Upper mantle low anisotropy channels below the Pacific Plate |
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| Authors: | J-P Montagner |
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| Institution: | Department of Seismology, UMR7580, Institute of Physics of the Globe, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France |
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| Abstract: | A new 3D anisotropic model has been obtained at a global scale by using a massive dataset of seismic surface waves. Though seismic heterogeneities are usually interpreted in terms of heterogeneous temperature field, a large part of lateral variations are also induced by seismic anisotropy of upper mantle minerals. New insight into convection processes can be gained by taking seismic anisotropy into account in the inversion procedure. The model is best resolved in the Pacific Plate, the largest and the most active tectonic plate. Superimposed on the large-scale radial (ξ parameter) and azimuthal anisotropy (of VSV velocity) within and below the lithosphere, correlated with present or past Pacific Plate motions, are smaller-scale (<1000 km) lateral variations of anisotropy not predicted by plate tectonics. Channels of low anisotropy down to a depth of 200 km (hereafter referred to as LAC) are observed and are the best resolved anomalies: one east-west channel between Easter Island and the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zones (observed on both radial and azimuthal anisotropies) and a second one (only observed on azimuthal anisotropy) extending from the south-west Pacific up to south-east Hawaii, and passing through the Polynesia hotspot group for plate older than about 40 Ma. These features provide strong constraints on the decoupling between the plate and asthenosphere. They are presumably related to cracking within the Pacific Plate and/or to secondary convection below the rigid lithosphere, predicted by numerical and analog experiments. The existence and location of these LACs might be related to the current active volcanoes and hotspots (possibly plumes) in the Central Pacific. LACs, which are dividing the Pacific Plate into smaller units, might indicate a future reorganization of plates with ridge migrations in the Pacific Ocean. |
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| Keywords: | seismic waves anisotropy tomography Pacific Plate upper mantle convection lithosphere asthenosphere |
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