Mantle plumes from top to bottom   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

Norman H. Sleep 《Earth》2006,77(4):231-271

Hotspots include midplate features like Hawaii and on-axis features like Iceland. Mantle plumes are a well-posed hypothesis for their formation. Starting plume heads provide an explanation of brief episodes of flood basalts, mafic intrusions, and radial dike swarms. Yet the essence of the hypothesis hides deep in the mantle. Tests independent of surface geology and geochemistry to date have been at best tantalizing. It is productive to bare the current ignorance, rather than to dump the plume hypothesis. One finds potentially fruitful lines of inquiry using simple dynamics and observations. Ancient lithospheric xenoliths may reveal heating by plumes and subsequent thermal equilibration in the past. The effect at the base of the chemical layer is modest 50-100 K for transient heating by plume heads. Thinning of nonbuoyant platform lithosphere is readily observed but not directly attributable to plumes. The plume history in Antarctica is ill constrained because of poor geological exposure. This locality provides a worst case on what is known about surface evidence of hotspots. Direct detection of plume tail conduits in the mid-mantle is now at the edge of seismic resolution. Seismology does not provide adequate resolution of the deep mantle. We do not know the extent of a chemically dense dregs layer or whether superplume regions are cooler or hotter than an adiabat in equilibrium with the asthenosphere. Overall, mid-mantle seismology is most likely to give definitive results as plume conduits are the guts of the dynamic hypothesis. Finding them would bring unresolved deep and shallow processes into place.  相似文献   

Upper mantle structure of the Northern Eurasia from peaceful nuclear explosion data   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

G.A. Pavlenkova  N.I. Pavlenkova   《Tectonophysics》2006,416(1-4):33

Several long-range seismic profiles were carried out in Russia with Peaceful Nuclear Explosions (PNE). The data from 25 PNEs recorded along these profiles were used to compile a 3-D upper mantle velocity model for the central part of the Northern Eurasia. 2-D crust and upper mantle models were also constructed for all profiles using a common methodology for wavefield interpretation. Five basic boundaries were traced over the study area: N1 boundary (velocity level, V = 8.35 km/s; depth interval, D = 60–130 km), N2 (V = 8.4 km/s; D = 100–140 km), L (V = 8.5 km/s; D = 180–240 km) and H (V = 8.6 km/s; D = 300–330 km) and structural maps were compiled for each boundary. Together these boundaries describe a 3-D upper mantle model for northern Eurasia. A map characterised the velocity distribution in the uppermost mantle down to a depth of 60 km is also presented. Mostly horizontal inhomogeneity is observed in the uppermost mantle, and the velocities range from the average 8.0–8.1 km/s to 8.3–8.4 km/s in some blocks of the Siberian Craton. At a depth of 100–200 km, the local high velocity blocks disappear and only three large anomalies are observed: lower velocities in West Siberia and higher velocities in the East-European platform and in the central part of the Siberian Craton. In contrast, the depths to the H boundary are greater beneath the craton and lower beneath in the West Siberian Platform. A correlation between tectonics, geophysical fields and crustal structure is observed. In general, the old and cold cratons have higher velocities in the mantle than the young platforms with higher heat flows.Structural peculiarities of the upper mantle are difficult to describe in form of classical lithosphere–asthenosphere system. The asthenosphere cannot be traced from the seismic data; in contrary the lithosphere is suggested to be rheologically stratified. All the lithospheric boundaries are not simple discontinuities, they are heterogeneous (thin layering) zones which generate multiphase reflections. Many of them may be a result of fluids concentrated at some critical P–T conditions which produce rheologically weak zones. The most visible rheological variations are observed at depths of around 100 and 250 km.  相似文献   

Seismic lamination and anisotropy of the Lower Continental Crust   总被引：2，自引：3，他引：2  

Rolf Meissner  Wolfgang Rabbel  Hartmut Kern 《Tectonophysics》2006,416(1-4):81

Seismic lamination in the lower crust associated with marked anisotropy has been observed at various locations. Three of these locations were investigated by specially designed experiments in the near vertical and in the wide-angle range, that is the Urach and the Black Forrest area, both belonging to the Moldanubian, a collapsed Variscan terrane in southern Germany, and in the Donbas Basin, a rift inside the East European (Ukrainian) craton. In these three cases, a firm relationship between lower crust seismic lamination and anisotropy is found. There are more cases of lower-crustal lamination and anisotropy, e.g. from the Basin and Range province (western US) and from central Tibet, not revealed by seismic wide-angle measurements, but by teleseismic receiver function studies with a P–S conversion at the Moho. Other cases of lamination and anisotropy are from exhumed lower crustal rocks in Calabria (southern Italy), and Val Sesia and Val Strona (Ivrea area, Northern Italy). We demonstrate that rocks in the lower continental crust, apart from differing in composition, differ from the upper mantle both in terms of seismic lamination (observed in the near-vertical range) and in the type of anisotropy. Compared to upper mantle rocks exhibiting mainly orthorhombic symmetry, the symmetry of the rocks constituting the lower crust is either axial or orthorhombic and basically a result of preferred crystallographic orientation of major minerals (biotite, muscovite, hornblende). We argue that the generation of seismic lamination and anisotropy in the lower crust is a consequence of the same tectonic process, that is, ductile deformation in a warm and low-viscosity lower crust. This process takes place preferably in areas of extension. Heterogeneous rock units are formed that are generally felsic in composition, but that contain intercalations of mafic intrusions. The latter have acted as heat sources and provide the necessary seismic impedance contrasts. The observed seismic anisotropy is attributed to lattice preferred orientation (LPO) of major minerals, in particular of mica and hornblende, but also of olivine. A transversely isotropic symmetry system, such as expected for sub-horizontal layering, is found in only half of the field studies. Azimuthal anisotropy is encountered in the rest of the cases. This indicates differences in the horizontal components of tectonic strain, which finally give rise to differences in the evolution of the rock fabric.  相似文献   

