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1.
Average one-dimensional P and S wavespeed models from the surface to depths of 800 km were derived for the southern African region using travel times and waveforms from earthquakes recorded at stations of the Kaapvaal and South African seismic networks. The Herglotz–Wiechert method combined with ray tracing was used to derive a preliminary P wavespeed model, followed by refinements using phase-weighted stacking and synthetic seismograms to yield the final model. Travel times combined with ray tracing were used to derive the S wavespeed model, which was also refined using phase-weighted stacking and synthetic seismograms. The presence of a high wavespeed upper mantle lid in the S model overlying a low wavespeed zone (LWZ) around 210- to 345-km depth that is not observed in the P wavespeed model was inferred.

The 410-km discontinuity shows similar characteristics to that in other continental regions, but occurs slightly deeper at 420 km. Depletion of iron and/or enrichment in aluminium relative to other regions are the preferred explanation, since the P wavespeeds throughout the transition zone are slightly higher than average. The average S wavespeed structure beneath southern Africa within and below the transition zone is similar to that of the IASP91 model. There is no evidence for discontinuity at 520-km depth. The 660-km discontinuity also appears to be slightly deeper than average (668 km), although the estimated thickness of the transition zone is 248 km, similar to the global average of 241 km. The small size of the 660-km discontinuity for P waves, compared with many other regions, suggests that interpretation of the discontinuity as the transformation of spinel to perovskite and magnesiowüstite may require modification. Alternative explanations include the presence of garnetite-rich material or ilmenite-forming phase transformations above the 660-km discontinuity, and the garnet–perovskite transformation as the discontinuity.  相似文献   


2.
We have made great efforts to collect and combine a large number of high-quality data from local earthquakes and teleseismic events recorded by the dense seismic networks in both South Korea and West Japan. This is the first time that a large number of Korean and Japanese seismic data sets are analyzed jointly. As a result, a high-resolution 3-D P-wave velocity model down to 700-km depth is determined, which clearly shows that the Philippine Sea (PHS) plate has subducted aseismically down to ∼460 km depth under the Japan Sea, Tsushima Strait and East China Sea. The aseismic PHS slab is visible in two areas: one is under the Japan Sea off western Honshu, and the other is under East China Sea off western Kyushu. However, the aseismic PHS slab is not visible between the two areas, where a slab window has formed. The slab window is located beneath the center of the present study region where many teleseismic rays crisscross. Detailed synthetic tests were conducted, which indicate that both the aseismic PHS slab and the slab window are robust features. Using the teleseismic data recorded by the Japanese stations alone, the aseismic PHS slab and the slab window were also revealed (Zhao et al., 2012), though the ray paths in the Japanese data set crisscross less well offshore. The slab window may be caused by the subducted Kyushu-Palau Ridge and Kinan Seamount Chain where the PHS slab may be segmented. Hot mantle upwelling is revealed in the big mantle wedge above the Pacific slab under the present study region, which may have facilitated the formation of the PHS slab window. These novel findings may shed new light on the subduction history of the PHS plate and the dynamic evolution of the Japan subduction zone.  相似文献   

3.
Jianshe Lei  Dapeng Zhao 《Tectonophysics》2005,397(3-4):281-295
We present the first seismic image of the upper mantle beneath the active intraplate Changbai volcano in Northeast Asia determined by teleseismic travel time tomography. The data are measured at a new seismic network consisting of 19 portable stations and 3 permanent stations. Our results show a columnar low-velocity anomaly extending to 400-km depth with a P-wave velocity reduction of up to 3%. High velocity anomalies are visible in the mantle transition zone, and deep-focus earthquakes occur at depths of 500–600 km under the region, suggesting that the subducting Pacific slab is stagnant in the transition zone, as imaged clearly by global tomography. These results suggest that the intraplate Changbai volcano is not a hotspot like Hawaii but a kind of back-arc volcano related to the deep subduction and stagnancy of the Pacific slab under Northeast Asia.  相似文献   

