The thermal state and strength of the lithosphere in the Spanish Central System and Tajo Basin from crustal heat production and thermal isostasy |
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| Institution: | 1. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port Said 42522, Egypt;2. Department of Mineral Resources and Rocks, Faculty of Earth Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80206, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;3. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, El-Mansoura, Egypt;4. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt;1. School of Earth Science and Resources, China University of Geosciences Beijing, 29 Xueyuan Road, Haidian district, Beijing 100083, China;2. CSIC-Spanish National Research Council, Barcelona, Spain;3. IGG, University of Copenhagen, Oester Voldgade 10, Copenhagen 1350, Denmark;4. Physics of the Earth, University of Zaragoza (Sciences B), Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain |
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| Abstract: | In this work we have modeled the thermal structure of the lithosphere of the Spanish Central System and the Tajo Basin, and their implications for lithospheric strength. For this, we have used refined heat-producing elements (HPE) values to obtain new estimates of heat production rates in the Spanish Central System and Tajo Basin areas, which have been used joined to the relation between topography and thermal structure of the lithosphere to calculate the best-fit surface heat flows in the study area. Moreover, we have implemented a temperature-dependent thermal conductivity (appropriate for olivine) for the lithospheric mantle to improve the calculations of temperature profiles in the mantle. The geotherms so obtained, together with the implementation of a new rheological law for the upper lithospheric mantle, have been used to calculate refined estimations of the strength and effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere. We have obtained surface heat flow values of 84 mW m?2 and ～82 mW m?2 for the Spanish Central System and the Tajo Basin, respectively. The thermal state of the lithosphere affects mantle temperatures, and hence may be playing an important role in the uplift and maintenance of the Spanish Central System. |
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