Search results for "LITHOSPHERE"

Dilatant plasticity applied to Alpine collision: ductile void growth in the intraplate area beneath the Eifel volcanic field

1998

The Eifel is located in the middle of the European plate far away from any active plate boundary, yet it appears to be a maximum of intraplate tectonic activity. A map of intraplate seismic energy flow shows that the Eifel is linked to the Alpine collisional belt via a narrow seismoactive shear zone. Two parallel Quaternary volcanic zones (the East Eifel Volcanic Zone EEVZ and the West Eifel Volcanic Zone WEVZ) line up with the seismogenic shear zone. Xenoliths ejected from these volcanic lineaments indicate upper mantle shearing by dynamic recrystallization textures and metasomatized chemistry. Important CO2-dominated mantle degassing observed in mineral springs, lakes or dry degassing sug…

Formation of arcuate orogenic belts in the western Mediterranean region

2004

The Alpine orogen in the western Mediterranean region, consisting of the Rif-Betic belt and the Apennine-Calabrian-Maghrebide belt, is a classic example of an arcuate orogen. It contains fragments of Cretaceous to Oligocene high-pressure/low-temperature (HP/LT) rocks, which were exhumed and dispersed during post-Oligocene extensional deformation and are presently exposed in the soles of metamorphic core complexes. In this paper, we illustrate that the arcuate shape of the orogenic belt was attained during extensional destruction of the earlier HP/LT belt, driven by subduction rollback in a direction oblique or orthogonal to the direction of convergence. Since the Oligocene, sub-duction of M…

Polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation triggered by buoyant plateau obstruction

2022

Abstract Oceanic lithosphere worldwide is younger than ca. 200 Myr, suggesting that it must have been globally recycled by the recurrent formation of new subduction zones since the existence of subduction on Earth. However, postulated subduction zone initiation processes remain difficult to explain in many cases, and the specific geodynamic conditions under which these might occur are still largely unknown. We here use numerical models driven by the internal force balance of a subduction system to better understand the (geo)dynamics governing (intra-oceanic) polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation. This initiation mode assumes that the birth of a new subduction zone could be triggered …

Petrogenesis of orogenic lamproites of the Bohemian Massif: Sr–Nd–Pb–Li isotope constraints for Variscan enrichment of ultra-depleted mantle domains

2016

Abstract During convergence of Gondwana-derived microplates and Laurussia in the Palaeozoic, subduction of oceanic and continental crusts and their sedimentary cover introduced material of regionally contrasting chemical and isotopic compositions into the mantle. This slab material metasomatised the local mantle, producing a highly heterogeneous lithospheric mantle beneath the European Variscides. The eastern termination of the European Variscides (Moldanubian and Saxo-Thuringian zones of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Poland) is unusual in that the mantle was modified by material from several subduction zones within a small area. Orogenic lamproites sampled this lithospheric mantle, …

Fluid-triggered earthquake swarms in the Rwenzori region, East African Rift—Evidence for rift initiation

2012

The Rwenzori Mountains are located within the Albertine Rift Valley in western Uganda. To monitor the microseismic activity in the area we have deployed a seismic network of up to 35 stations for a period of about 20 months. The analysis of the recordings revealed several earthquake clusters within a restricted area NE of the mountain block. The clusters form elongated pipes with 1–2 km diameter and vertical extensions of 3–5 km. Most of them are located in 5–16 km depths; however one cluster reaches down to 22 km. Each cluster is composed of a series of single earthquake swarms with durations between a few days and more than a week, interrupted by intervals of inactivity of up to several m…

Numerical modeling of eastern Tibetan-type margin: Influences of surface processes, lithospheric structure and crustal rheology

2013

The eastern Tibetan margin is characterized by a steep topographic gradient and remarkably lateral variations in crustal/lithospheric structure and thermal state. GPS measurements show that the surface convergence rate in this area is strikingly low. How can such a mountain range grow without significant upper crustal shortening? In order to investigate the formation mechanism of the eastern Tibetan-type margins, we conducted 2D numerical simulations based on finite difference and marker-in-cell techniques. The numerical models were constrained with geological and geophysical observations in the eastern Tibetan margin. Several major parameters responsible for topography building, such as th…

Tectono-stratigraphic modelling of the North Sicily continental margin (southern Tyrrhenian Sea).

2004

A two-dimensional numerical modelling that simulate the kinematic and thermal response of the lithosphere to thinning was used for the quantitative reconstruction of the late Neogene to Recent times tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of the North Sicily continental margin (southern Tyrrhenian Sea). The numerical study of the evolution of the North Sicily margin builds on the crustal image and kinematic interpretation of the margin obtained by Pepe et al. [Tectonics 19 (2000) 241] on the basis of seismic data and gravity modelling. Tectonic modeling indicate that different segments of the margin were undergoing different vertical movements, which are mainly expression of the rifting and th…

WAM tomography in the southern Tyrrhenian region : petrological inferences and hypothesis on the fluid circulation in the subducting Ionian slab and …

2008

Seismic velocity structures of Southern Italy from tomographic imaging of the Ionian slab and petrological inferences.

2012

International audience; In this study we have determined detailed Vp and Vs seismic velocity models of the Ionian lithosphere subducting beneath the Tyrrhenian basin and of the surrounding mantle, by applying a post-processing technique to a large sample of local earthquake tomography studies. Our seismic velocity models permit us to infer the presence of low velocity anomalies within the slab, which we interpret as regions that are partially hydrated by fluids released during the subduction process. A petrological interpretation of the velocity anomalies gives new details on the magmatism of the volcanic Aeolian arc. Furthermore our velocity models provide a more detailed description of th…

The role of slabs and oceanic plate geometry in the net rotation of the lithosphere, trench motions, and slab return flow

2012

[1] Absolute plate motion models with respect to a deep mantle reference frame (e.g., hot spots) typically contain some net rotation (NR) of the lithosphere. Global mantle flow models for the present-day plate setting reproduce similarly oriented NRs but with amplitudes significantly smaller than those found in some high NR Pacific hot spot reference frames. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms of NR excitation, which we attempt here with two-dimensional cylindrical models of an idealized Pacific domain. We study the influence of slab properties, oceanic ridge position, continental keels, and a weak asthenospheric layer on NR and trench migration. Fast slab return flow dev…