4.
We construct fine-scale 3D P- and S-wave velocity structures of the crust and upper mantle beneath the whole Japan Islands with a unified resolution, where the Pacific (PAC) and Philippine Sea (PHS) plates subduct beneath the Eurasian (EUR) plate. We can detect the low-velocity (low-V) oceanic crust of the PAC and PHS plates at their uppermost part beneath almost all the Japan Islands. The depth limit of the imaged oceanic crust varies with the regions. High-VP/VS zones are widely distributed in the lower crust especially beneath the volcanic front, and the high strain rate zones are located at the edge of the extremely high-VP/VS zone; however, VP/VS at the top of the mantle wedge is not so high. Beneath northern Japan, we can image the high-V subducting PAC plate using the tomographic method without any assumption of velocity discontinuities. We also imaged the heterogeneous structure in the PAC plate, such as the low-V zone considered as the old seamount or the highly seismic zone within the double seismic zone where the seismic fault ruptured by the earthquake connects the upper and lower layer of the double seismic zone. Beneath central Japan, thrust-type small repeating earthquakes occur at the boundary between the EUR and PHS plates and are located at the upper part of the low-V layer that is considered to be the oceanic crust of the PHS plate. In addition to the low-V oceanic crust, the subducting high-V PAC plate is clearly imaged to depths of approximately 250 km and the subducting high-V PHS zone to depths of approximately 180 km is considered to be the PHS plate. Beneath southwestern Japan, the iso-depth lines of the Moho discontinuity in the PHS plate derived by the receiver function method divide the upper low-V layer and lower high-V layer of our model at depths of 30–50 km. Beneath Kyushu, the steeply subducting PHS plate is clearly imaged to depths of approximately 250 km with high velocities. The high-VP/VS zone is considered as the lower crust of the EUR plate or the oceanic crust of the PHS plate at depths of 25–35 km and the partially serpentinized mantle wedge of the EUR plate at depths of 30–45 km beneath southwestern Japan. The deep low-frequency nonvolcanic tremors occur at all parts of the high-VP/VS zone—within the zone, the seaward side, and the landward side where the PHS plate encounters the mantle wedge of the EUR plate. We prove that we can objectively obtain the fine-scale 3D structure with simple constraints such as only 1D initial velocity model with no velocity discontinuity.  相似文献   

5.
Oceanic plateaus, aseismic ridges or seamount chains all have a thickened crust and their subduction has been proposed as a possible mechanism to explain the occurrence of flat subduction and related absence of arc magmatism below Peru, Central Chile and at the Nankai Trough (Japan). Their extra compositional buoyancy could prohibit the slab from sinking into the mantle. With a numerical thermochemical convection model, we simulated the subduction of an oceanic lithosphere that contains an oceanic crustal plateau of 18-km thickness. With a systematic variation, we examined the required physical parameters to obtain shallow flat subduction. Metastability of the basaltic crust in the eclogite stability field is of crucial importance for the slab to remain buoyant throughout the subduction process. In a 44-Ma-old subducting plate, basalt must be able to survive a temperature of 600–700 °C to keep the plate buoyant sufficiently long to cause a flat-slab segment. We found that the maximum yield stress in the slab must be limited to about 600 MPa to allow for the necessary bending to the horizontal. Young slabs show flat subduction for larger parameter ranges than old slabs, since they are less gravitationally unstable and show less resistance against bending. Hydrous weakening of the mantle wedge area and lowermost continent are required to allow for the necessary deformation of a change in subduction style from steep to flat. The maximum flat slab extent is about 300 km, which is sufficient to explain the observed shallow flat subduction near the Nankai Trough (Japan). However, additional mechanisms, such as active overthrusting by an overriding continental plate, need to be invoked to explain the flat-slab segments up to 500 km long below Peru and Central Chile.  相似文献   

