Magnetotelluric soundings over the northeast Pacific may reveal spatial dependence of depth and conductance of the asthenosphere |
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| Authors: | JH Filloux |
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| Institution: | Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093 U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | A seafloor electrical conductivity profile resulting from a more thorough analysis of magnetotelluric data from station S.F. Revisited than previously presented is compared to an earlier profile at Farewell to Aggy, station III. Both stations are located over the same interfracture zone segment of the Pacific plate, the first roughly 700 km off the coast of California (position 31°18′N, 128°20′W, water depth 4.5 km, plate age 30 m.y. estimated from nearby magnetic reversal number 12), the second approximately 800 km to the NNE of the mainland of Hawaii (position 26°32′N, 151°20′W, depth 5.3 km, age 72 m.y. estimated from adjacent magnetic reversal 30–31).The seafloor impedances at S.F. Revisited are only mildly polarized and their interpretation in terms of an isotropic, horizontally layered structure suggests the occurrence at about 85 km depth of a highly conducting layer with a conductance exceeding by roughly 4 × 103 S, an otherwise monotonically increasing conductivity trend. The implied dependence of conductivity with depth is therefore similar to that found earlier for station III, however with the following differences: the high-conductivity layer at station III occurs at a greater depth (140 km), it appears to have a slightly reduced excess conductance over the background, 3.5 × 103 S although this evidence should be used with caution, and the lithospheric conductivity at station III, surprisingly seems to be somewhat higher, an effect possibly related to the proximity of the Hawaiian chain and to its generic processes. |
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