematic reconstructions with images of subducted slabs in the mantle. Our global average slab-sinking rate overlaps with the 15–20 mm/yr rate implied by mantle convection models using a lower mantle viscosity 100 times higher than the upper mantle.  相似文献   

10.
P-wave arrival times of both regional and teleseismic earthquakes were inverted to obtain mantle structures of East Asia.No fast(slab) velocity anomalies was not find beneath the 660-km discontinuity through tomography besides a stagnant slab within the transition zone.Slow P-wave velocity anomalies are present at depths of 100-250 km below the active volcanic arc and East Asia.The western end of the flat stagnant slab is about 1 500 km west to active trench and may also be correlated with prominent surface topographic break in eastern China.We suggested that active mantle convection might be operating within this horizontally expanded "mantle wedge" above both the active subducting slabs and the stagnant flat slabs beneath much of the North China plain.Both the widespread Cenozoic volcanism and associated extensional basins in East Asia could be the manifestation of this vigorous upper mantle convection.Cold or thermal anomalies associated with the stagnant slabs above the 660-km discontinuity have not only caused a broad depression of the boundary due to its negative Clapeyron slope but also effectively shielded the asthenosphere and continental lithosphere above from any possible influence of mantle plumes in the lower mantle.  相似文献   

11.
西南太平洋板块与澳大利亚板块之间的汤加—克马德克俯冲带,是研究地球动力学最重要的区域之一.本文研究根据MIT-P08地震数据,结合板块构造边界、地震活动分布、海岸地形数据等,基于GOCAD软件平台建立三维地震层析成像,对西南太平洋板块的汤加—克马德克俯冲板片进行三维解释.地震层析成像显示汤加—斐济地区地幔至少存在三个"高速"异常体.早期汤加—克马德克俯冲板片穿过地幔转换带,并进入下地幔,最大深度达1600 km.三维构造模型揭示了汤加—克马德克板片在深度600~800 km处存在断折形变,该俯冲板片去褶皱恢复后,测量其俯冲的最大位移达2600 km.汤加—克马德克板片开始快速俯冲的时间至少在30 Ma之前,平均移动速率约为68~104 mm /a.俯冲板片三维构造重建和恢复,可以有效揭示俯冲板片几何学、运动学,为研究深源地震成因、地球深部变化过程和动力学机制提供约束.  相似文献   

12.
A two-dimensional numerical convection model in cartesian geometry is used to study the influence of trench migration on the ability of subducted slabs to penetrate an endothermic phase boundary at 660 km depth. The transient subduction history of an oceanic plate is modelled by imposing plate and trench motion at the surface. The viscosity depends on temperature and depth. A variety of styles of slab behaviour is found, depending predominantly on the trench velocity. When trench retreat is faster than 2–4 cm/a, the descending slab flattens above the phase boundary. At slower rates it penetrates straight into the lower mantle, although flattening in the transition zone may occur later, leading to a complex slab morphology. The slab can buckle, independent of whether it penetrates or not, especially when there is a localised increase in viscosity at the phase boundary. Flattened slabs are only temporarily arrested in the transition zone and sink ultimately into the lower mantle. The results offer a framework for understanding the variety in slab geometry revealed by seismic tomography.  相似文献   

13.
We investigate the stability of hypothetical layered convection in the mantle and the mechanisms how the downwelling structures originating in the lower layer are generated. The stability is studied by means of numerical simulations of the double-diffusive convection in a 2D spherical model with radially dependent viscosity. We demonstrate that the stability of the layering strongly depends not only on the density contrast between the layers but also on the heating mode and the viscosity profile. In the case of the classical Boussinesq model with an internally heated lower layer, the density contrast of about 4% between the compositionally different materials is needed for the layered flow to be maintained. The inclusion of the adiabatic heating/cooling in the model reduces the temperature contrast between the two layers and, thus, enhances the stability of the layering. In this case, a density contrast of 2-3% is sufficient to preserve the layered convection on a time scale of billions of years. The generation of the downwelling structures in the lower layer occurs via mechanical or thermal coupling scenarios. If the viscosity dependent on depth and average temperature at each depth is considered, the low viscosity zone develops at a boundary between the two convecting layers which suppresses mechanical coupling. Then the downwelling structures originating in the lower layer develop beneath upper layer subductions, thus resembling continuous slab-like structures observed by seismic tomography.  相似文献   

