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1.
The global mid-ocean ridge system is one of the most active plate boundaries on the earth and understanding the dynamic processes at this plate boundary is one of the most important problems in geodynamics. In this paper I present recent results of several aspects of mid-ocean ridge studies concerning the dynamics of oceanic lithosphere at these diverging plate boundaries. I show that the observed rift valley to no-rift valley transition (globally due to the increase of spreading rate or locally due to the crustal thickness variations and/or thermal anomalies) can be explained by the strong temperature dependence of the power law rheology of the oceanic lithosphere, and most importantly, by the difference in the rheological behavior of the oceanic crust from the underlying mantle. The effect of this weaker lower crust on ridge dynamics is mainly influenced by spreading rate and crustal thickness variations. The accumulated strain pattern from a recently developed lens model, based on recent seismic observations, was proposed as an appealing mechanism for the observed gabbro layering sequence in the Oman Ophiolite. It is now known that the mid-ocean ridges at all spreading rates are offset into individual spreading segments by both transform and nontransform discontinuities. The tectonics of ridge segmentation are also spreading-rate dependent: the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge is characterized by distinct bulls-eye shaped gravity lows, suggesting large along-axis variations in melt production and crustal thickness, whereas the fast-spreading East-Pacific Rise is associated with much smaller along-axis variations. These spreading-rate dependent changes have been attributed to a fundamental differences in ridge segmentation mechanisms and mantle upwelling at mid-ocean ridges: the mantle upwelling may be intrinsically plume-like (3-D) beneath a slow-spreading ridge but more sheet-like (2-D) beneath a fast-spreading ridge.  相似文献   

2.
The coexistence of stationary mantle plumes with plate-scale flow is problematic in geodynamics. We present results from laboratory experiments aimed at understanding the effects of an imposed large-scale circulation on thermal convection at high Rayleigh number (106≤Ra≤109) in a fluid with a temperature-dependent viscosity. In a large tank, a layer of corn syrup is heated from below while being stirred by large-scale flow due to the opposing motions of a pair of conveyor belts immersed in the syrup at the top of the tank. Three regimes are observed, depending on the ratio V of the imposed horizontal flow velocity to the rise velocity of plumes ascending from the hot boundary, and on the ratio λ of the viscosity of the interior fluid to the viscosity of the hottest fluid in contact with the bottom boundary. When V≪1 and λ≥1, large-scale circulation has a negligible effect on convection and the heat flux is due to the formation and rise of randomly spaced plumes. When V>10 and λ>100, plume formation is suppressed entirely, and the heat flux is carried by a sheet-like upwelling located in the center of the tank. At intermediate V, and depending on λ, established plume conduits are advected along the bottom boundary and ascending plumes are focused towards the central upwelling. Heat transfer across the layer occurs through a combination of ascending plumes and large-scale flow. Scaling analyses show that the bottom boundary layer thickness and, in turn, the basal heat flux q depend on the Peclet number, Pe, and λ. When λ>10, q∝Pe1/2 and when λ→1, q∝(Peλ)1/3, consistent with classical scalings. When applied to the Earth, our results suggest that plate-driven mantle flow focuses ascending plumes towards upwellings in the central Pacific and Africa as well as into mid-ocean ridges. Furthermore, plumes may be captured by strong upwelling flow beneath fast-spreading ridges. This behavior may explain why hotspots are more abundant near slow-spreading ridges than fast-spreading ridges and may also explain some observed variations of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) geochemistry with spreading rate. Moreover, our results suggest that a potentially significant fraction of the core heat flux is due to plumes that are drawn into upwelling flows beneath ridges and not observed as hotspots.  相似文献   

3.
In the kinematic theory of lithospheric plate tectonics, the position and parameters of the plates are predetermined in the initial and boundary conditions. However, in the self-consistent dynamical theory, the properties of the oceanic plates (just as the structure of the mantle convection) should automatically result from the solution of differential equations for energy, mass, and momentum transfer in viscous fluid. Here, the viscosity of the mantle material as a function of temperature, pressure, shear stress, and chemical composition should be taken from the data of laboratory experiments. The aim of this study is to reproduce the generation of the ensemble of the lithospheric plates and to trace their behavior inside the mantle by numerically solving the convection equations with minimum a priori data. The models demonstrate how the rigid lithosphere can break up into the separate plates that dive into the mantle, how the sizes and the number of the plates change during the evolution of the convection, and how the ridges and subduction zones may migrate in this case. The models also demonstrate how the plates may bend and break up when passing the depth boundary of 660 km and how the plates and plumes may affect the structure of the convection. In contrast to the models of convection without lithospheric plates or regional models, the structure of the mantle flows is for the first time calculated in the entire mantle with quite a few plates. This model shows that the mantle material is transported to the mid-oceanic ridges by asthenospheric flows induced by the subducting plates rather than by the main vertical ascending flows rising from the lower mantle.  相似文献   