An investigation of upper mantle heterogeneity beneath the Archaean and Proterozoic crust of western Canada from Lithoprobe controlled-source seismic experiments     

Andrew R. Gorman  Balzs Nmeth  Ron M. Clowes  Zoltan Hajnal 《Tectonophysics》2006,416(1-4):187

Observations of upper mantle reflectivity at numerous locations around the world have been linked to the presence of a heterogeneous distribution of rock types within a broad layer of the upper mantle. This phenomenon is observed in wide-angle reflection data from Lithoprobe's Alberta Basement Transect [the SAREX and Deep Probe experiments of 1995] and Trans-Hudson Orogen Transect [the THoRE experiment of 1993]. SAREX and Deep Probe image the Archaean lithosphere of the Hearne and Wyoming Provinces, whereas THoRE images the Archaean and Proterozoic lithosphere of the Trans-Hudson Orogen and neighbouring areas.Finite-difference synthetic seismograms are used to constrain the position and physical properties of the reflective layer. SAREX/Deep Probe modelling uses a 2-D visco-elastic finite-difference routine; THoRE modelling uses a pseudospectral algorithm. In both cases, the upper mantle is parameterized in terms of two media. One medium is the background matrix; the other is statistically distributed within the first as a series of elliptical bodies. Such a scheme is suitable for modelling: (1) variations in lithology (e.g., a peridotite matrix with eclogite lenses) or (2) variations in rheology (e.g., lenses of increased strain within a less strained background).The synthetic seismograms show that the properties of heterogeneities in the upper mantle do not change significantly between the two Lithoprobe transects. Beneath the Trans-Hudson Orogen in Saskatchewan, the layer is best modelled to lie at depths between 80 and 150 km. Based on observations from perpendicular profiles, anisotropy of the heterogeneities is inferred. Beneath the Precambrian domains of Alberta, 400 km to the west, upper mantle heterogeneities are modelled to occur between depths of 90 and 140 km. In both cases the heterogeneous bodies within the model have cross-sectional lengths of tens of kilometers, vertical thicknesses less than 1 km, and velocity contrasts from the background of − 0.3 to − 0.4 km/s. Based on consistency with complementary data and other results, the heterogeneous layer is inferred to be part of the continental lithosphere and may have formed through lateral flow or deformation within the upper mantle.  相似文献   

Equation of state of MgGeO3 perovskite to 65 GPa: comparison with the post-perovskite phase     

C. E. Runge  A. Kubo  B. Kiefer  Y. Meng  V. B. Prakapenka  G. Shen  R. J. Cava  T. S. Duffy 《Physics and Chemistry of Minerals》2006,33(10):699-709

The equation of state of MgGeO₃ perovskite was determined between 25 and 66 GPa using synchrotron X-ray diffraction with the laser-heated diamond anvil cell. The data were fit to a third-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state and yielded a zero-pressure volume (V ₀) of 182.2 ± 0.3 Å³ and bulk modulus (K ₀) of 229 ± 3 GPa, with the pressure derivative (K′₀ = (?K ₀/?P) _T ) fixed at 3.7. Differential stresses were evaluated using lattice strain theory and found to be typically less than about 1.5 GPa. Theoretical calculations were also carried out using density functional theory from 0 to 205 GPa. The equation of state parameters from theory (V ₀ = 180.2 Å³, K ₀ = 221.3 GPa, and K′₀ = 3.90) are in agreement with experiment, although theoretically calculated volumes are systematically lower than experiment. The properties of the perovskite phase were compared to MgGeO₃ post-perovskite phase near the observed phase transition pressure (～65 GPa). Across the transition, the density increased by 2.0(0.7)%. This is in excellent agreement with the theoretically determined density change of 1.9%; however both values are larger than those for the (Mg,Fe)SiO₃ phase transition. The bulk sound velocity change across the transition is small and is likely to be negative [?0.5(1.6)% from experiment and ?1.2% from theory]. These results are similar to previous findings for the (Mg,Fe)SiO₃ system. A linearized Birch–Murnaghan equation of state fit to each axis yielded zero-pressure compressibilities of 0.0022, 0.0009, and 0.0016 GPa^?1 for the a, b, and c axis, respectively. Magnesium germanate appears to be a good analog system for studying the properties of the perovskite and post-perovskite phases in silicates.  相似文献   

Large igneous provinces generated from the margins of the large low-velocity provinces in the deep mantle     

Trond H. Torsvik  Mark A. Smethurst  Kevin Burke  Bernhard Steinberger 《Geophysical Journal International》2006,167(3):1447-1460

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Investigating the lowermost mantle using migrations of long-period S–ScS data     

K. Chambers  J. H. Woodhouse 《Geophysical Journal International》2006,166(2):667-678

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The relationship between depth, age and gravity in the oceans   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

A. G. Crosby  D. McKenzie  J. G. Sclater 《Geophysical Journal International》2006,166(2):553-573

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S-wave velocity structure, mantle xenoliths and the upper mantle beneath the Kaapvaal craton   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Angela Marie Larson  J. Arthur Snoke  David E. James 《Geophysical Journal International》2006,167(1):171-186

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Effects of mode coupling and location of rotational axis on glacial induced rotational deformation in a laterally heterogeneous viscoelastic earth     

Patrick Wu  Hansheng Wang 《Geophysical Journal International》2006,167(2):853-859

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