6.
Multiscale seismic tomography and mantle dynamics   总被引:15,自引:10,他引:5  
Dapeng Zhao   《Gondwana Research》2009,15(3-4):297-323
In this article we first introduce the methodology of multiscale seismic tomography and the way to interpret the obtained tomographic images, and then review the significant recent results of multiscale seismic tomography with emphasis on mantle plumes and subducting slabs. Global and regional tomography shows that most of the slab materials under Western Pacific and East Asia are stagnant in the mantle transition zone before finally collapsing down to the core–mantle boundary as a result of large gravitational instability from phase transitions. Local and teleseismic tomography studies have imaged clearly the subducting slabs and arc magma chambers in the upper-mantle wedge, indicating that geodynamic systems associated with arc magmatism and back-arc spreading are related to deep processes, such as convective circulation in the mantle wedge and dehydration reactions of the subducting slab. Because most hotspots are located in poorly instrumented continental and oceanic regions, 3-D crust and upper-mantle structure is determined for only a few hotspots such as Iceland, Yellowstone and Eifel which are covered by seismic networks, and plume-like slow anomalies are revealed under those hotspots. Global tomography has revealed deep mantle plumes under the major hotspots such as Hawaii, Iceland, Kerguelen, South Pacific and Africa. Strong lateral heterogeneities are revealed at the bottom of the mantle, which are associated with the deeply subducted slabs and the birth of mantle plumes. A thorough understanding of the deep Earth structure will only be achieved by a combination of more effective seismic imaging techniques and dense coverage of global seismic networks, particularly in the oceans.  相似文献   

7.
《Gondwana Research》2010,17(3-4):370-400
A dense nationwide seismic network recently constructed in Japan has been yielding large volumes of high-quality data that have made it possible to investigate the seismic structure in the Japanese subduction zone with unprecedented resolution. In this article, recent studies on the subduction of the Philippine Sea and Pacific plates beneath the Japanese Islands and the mechanism of earthquake and magma generation associated with plate subduction are reviewed. Seismic tomographic studies have shown that the Philippine Sea plate subducting beneath southwest Japan is continuous throughout the entire region, from Kanto to Kyushu, without disruption or splitting even beneath the Izu Peninsula as suggested in the past. The contact of the Philippine Sea plate with the Pacific plate subducting below has been found to cause anomalously deep interplate and intraslab earthquake activity in Kanto. Detailed waveform inversion studies have revealed that the asperity model is applicable to interplate earthquakes. Analyses of dense seismic and GPS network data have confirmed the existence of episodic slow slip accompanied in many instances by low-frequency tremors/earthquakes on the plate interface, which are inferred to play an important role in stress loading at asperities. High-resolution studies of the spatial variation of intraslab seismicity and the seismic velocity structure of the slab crust strongly support the dehydration embrittlement hypothesis for the generation of intraslab earthquakes. Seismic tomography studies have shown that water released by dehydration of the slab and secondary convection in the mantle wedge, mechanically induced by slab subduction, are responsible for magma generation in the Japanese islands. Water of slab origin is also inferred to be responsible for large anelastic local deformation of the arc crust leading to inland crustal earthquakes that return the arc crust to a state of spatially uniform deformation.  相似文献   

8.
We applied a type of depth migration for converted seismic phases to active and passive seismic data sets from the Campi Flegrei volcanic region in southern Italy. The migration method is based on the diffraction summation migration technique. Travel times to grid points in a volume were calculated in smooth P and S-velocity models and trace energy near the calculated converted phase time was stacked over multiple sources at one receiver. Weighting factors based on Snell's Law at an arbitrarily oriented local interface were applied to better focus trace energy. PP reflection images from the active data set provide increased detail to images of the caldera rim from other studies. The migrated images also show features near 2–3 km in depth beneath Pozzuoli City, which may be associated with an over-pressured gas volume, as suggested by other geophysical investigations. Possible deeper features near 4 km depth may be related to the presence of the carbonate basement or may image a previously undetected feature, such as a small body of strongly thermometamorphosed volcanic rock. The current passive earthquake data set from the 1984 ground uplift episode was not well suited to the converted phases analysis due to narrow P–S windows and high noise levels in the traces. However, two stations provide confirmation and extension of imaged features in the active data.  相似文献   