4.
张裂大陆边缘形成演化的数值模拟   总被引:6,自引:5,他引:1       下载免费PDF全文
陈林  宋海斌  许鹤华  刘洪 《地球物理学报》2009,52(11):2781-2787
本文在等黏态角落流模型的基础上,建立了上升离散地幔流场,将该流场作用于大陆岩石圈底部,能解释岩石圈减薄、裂解并最终形成海底扩张和张裂大陆边缘等一系列过程.数值模拟的结果表明,岩石圈在上升离散地幔流的作用下发生依赖于深度的伸展减薄,表现为不同深度的拉张因子不同,地表热流显著升高,热扰动引起的均衡调整造成地表沉降,同时热扰动造成岩石圈流变强度尤其是在变形中心处显著减小,脆性变形临界深度变浅,而韧性变形范围扩大.在上升离散地幔流的持续作用下最终导致大陆裂解,岩石圈地幔出露,形成海底扩张和张裂大陆边缘.  相似文献   

5.
Water plays a crucial role in the melting of Earth’s mantle. Mantle magmatisms mostly occur at plate boundaries (including subduction zones and mid-ocean ridges) and in some intraplate regions with thermal anomaly. At oceanic subduction zones, water released by the subducted slab may induce melting of the overlying mantle wedge or even the slab itself, giving rise to arc magmatism, or may evolve into a supercritical fluid. The physicochemical conditions for the formation of slab melt and supercritical fluid are still under debate. At mid-ocean ridges and intraplate hot zones, water and CO2 cause melting of the upwelling mantle to occur at greater depths and in greater extents. Low degree melting of the mantle may occur at boundaries between Earth’s internal spheres, including the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), the upper mantletransition zone boundary, and the transition zone-lower mantle boundary, usually attributed to contrasting water storage capacity across the boundary. The origin for the stimulating effect of water on melting lies in that water as an incompatible component has a strong tendency to be enriched in the melt (i.e., with a mineral-melt partition coefficient much smaller than unity), thereby lowering the Gibbs free energy of the melt. The partitioning of water between melt and mantle minerals such as olivine, pyroxenes and garnet has been investigated extensively, but the effects of hydration on the density and transport properties of silicate melts require further assessments by experimental and computational approaches.  相似文献   

6.
The ages of reversals of the Earth's magnetic field have been dated accurately back to 3.4 m.y. ago. Between this time and the age of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, dates for reversals have been calculated assuming a constant rate of sea-floor spreading in the South Atlantic Ocean. The presence of thick piles of lava flows in Iceland allows us to produce independent evidence for the ages of reversals back to 13.0 m.y. B.P. Because of the extreme regularity of extrusion of these lava flows, the measurement of their magnetic polarity allows us to correlate the lava flows which were extruded during the polarity intervals associated with sea-floor spreading anomalies. The measurement of many K-Ar ages on these lava flows also allows us to compare the ages of reversals assumed by the linear interpolation between the ages of 3.4 m.y. and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary at 66.5 m.y., with those suggested by the radiometric dates. We find that in general the assumption of constant spreading has been a good one, but suggest a small change in the ages of reversals, amounting to an increase of about 0.27 m.y. in ages of reversals between 8.5 and 13.0 m.y. ago.  相似文献   

7.
Plate boundary geometry likely has an important influence on crustal production at mid-ocean ridges. Many studies have explored the effects of geometrical features such as transform offsets and oblique ridge segments on mantle flow and melting. This study investigates how triple junction (TJ) geometry may influence mantle dynamics. An earlier study [Georgen, J.E., Lin, J., 2002. Three-dimensional passive flow and temperature structure beneath oceanic ridge-ridge-ridge triple junctions. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 204, 115–132.] suggested that the effects of a ridge–ridge–ridge configuration are most pronounced under the branch with the slowest spreading rate. Thus, we create a three-dimensional, finite element, variable viscosity model that focuses on the slowest-diverging ridge of a triple junction with geometry similar to the Rodrigues TJ. This spreading axis may be considered to be analogous to the Southwest Indian Ridge. Within 100 km of the TJ, temperatures at depths within the partial melting zone and crustal thickness are predicted to increase by ~ 40 °C and 1 km, respectively. We also investigate the effects of differential motion of the TJ with respect to the underlying mantle, by imposing bottom model boundary conditions replicating (a) absolute plate motion and (b) a three-dimensional solution for plate-driven and density-driven asthenospheric flow in the African region. Neither of these basal boundary conditions significantly affects the model solutions, suggesting that the system is dominated by the divergence of the surface places. Finally, we explore how varying spreading rate magnitudes affects TJ geodynamics. When ridge divergence rates are all relatively slow (i.e., with plate kinematics similar to the Azores TJ), significant along-axis increases in mantle temperature and crustal thickness are calculated. At depths within the partial melting zone, temperatures are predicted to increase by ~ 150 °C, similar to the excess temperatures associated with mantle plumes. Likewise, crustal thickness is calculated to increase by approximately 6 km over the 200 km of ridge closest to the TJ. These results could imply that some component of the excess volcanism observed in geologic settings such as the Terceira Rift may be attributed to the effects of TJ geometry, although the important influence of features like nearby hotspots (e.g., the Azores hotspot) cannot be evaluated without additional numerical modeling.  相似文献   