14.
Tetsuo  Irifune 《Island Arc》1993,2(2):55-71
Abstract Phase transformations in model mantle compositions and those in subducting slabs have been reviewed to a depth of 800 km on the basis of recent high-pressure experimental data. Seismic velocity and density profiles in these compositions have also been calculated using these and other mineral physics data. The nature of the seismic velocity and density profiles calculated for a pyrolite composition was found to generally agree with those determined by seismic observations (e.g. PREM). The locations of the seismic discontinuities at 400 and 670 km correspond almost exactly to the depths where the transformations of the olivine component to denser phases take place. Moreover, the steep gradients in the seismic velocity/density profiles observed between these depths are qualitatively consistent with those expected from the successive transformations in the complementary pyroxene-garnet component in the pyrolite composition. Further, the calculated seismic velocity and density values agree well with those observed in the upper mantle and mantle transition region within the uncertainties attached to these calculations and observations. Pyrolite or peridotite compositions are thus most likely to represent the composition of the mantle above 670 km depth, although some degrees of chemical heterogeneity may exist in the transition region. The observed sharp discontinuous increases of seismic velocities and density at this depth may be attributed either to the phase transformation to a perovskite-bearing assemblage in pyrolite or to chemical composition changes. Density profiles in subducted slabs have been calculated along adequate geotherms assuming that the slabs are composed of the former oceanic crust underlain by a thicker harzburgitic layer. It is shown that the former oceanic crust is substantially less dense than the surrounding pyrolite mantle at depths below 670 km, while it is denser than pyrolite in the upper mantle and the transition region. The subducted former oceanic crust may be trapped in this region, forming a geochemically enriched layer at the upper mantle-lower mantle boundary. Thick and cool slabs may penetrate into the lower mantle, but the chemically derived buoyancy may result in strong deformation and formation of megalith structures around the 670 km seismic discontinuity. These structures are consistent with those detected by recent seismic tomography studies for subduction zones.  相似文献   

15.
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16.
依据大地电磁测深所发现的上地幔高导层顶面深度可以给出大陆岩石圈-软流圈界面(LAB)的空间发育特征,为认识岩石圈结构及壳幔相互作用等提供重要信息.本文在1996年编制的中国大陆上地幔高导层顶面深度图的基础上,补充了1995—2010年大地电磁测深结果和大地热流数据,以1°×1°网度编制了新的中国大陆上地幔高导层顶面深度图.我国上地幔高导层顶面深度变化很大,具有南北分带,东西分块的特征,呈东浅、西深、北浅、南深的格局,从最浅的50~60km到最深的230km,平均深度为100~120km.据上地幔高导层顶面分布形态,全国共可划分出27个隆起区.通过与中国已知内生金属矿产和油气田的分布对比,发现我国大陆80%以上中生代内生金属矿床分布在上地幔高导层隆起带或其梯度带上方.中国大陆东部含油气盆地主体对应上地幔隆起区,油气田多位于隆起区上方或其边部的过渡带上;西部主体位于幔坳区,主要油气田对应盆地中心的幔坳向周边幔隆过渡的梯度带上;中部表现为仅盆地腹地对应幔坳,盆地周边对应规模较大的上地幔隆起带,主要油气田位于隆起带.总的来看内生金属矿床一般分布在上地幔隆起区靠近造山带一侧,而油气田一般分布在上地幔隆起区靠近盆地一侧.软流圈的不断上隆,造成岩石圈减薄、拉张,张性断裂的出现成为地球深部物质和热量向地壳上部运移的有利通道,为内生金属矿产的形成提供了成矿物质和能量保障,也为含油气盆地带来了生烃催化剂、热能和无机成因的石油与天然气.地球深部超临界流体的存在对上地幔高导层的形成、成矿物质运移可能发挥了重要作用.  相似文献   

17.
In this study, we examine the development of topography on a thin dense layer at the base of the lower mantle. The effect of the convecting mantle above is represented as a traction acting on the upper surface of the layer. Topography on the layer boundaries is predicted by a balance of dynamic flow stress and external traction. The nature of boundary topography depends on the magnitude of the driving tractions and the density variation within the layer. If we assume that the layer density is greatest beneath areas of mantle downwelling and decreases to a minimum beneath areas of mantle upwelling (the layer is thermally coupled to the convection in the overlying mantle) then its upper boundary develops a cusp-like peak beneath the upwelling mantle. The height of this peak is potentially much greater than the layer thickness. If, however, the layers are effectively coupled by viscous shear then internal density gradients of the opposite sign may be established. In this case, we observe solutions where the layer is completely swept away beneath areas of mantle downwelling leaving steep-sided ‘islands’ of dense material. This mechanism therefore provides a possible explanation for steep-sided anomalously slow regions at the base of the mantle observed by seismic methods (e.g. beneath south Africa) or for discrete ultralow velocity zones detected at the core-mantle boundary beneath locations of surface hotspots. The magnitude of the upper boundary driving tractions compared to the density gradient within the layer is the key parameter that determines the nature of flow in, and consequently boundary topography of, the layer. The deflection of the core-mantle boundary is small compared with that of the top of the dense layer, but a change in sign of the ratio of these deflections is observed as the magnitude of the driving tractions changes relative to the magnitude of the internal density gradient. We compare seismic measurements of core-mantle boundary topography and D′′ topography with the predictions of this model in an attempt to constrain model parameters, but no clear correlation seems to exist between D′′ thickness and CMB topography.  相似文献   