9.
We present a new three-dimensional SV-wave velocity model for the upper mantle beneath South America and the surrounding oceans, built from the waveform inversion of 5850 Rayleigh wave seismograms. The dense path coverage and the use of higher modes to supplement the fundamental mode of surface waves allow us to constrain seismic heterogeneities with horizontal wavelengths of a few hundred kilometres in the uppermost 400 km of the mantle.The large scale features of our tomographic model confirm previous results from global and regional tomographic studies (e.g. the depth extent of the high velocity cratonic roots down to about 200–250 km).Several new features are highlighted in our model. Down to 100 km depth, the high velocity lid beneath the Amazonian craton is separated in two parts associated with the Guyana and Guapore shields, suggesting that the rifting episode responsible for the formation of the Amazon basin has involved a significant part of the lithosphere. Along the Andean subduction belt, the structure of the high velocity anomaly associated with the sudbduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate reflects the along-strike variation in dip of the subducting plate. Slow velocities are observed down to about 100 km and 150 km at the intersection of the Carnegie and Chile ridges with the continent and are likely to represent the thermal anomalies associated with the subducted ridges. These lowered velocities might correspond to zones of weakness in the subducted plate and may have led to the formation of “slab windows” developed through unzipping of the subducted ridges; these windows might accommodate a transfer of asthenospheric mantle from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. From 150 to 250 km depth, the subducting Nazca plate is associated with high seismic velocities between 5°S and 37°S. We find high seismic velocities beneath the Paraná basin down to about 200 km depth, underlain by a low velocity anomaly in the depth range 200–400 km located beneath the Ponta Grossa arc at the southern tip of the basin. This high velocity anomaly is located southward of a narrow S-wave low velocity structure observed between 200 and 500–600 km depth in body wave studies, but irresolvable with our long period datasets. Both anomalies point to a model in which several, possibly diachronous, plumes have risen to the surface to generate the Paraná large igneous province (LIP).  相似文献   

10.
In this article, we review the significant recent results of geophysical studies and discuss their implications on seismotectonics, magmatism, and mantle dynamics in East Asia. High-resolution geophysical imaging revealed structural heterogeneities in the source areas of large crustal earthquakes, which may reflect magma and fluids that affected the rupture nucleation of large earthquakes. In subduction zone regions, the crustal fluids originate from the dehydration of the subducting slab. Magmatism in arc and back-arc areas is caused by the corner flow in the mantle wedge and dehydration of the subducting slab. The intraplate magmatism has different origins. The continental volcanoes in Northeast Asia (such as Changbai and Wudalianchi) seem to be caused by the corner flow in the big mantle wedge (BMW) above the stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone and the deep dehydration of the stagnant slab as well. The Tengchong volcano in Southwest China is possibly caused by a similar process in BMW above the subducting Burma microplate (or Indian plate). The Hainan volcano in southernmost China seems to be a hotspot fed by a lower-mantle plume associated with the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs’ deep subduction in the east and the Indian slab’s deep subduction in the west down to the lower mantle. 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 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 beneath the subducting slabs and cause the slab–plume interactions. Some of these issues, such as the origin of intraplate magmatism, are still controversial, and so further detailed studies are needed from now.  相似文献   