8.
A dynamic mechanism that accounts for the sinking of a lithospheric plate near an accretion zone in the vicinity of a passive rift is revealed. It is shown that the influence of the underlying “cold” mantle can be described in terms of a concentrated vertical force applied to the rift axis. At a moderate spreading rate, the value of this force is an order of magnitude smaller than the characteristic values of forces acting in the plate tectonics. The average viscosity coefficient of the cold upper mantle is estimated at ~1021 P. The concentrated force at the rift axis produces a characteristic topography of the rift valley type of mid-ocean ridges.  相似文献   

9.
Geochemical data indicate that two major reservoirs 1–2 Ga in age are present in the mantle. The upper mantle, feeding mid-ocean ridges, is depleted in chemical elements carried away into the continental crust. The lower mantle, feeding hotspot plumes, is close in composition to primordial matter. The 660-km depth of an endothermic phase transition in olivine has been considered over the last two decades as a possible boundary between the reservoirs. In this period, many models of mantle convection were constructed that used values of the phase transition parameters, which led to temporal (up to 1 Gyr long) convection layerings and periodic avalanche-induced mantle intermixing events. However, laboratory measurements with new improved instrumentation give other values of the phase transition parameters that require a revision of the majority of the existence of large-scale avalanches in the Earth’s history becomes disputable. The paper is devoted to comprehensive study of the phase transition effect on the structure of mantle flows with different values of phase transition parameters and Rayleigh numbers; in particular, the mass transfer through the phase boundary is calculated for different regimes of steady-state convection.  相似文献   

10.
We report here the results of a near-bottom geophysical survey of the Reykjanes Ridge, a mid-ocean ridge that is oriented obliquely to the perpendicular spreading direction. From a combination of the bathymetric profiles, side-scan sonar data, and regional bathymetric maps we infer that the present center of spreading is made up of a number of N15°E-trending en echelon ridge segments in the southern half of our survey area. Insufficient data prevent the identification of the spreading pattern in the northern half. The side-scan records show that the ridge flanks are highly fractured by inward-facing faults displaced 40 m or less and trending in a N21°E direction. The lack of side-scan features parallel to the spreading direction except in the southernmost portion of the survey area suggests that the ridge segments are not connected by transform faults in the usual sense. Although the mechanism by which en echelon ridge segments can be maintained during sea-floor spreading over time is unclear, similar patterns of crustal accretion have been reported on Iceland. It appears that the accretionary processes along the Reykjanes Ridge are more related to those of Iceland than to those of typical mid-ocean ridges.  相似文献   

11.
This note summarizes recent studies of atmospheric excitation of short-term changes in the length of the day and polar motion which set useful limits on the timescales associated with angular momentum transfer between the Earth's core and mantle. It also speculates about the nature of the recently-discovered phenomenon of “impulses” or “jerks” in the geomagnetic secular variation, proposing that they might be manifestations of “loop” instability of the magnetic field within the core. Finally, it outlines novel properties of high magnetic Reynolds number flows that bear on the inverse problem of deducing core motions from geomagnetic secular variation data.  相似文献   

