6533b85dfe1ef96bd12bdcf4

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Geodynamic inversion to constrain the non-linear rheology of the lithosphere

subject

description

A common method to determine the strength of the lithosphere is through estimating its effective elastic thickness from the coherence between gravity and topography. This method assumes a priori that the lithosphere is a thin elastic plate floating on a viscous mantle. Whereas this seems to work well with oceanic plates, it has given controversial results in continental collision zones. Usually, continental collisions zones are well-studied areas for which additional geophysical datasets such as receiver functions and seismic tomography exist that constrain the geometry of the lithosphere and often show that it is rather complex. Yet, lithospheric geometry by itself is insufficient to understand the dynamics of the lithosphere, as this also requires knowledge of the rheology of the lithosphere. Experimental results show significant variability between various rock types and there are large uncertainties in extrapolating laboratory values to nature, which leaves room for speculation.