11.
The western Hellenic subduction zone is characterized by a trenchward velocity of the upper plate. In the Ionian islands segment, complete seismic coupling is achieved, as is predicted by standard plate-tectonic models in which there is no slab pull force because the slab has broken off. The moderate local seismic moment rate relates to a shallow downdip limit for the seismogenic interface. This characteristic may be attributed to the ductility of the lower crust of the upper plate, which allows a décollement between the upper crust of the overriding plate and the subducting plate. Farther south, a deeper downdip limit of the seismogenic interface is indicated by thrust-faulting earthquakes, which persist much deeper in western Crete. A correspondingly larger downdip width of this seismogenic zone is consistent with the suggested larger maximum magnitude of earthquakes here. However, since the seismic moment release rate seems to be moderate in the Peloponnese and western Crete, like in in the Ionian islands, this seismically active interface cannot maintain complete seismic coupling across its larger downdip width. A cause may be the lateral addition of overweight to the part of the slab still attached in Crete, by the free fall of its part that has broken off from the surface further north. This increased slab pull reduces the compressive normal stress across the seismogenic interface and thus causes partial seismic coupling in its shallower part. However, the width of this part may provide an additional area contributing to slip in large earthquakes, which may nucleate deeper on stick-slip parts of the interface. Hints at anomalies in structure and seismicity, which need to be resolved, may relate to the present location of the edge of the tear in the slab.  相似文献   

12.
Cenka Christova   《Tectonophysics》2004,384(1-4):175-189
The study addresses the space distribution of the stress field in the Kyushu–Ryukyu Wadati–Benioff zone based on homogeneous data of earthquake focal mechanisms and the inverse technique by Gephart and Forsyth [J. Geophys. Res. 89 (1984) 9305]. The used data set consists of 148 Harvard CMT solutions and 22 earthquake focal mechanisms listed in previous studies. The stress field parameters are determined for 0–40, 41–100 and h>100 km depth ranges. The top 100-km layer of the Wadati–Benioff zone (WBZ) is characterized by strike normal maximum compression σ1 and steeper than the slab minimum compression σ3, the last indicating for unbalanced slab pull force. The Tokara channel ‘divides’ the subduction into two parts of different stress regime at depth greater than 100 km. To the south of the channel the slab is under slab parallel σ1 and slab normal σ3 while its northern part, beneath Kyushu, is under slab parallel extension and slab normal compression. The results of recent studies on the regional velocity structure and geochemistry of the volcanic lava indicate that the most plausible reason for the observed stress field difference below 100 km in the northern and rest part of the arc is the presence of hot low viscosity upper mantle west of Kyushu.The results of this study indicate that the forces involved in the contemporary subduction dynamics in the Ryukyu–Kyushu Wadati–Benioff zone are related to the convergence between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian plate, the trench suction force, slab pull, the slab anchor force and, in the southern-central part of the arc, mantle resistance.  相似文献   

13.
Dapeng Zhao  Eiji Ohtani   《Gondwana Research》2009,16(3-4):401-413
We present new pieces of evidence from seismology and mineral physics for the existence of low-velocity zones in the deep part of the upper mantle wedge and the mantle transition zone that are caused by fluids from the deep subduction and deep dehydration of the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs under western Pacific and East Asia. The Pacific slab is subducting beneath the Japan Islands and Japan Sea with intermediate-depth and deep earthquakes down to 600 km depth under the East Asia margin, and the slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under East China. The western edge of the stagnant Pacific slab is roughly coincident with the NE–SW Daxing'Anling-Taihangshan gravity lineament located west of Beijing, approximately 2000 km away from the Japan Trench. The upper mantle above the stagnant slab under East Asia forms a big mantle wedge (BMW). Corner flow in the BMW and deep slab dehydration may have caused asthenospheric upwelling, lithospheric thinning, continental rift systems, and intraplate volcanism in Northeast Asia. The Philippine Sea slab has subducted down to the mantle transition zone depth under Western Japan and Ryukyu back-arc, though the seismicity within the slab occurs only down to 200–300 km depths. Combining with the corner flow in the mantle wedge, deep dehydration of the subducting Pacific slab has affected the morphology of the subducting Philippine Sea slab and its seismicity under Southwest Japan. Slow anomalies are also found in the mantle under the subducting Pacific slab, which may represent small mantle plumes, or hot upwelling associated with the deep slab subduction. Slab dehydration may also take place after a continental plate subducts into the mantle.  相似文献   