12.
Thermal convection is the motor of Earth dynamics and therefore is the link between plate motions, hotspots, seismic velocity variations in the mantle, and anomalies of the gravity field. Small scale mantle anomalies, such as plumes, do, however, generally escape detection by tomographic methods. It is attempted to approach the problem of detection in a somewhat statistical manner. Correlations are sought between spherical harmonic expansions of the fields under study: the hotspot distribution, mantle velocity variations, gravity, heat flow. Using spherical harmonic representations of global fields implies integration and averaging over the whole globe. Thus, although relationships may remain masked in the space domain by a multitude of effects, tendencies may become visible in the spectra or in appropriate averages.The main results are the following: There is a significant long wavelength (n=2,3) negative correlation between the hotspot density and the P-wave velocity variation in the lower mantle. Positive hotspot density of degree 2 to 9 generally correlates with low seismic velocity in all depths of the upper mantle and with positive gravity. This fits well with plume-type convection. These results are also confirmed regionally for a number of individual mid-ocean ridges and hotspots. The hotspot density and the free air anomalies are distinctly positive above regions of low velocity extending to great depth. The effect is not distinct at ridges with shallow velocity anomalies. In a general way, we suggest that the antipodal upwellings (Pacific, Africa) are divided by downwelling currents around the shrinking Pacific. Plate boundaries can easily move away from their past connections with the deeper mantle. Small scale plume currents seem to be depicted in the hotspot expansion. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.  相似文献   

13.
Models of spreading ocean ridges are derived by Bayesian gravity inversion with geophysical and geodynamic a priori information. The aim is to investigate the influence of spreading rate, plate dynamics and tectonic framework on crust and upper mantle structure by comparing the Mid Atlantic Ridge (MAR), the Indian Ocean Ridge (IND) and the East Pacific Rise (PAC). They differ in mean spreading rate, dynamic settings, as attached slabs, and plume interaction. Topography or bathymetry, gravity, isostasy, seismology and geology, etc. are averaged along the ridges and guide the construction of initial 2D models, including features as mean plumes, i.e. averaged along the ridge. This is a gross simplification, and the results are considered preliminary.Three model types are tested: (a) the temperature anomaly; (b) asthenospheric rise into thickening lithosphere; (c) a crustal root as had been anticipated before seafloor spreading was discovered. Additional model components are a mean plume, a non-compensated ridge uplift, an under-compensated asthenospheric rise, e.g. of partially molten material, and seismic velocity models for P and S waves. Model type (c), tends to permute to model type (b) from thick crust to thin axial lithosphere. Model type (a) renders ‘realistic’ values of the thermal expansivity, but is insufficient to fit the gravity data; partial melt may disturb the simple temperature effect. A combination of (a) and (b) is most adequate. Exclusive seismic velocity models of S or P waves do not lead to acceptable densities nor to adequate gravity fitting. The different ridges exhibit significant differences in the best models: ATL and IND show an axial mass excess fostering enhanced ridge push, and ATL, in addition, suggests a mean plume input, while PAC shows an axial mass deficit reducing ridge push, most probably due to dominance of slab pull in the force balance.Goodness of the gravity fit alone is no justifiable criterion for goodness of model, indeed minor modifications to each model within the uncertainties of the assumptions can make the fit arbitrarily good. Goodness of model is quantified exclusively by a priori information.  相似文献   

14.
The analogies between clustering processes in magmas and clustering ones in galaxies are pursued. By using reasonable assumptions about the properties of the fluids in magmas and in the Earth's mantle, it is shown that: (1) in both processes instabilities are formed by density fluctuations; (2) in both phenomena the process of clusters is of the hierarchical kind; (3) magmas and galaxies both exhibit a simultaneous superposition of mass, momentum and energy transports; (4) coalescence occurring in magmas can be considered the corresponding phenomenon to the close encounters in the galactic groups; and (5) vorticity of the Taylor Proudman type in magmatic systems can be regarded as the corresponding phenomenon to cannibalism in the galaxies. It is suggested that there is a single transport mechanism that may be universally applicable.  相似文献   

15.
16.
Gravitational field models derived from satellite tracking and surface gravity data have been used to derive the forces in the earth's mantle under Asia. Based on studies of tectonic forces from these models, a subcrustal stress field under China has been obtained. The stresses are due to mantle convection. According to the stress patterns, the east and west China blocks and five seismic zones are identified. The tensional stresses exerted by the upwelling mantle convection flows under the crust of Tibet seem to be related to the Tibetan uplift. The compressional orogenic region from the southern tip of Lake Baikal, through Tien Shan, Hindu Kush and the Himalayas to northern Burma appears to be connected with the downwelling mantle convection flows. It is found that the directions of the subcrustal stresses under China are disposed perpendicularly to the major fault systems and seismic belts. The results of stress calculations show that the crust of north China should be in compression and that stresses within it should be sufficient to form the Shansi Graben and Linfen Basin Systems and fracture the lithosphere. This gives a possible explanation of why strong earthquakes occurred in north China which is an isolated narrow region of highest seismicity far from plate boundaries. The tensional stress fields, caused by the upwelling mantle convection flows, are found to be regions of structural kinship characterized by major concentrations of mineral and metal deposits in China.  相似文献   