18.
Structural features of the typical continental paleorift in Panxiarea are revealed by seismic tomography. (1) In the profile along the minor axis of Panxi paleorift, we found alternating high and low-velocity strips existing at different depths in the crust, presenting itself as a "sandwich" structure. The existence of these high and low-velocity anomaly strips is related to the basal lithology in the rift area. (2) An addition layer with velocity values of 7.1-7.5 km/s and 7.8 km/s exists from the base of lower crust to uppermost mantle and its thickness is about 20 km. Some study results indicate that the addition layer results from the invasion of mantle material. (3) A lens-shaped high-velocity body surrounded by relatively low-velocity material is observed at depths of 110-160 km between Huaping and Huidong in the axis of the paleorift. This is the first time to discover it in the upper mantle of the paleorift. Based on the results of geology, petrology and geochemistry, we infer that the formation of the addition layer and the lens-shaped high-velocity body in the upper mantle are related to the deep geodynamic process of generation, development and termination of the rift. On the one hand, the upwelling of asthenosphere mantle caused partial melting, and then the basaltic magma from the partial melted material further resulted in underplating and formed the crustal addition layer. On the other hand, the high-density content of mineral facies was increased in the residual melted mass of intensely depleted upper mantle, formed by basalt withdrawing. The solid-melt medium in the depleted upper mantle was mainly an accumulation of garnet and peridotite because the heating effect of lithosphere was relatively weakened in the later riftogenesis, so that a lens-shaped high-density and high-velocity zone was produced in the upper mantle. The results indicate that the energy and material exchange between asthenosphere and lithosphere and remarkable underplating would have an important effect on the material state and propagation of seismic wave in the lower crust, crust-mantle interface, asthenosphere and lithosphere. This process possibly is an important mechanism on the growth of continental crust and the evolution of deep mantle.  相似文献   

19.
Structural features of the typical continental paleorift in Panxi area are revealed by seismic tomography. (1) In the profile along the minor axis of Panxi paleorift, we found alternating high and low-velocity strips existing at different depths in the crust, presenting itself as a “sandwich” structure. The existence of these high and low-velocity anomaly strips is related to the basal lithology in the rift area. (2) An addition layer with velocity values of 7.1-7.5 km/s and 7.8 km/s exists from the base of lower crust to uppermost mantle and its thickness is about 20 km. Some study results indicate that the addition layer results from the invasion of mantle material. (3) A lens-shaped high-velocity body surrounded by relatively low-velocity material is observed at depths of 110-160 km between Huaping and Huidong in the axis of the paleorift. This is the first time to discover it in the upper mantle of the paleorift. Based on the results of geology, petrology and geochemistry, we infer that the formation of the addition layer and the lens-shaped high-velocity body in the upper mantle are related to the deep geodynamic process of generation, development and termination of the rift. On the one hand, the upwelling of asthenosphere mantle caused partial melting, and then the basaltic magma from the partial melted material further resulted in underplating and formed the crustal addition layer. On the other hand, the high-density content of mineral facies was increased in the residual melted mass of intensely depleted upper mantle, formed by basalt withdrawing. The solid-melt medium in the depleted upper mantle was mainly an accumulation of garnet and peridotite because the heating effect of lithosphere was relatively weakened in the later riftogenesis, so that a lens-shaped high-density and high-velocity zone was produced in the upper mantle. The results indicate that the energy and material exchange between asthenosphere and lithosphere and remarkable underplating would have an important effect on the material state and propagation of seismic wave in the lower crust, crust-mantle interface, asthenosphere and lithosphere. This process possibly is an important mechanism on the growth of continental crust and the evolution of deep mantle.  相似文献   

20.
Laboratory experiments were performed to study the influence of density and viscosity layering on the formation and stability of plumes. Viscosity ratios ranged from 0.1 to 6400 for buoyancy ratios between 0.3 and 20, and Rayleigh numbers between 105 and 2.108. The presence of a chemically stratified boundary layer generates long-lived thermochemical plumes. These plumes first develop from the interface as classical thermal boundary layer instabilities. As they rise, they entrain by viscous coupling a thin film of the other layer and locally deform the interface into cusps. The interfacial topography and the entrainment act to further anchor the plumes, which persist until the chemical stratification disappears through entrainment, even for Rayleigh numbers around 108. The pattern of thermochemical plumes remains the same during an experiment, drifting only slowly through the tank. Scaled to an Earth’s mantle without plate tectonics, our results show that: (1) thermochemical plumes are expected to exist in the mantle, (2) they could easily survive hundreds of millions of years, depending on the size and magnitude of the chemical heterogeneity on which they are anchored, and (3) their drift velocity would be at most 1-2 mm/yr. They would therefore produce long-lived and relatively fixed hotspots on the lithosphere. However, the thermochemical plumes would follow any large scale motion imposed on the chemical layer. Therefore, the chemical heterogeneity acts more as a ‘floating anchor’ than as an absolute one.  相似文献   

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