14.
We present the first detailed seismic velocity models of the crust and uppermost mantle around the Mirnyi kimberlite field in Yakutia, Siberia. We have digitized vintage seismograms that were acquired in 1981 and 1983 by use of Taiga analogue seismographs along two perpendicular seismic profiles. The 370-km long, northwest striking profile I across the kimberlite pipe was covered by 41 seismographs, which recorded seismic signals from 21 chemical shots along the line, including one off-end shot. The perpendicular, 340-km long profile II across profile I ca. 30 km to the south of the Mirnyi kimberlite field was covered by 45 seismographs, which recorded seismic signals from 22 chemical shots, including four off-end shots. Each shot involved detonation of between 1.5 and 6.0 tons of TNT, distributed in individual charges of 100–200 kg in shallow water (< 2 m deep). The data is of high quality with high signal/noise ratio to the farthest offsets. We present the results from two-dimensional ray tracing, forward modelling.Both velocity models show normal cratonic structure of the ca. 45-km-thick crust with only slight undulation of the Moho. However, relatively small seismic velocity is detected to 25-km depth in a ca. 60-km wide zone around the kimberlite pipe, surrounded by elevated velocity (> 6.3 km/s) in the upper crust. The lower crust has a relatively constant velocity of 6.8–6.9 km/s. It appears relatively unaffected by the presence of the kimberlite field. Extremely large P-wave velocity (> 8.7 km/s) of the sub-Moho mantle is interpreted along profile I, except for a 70-km wide zone with a “normal” Pn velocity of 8.1 km/s below the kimberlite. Profile II mainly shows Pn velocities of 8.0–8.2 km/s, with unusually large velocity (> 8.5 km/s) in two, ca. 100-km wide zones, at its southwestern end, one zone being close to the kimberlite field. The nature of these exceptionally large, sub-Moho mantle velocities is not yet understood. The difference in velocity in the two profile directions indicates anisotropy, but the effect of unusual rock composition, e.g. from a high concentration of garnet, cannot be excluded.  相似文献   

15.
The Lesser Antilles subduction zone is an extreme case of the subduction of old (~ 90 m.y.) lithosphere at a slow (~ 2 cm/y) convergence rate. Focal mechanisms of the largest earthquakes in the area have been obtained using body and surface wave data. During the time period (1950–1978) studied the subduction seismicity appears to represent primarily intraplate rather than interplate deformation. All three large (magnitude seven) earthquakes were from intraplate normal faults; no large thrust faulting earthquakes and few small ones occurred. These observations suggest that the plate boundary is largely decoupled, that subduction is at least partially aseismic, and that the downgoing slab is in a state of extension.  相似文献   

16.
We determined high-resolution three-dimensional P- and S-wave velocity (Vp, Vs) structures beneath Kyushu in Southwest Japan using 177,500 P and 174,025 S wave arrival times from 8515 local earthquakes. A Poisson's ratio structure was derived from the obtained Vp and Vs values. Our results show that significant low-Vp, low-Vs and high Poisson's ratio zones are extensively distributed along the volcanic front in the uppermost mantle, which extend and dip toward the back-arc side in the mantle wedge. In the crust, low-Vp, low-Vs and high Poisson's ratio anomalies exist beneath the active volcanoes. The subducting Philippine Sea slab is clearly imaged as a high-Vp, high-Vs and low Poisson's ratio zone from the Nankai Trough to the back-arc. A thin low-velocity zone is detected above the subducting Philippine Sea slab in the mantle wedge, and earthquakes in the upper mantle are distributed along the transition zone between this thin low-velocity zone and the high-velocity Philippine Sea slab, which may imply that oceanic crust exists on the top of the slab and the forearc mantle wedge is serpentinized due to the slab dehydration. The seismic velocity of the subducting oceanic crust with basaltic or gabbroic composition is lower than that of the mantle according to the previous studies. The serpentinization process could also dramatically reduce the seismic velocity in the forearc mantle wedge.  相似文献   