17.
洋中脊及邻区洋盆的洋壳厚度能很好地反映区域岩浆补给特征,对于研究洋中脊内部及周缘岩浆活动和构造演化过程具有很好的指示意义.西北印度洋中脊作为典型的慢速扩张洋中脊,其扩张过程与周缘构造活动具有很强的时空关系.本文利用剩余地幔布格重力异常反演了西北印度洋洋壳厚度,由此分析区域内洋壳厚度分布和岩浆补给特征.研究发现,西北印度洋洋壳平均厚度为7.8 km,受区域构造背景影响厚度变化较大.根据洋壳厚度的统计学分布特征,将区域内洋壳分为三种类型:薄洋壳(小于4.5 km)、正常洋壳(4.5~6.5 km)和厚洋壳(大于6.5 km),根据西北印度洋中脊周缘(~40 Ma内)洋壳厚度变化特征可将洋中脊划分为5段,发现洋中脊洋壳厚度受区域构造活动和地幔温度所控制,其中薄洋壳主要受转换断层影响造成区域洋壳厚度减薄,而厚洋壳主要受地幔温度和地幔柱作用影响,并在S4洋中脊段显示出较强的热点与洋中脊相互作用,同时微陆块的裂解和漂移也可能是导致洋壳厚度差异的原因之一.  相似文献   

18.
A general set of 2-D equations for the conservation of mass and momentum of a two-phase system of melt in a deformable matrix is used to derive analytic solutions for the corner flow of a constant porosity melt-saturated porous medium. This solution is used to model the melt extraction processes at mid-ocean ridges and island arcs. The models indicate that flow of melt is controlled by pressure gradients induced by the Laplacian of the matrix velocity field and by the dimensionless percolation velocity which measures the relative contributions of buoyancy-driven flow to advection by the matrix. The models can account for many features of ridge and arc volcanism. Matrix corner flow at ridges causes melt to be drawn to the ridge axis enabling the extraction of small melt fractions from a wide melting zone while showing a narrow zone of volcanism at the surface. At subduction zones melts do not percolate vertically but are drawn to the junction of the upper plate and subducting slab by corner flow in the mantle wedge. For subduction zones, if the dimensionless percolation velocity is below a critical value, slab-derived fluids will be carried down by the matrix and cannot interact with the mantle wedge. The geochemistry of island arcs will be controlled by the geometry of melt streamlines. This model is consistent with geophysical and geochemical data from the Aleutian arc.  相似文献   

19.
洋中脊构造及地震调查现状   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
介绍了洋中脊的全球分布和构造特征,对全球主要的、不同扩张速率的洋中脊进行了分类和列表描述;对洋中脊的构造特征,如地形特征、地壳厚度与扩张速率的关系及扩张轴下的岩浆房的特征、洋中脊与地幔柱的相互作用进行了阐述。回顾了海底地震仪在洋中脊构造调查中的应用及取得的主要成果。简要介绍了我国将用海底地震仪开展洋中脊构造调查的技术路线。  相似文献   

20.
Deep seismic sounding studies carried out in 1974–79 allowed an important peculiarity of the deep structure of the Pamir-Himalayas region to be established: the thickness of the Earth's crust is almost twice as large here as on the stable plates (65–75 and 35–37 km, respectively). The absence of any evidence for doubling of crustal thickness provides grounds for rejecting the hypothesis of subduction of the rigid Hindustan plate under the geosynclinal folded constructions of the Punjab syntaxis of the Himalayas. The steep inclination of all major faults, dissecting the Earth's crust and often dislocating the M surface, is also counter to this hypothesis. Several faults reflect the dynamics and conditions of formation of deep layers of the lithosphere. For example, the structural seam of the Indus, which has an almost sheer tilt and which penetrates to subcrustal depths, is a channel along which ophiolite associations of crystalline rocks were squeezed from the mantle. The Fore Himalayan and Major Himalayan faults are the boundaries between different structural facial zones. The band of greatest thickness of crust extends within the zone of greatest thickness of the asthenospheric layer; a deep minimum in the Bouguer anomalies (?550 mGal) corresponds to this zone, as does also a depression on the surface of the geoid.Seismicity of the lithosphere of the Pamir-Himalayas region is caused by geodynamic processes manifested in the higher lithospheric layers by block displacements of the Earth's crust (mostly uplifts), and in the lower parts by shifts of the steeply inclined mantle blocks (the Pamir-Hindukush seismic focal zone).  相似文献   

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