17.
Eastern Anatolia consisting of an amalgamation of fragments of oceanic and continental lithosphere is a current active intercontinental contractional zone that is still being squeezed and shortened between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. This collisional and contractional zone is being accompanied by the tectonic escape of most of the Anatolian plate to the west by major strike-slip faulting on the right-lateral North Anatolian Transform Fault Zone (NATFZ) and left-lateral East Anatolian Transform Fault Zone (EATFZ) which meet at Karlıova forming an east-pointing cusp. The present-day crust in the area between the easternmost part of the Anatolian plate and the Arabian Foreland gets thinner from north (ca 44 km) to south (ca 36 km) relative to its eastern (EAHP) and western sides (central Anatolian region). This thinner crustal area is characterized by shallow CPD (12–16 km), very low Pn velocities (< 7.8 km/s) and high Sn attenuation which indicate partially molten to eroded mantle lid or occurrence of asthenospheric mantle beneath the crust. Northernmost margin of the Arabian Foreland in the south of the Bitlis–Pötürge metamorphic gap area is represented by moderate CPD (16–18 km) relative to its eastern and western sides, and low Pn velocities (8 km/s). We infer from the geophysical data that the lithospheric mantle gets thinner towards the Bitlis–Pötürge metamorphic gap area in the northern margin of the Arabian Foreland which has been most probably caused by mechanical removal of the lithospheric mantle during mantle invasion to the north following the slab breakoff beneath the Bitlis–Pötürge Suture Zone. Mantle flow-driven rapid extrusion and counterclockwise rotation of the Anatolian plate gave rise to stretching and hence crustal thinning in the area between the easternmost part of the Anatolian plate and the Arabian Foreland which is currently dominated by wrench tectonics.  相似文献   

18.
Mechanisms of the opening of back-arc systems are analyzed. Limited focal mechanisms of intraplate earthquakes are used to determine the stress regime of an overriding plate. Preliminary analyses show that compressive deviatoric stresses exist in the plate except near the spreading center. Based on this observation “trench suction” does not appear to be the primary force that drives back-arc spreading, since it will result in tensional deviatoric stresses within the overriding plate. Even though “continental pull” is able to satisfy the stress requirements, it does not appear to be a likely mechanism either because of the initiation and subsequent symmetric spreading difficulty associated with such a mechanism. The mechanism we favor is the one that involves the induced convective current in the mantle wedge immediately above the slab. Calculations show that the induced flow is able to generate sufficient stress to break up the overriding lithosphere if the tectonic stresses of the region are favorable. Both trench suction and continental pull may help to provide such a favorable tectonic stress regime.  相似文献   

19.
We present a model of the subducting Cocos slab beneath Central Mexico, that provides an explanation for stresses causing the occurrence of the majority of the intraslab earthquakes which are concentrated in a long flat segment. Based on the recently developed thermal models for the Central Mexico subduction zone, the thermal stresses due to non-uniform temperature contrast in the subducting slab are calculated using a finite element approach. The slab is considered purely elastic but due to high temperature at its bottom the behavior is considered as ductile creep. The calculation results show a  20 km slab core characterized by a tensional state of stress with stresses up to 70 MPa. On the other hand, the top of the slab experiences high compressive thermal stresses up to 110 MPa, depending on the elastic constants used and location along the flat part of the subducting plate. These compressive stresses at the top of the slab are not consistent with the exclusive normal fault intraslab earthquakes, and two different sources of stress are proposed.

The trenchward migration of the Mexican volcanic arc for the last 7 Ma indicates an increase of the slab dip through time. This observation suggests that the gravity torque might exceed the suction torque. Considering the flat slab as an embedded plate subject to an applied clockwise net torque of 0.5 × 1016–1.5 × 1016 N m, the upper half would exhibit tensional stresses of 40–110 MPa that can actually balance the compressive thermally induced stresses.

An alternative stress source might come from the slab pull force caused by the slab positive density anomaly. Based on our density anomaly estimations (75 ± 20 kg/m3), a 350 km slab length, dipping at 20° into the asthenosphere, induces a slab pull force of 1.7 × 1012–4.6 × 1012 N m. This force produces a tensional stress of 41–114 MPa, sufficient to balance the compressive thermal stresses at the top of the flat slab.

The linear superposition of the thermally and torque or slab pull induced stresses shows tensile stresses up to 60–180 MPa inside the flat slab core. Also, our results suggest that the majority of the intraslab earthquakes inside the flat slab are situated where the resultant stresses are larger than 40–80 MPa.

This study provides a reasonable explanation for the existence of exclusively normal fault intraslab earthquakes in the flat slab beneath Central Mexico, and also it shows that thermal stresses due to non-uniform reheating of subducting slabs play a considerable role in the total stress field.  相似文献   


20.
To support the development of protocols for the proposed North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes project, whose objective is to establish baselines for the geochemistry of North American soils, two continental-scale transects across the United States and Canada were sampled in 2004. The sampling employed a spatially stratified random sampling design in order to estimate the variability between 40-km linear sampling units, within them, at sample sites, and due to sample preparation and analytical chemical procedures. The 40-km scale was chosen to be consistent with the density proposed for the continental-scale project. The two transects, north–south (N–S) from northern Manitoba to the USA–Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, and east–west (E–W) from the Virginia shore north of Washington, DC, to north of San Francisco, California, closely following the 38th parallel, have been studied individually. The purpose of this study was to determine if statistically significant systematic spatial variation occurred along the transects. Data for 38 major, minor and trace elements in A- and C-horizon soils where less than 5% of the data were below the detection limit were investigated by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). A total of 15 elements (K, Na, As, Ba, Be, Ce, La, Mn, Nb, P, Rb, Sb, Th, Tl and W) demonstrated statistically significant (p < 0.05) variability at the between-40-km scale for both horizons along both transects. Only Cu failed to demonstrate significant variability at the between-40-km scale for both soil horizons along both transects.The patterns of relative variability differ by transect and horizon. The N–S transect A-horizon soils show significant between-40-km scale variability for 29 elements, with only 4 elements (Ca, Mg, Pb and Sr) showing in excess of 50% of their variability at the within-40-km and ‘at-site’ scales. In contrast, the C-horizon data demonstrate significant between-40-km scale variability for 26 elements, with 21 having in excess of 50% of their variability at the within-40-km and ‘at-site’ scales. In 36 instances, the ‘at-site’ variability is statistically significant in terms of the sample preparation and analysis variability. It is postulated that this contrast between the A- and C- horizons along the N–S transect, that is dominated by agricultural land uses, is due to the local homogenization of Ap-horizon soils by tillage reducing the ‘at-site’ variability. The spatial variability is distributed similarly between scales for the A- and C-horizon soils of the E–W transect. For all elements, there is significant variability at the within-40-km scale. Notwithstanding this, there is significant between-40-km variability for 28 and 20 of the elements in the A- and C-horizon data, respectively. The differences between the two transects are attributed to (1) geology, the N–S transect runs generally parallel to regional strikes, whereas the E–W transect runs across regional structures and lithologies; and (2) land use, with agricultural tillage dominating along the N–S transect. The spatial analysis of the transect data indicates that continental-scale maps demonstrating statistically significant patterns of geochemical variability may be prepared for many elements from data on soil samples collected on a 40 × 40 km grid or similar sampling designs resulting in a sample density of 1 site per 1600 km2.  相似文献   

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