Search results for "LITHOSPHERE"
showing 10 items of 96 documents
Southern-Tyrrhenian seismicity in space-time-magnitude domain
2006
An analysis is conducted on a catalogue containing more than 2000 seismic events occurred in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea between 1988 and October 2002, as an attempt to characterise the main seismogenetic processes active in the area in space, time and magnitude domain by means of the parameters of phenomenological laws. We chose to adopt simple phenomenological models, since the low number of data did not allow to use more complex laws. The two main seismogenetic volumes present in the area were considered for the purpose of this work. The first includes a nearly homogeneous distribution of hypocentres in a NW steeply dipping layer as far as a…
Lattice-particle simulation of stress patterns in a Rwenzori-type rift transfer zone
2011
Abstract A new 3D spring lattice computer model has been developed and used to calculate the stress-field in the vicinity of a rift transfer zone. The numerical setup is based on the Rwenzori block, a transfer zone in the Western Branch of the East African Rift Valley. The study has two closely related, yet independent aims: primarily to gain insight into the pattern and the causes of the stress field in the Rwenzori area. The second aim is the evaluation of the model itself, based on a comparison of the model results with local geological structures. The simulations calculate the stress in the brittle part of the crust, at the topographic surface and at a depth of 10 km. The model does the…
On thrusting, regional unconformities and exhumation of high-grade greenstones in Neoarchean orogens. The case of the Waroonga Shear Zone, Yilgarn Cr…
2017
Abstract During the Neoarchean, the dominant tectonic style progressively changed from an episodic-overturn/stagnant-lid regime to modern-style plate tectonics. The Neoarchean strengthening of continental lithosphere changed the style of deformation of orogenic belts. The case study presented here provides insights into how such transition in tectonic style occurred, a matter that is generally controversial. We present structural and metamorphic data from the c. 2660 Ma Waroonga Shear Zone (WSZ) in the Neoarchean Yilgarn orogen (Western Australia). The WSZ contains a syntectonic pluton and older, high-grade greenstones. The tectonic fabric in the pluton developed during melt-present thrusti…
Layered lower crust and mantle reflectivity as imaged by a re-processed crustal seismic profile from Sicily in the central Mediterranean
2015
Abstract Though Sicily is a key area for understanding the central Mediterranean tectonics, a number of questions on its dynamics remains open due to the lack of detailed data on the lithospheric structure. Deep reflectivity images of the African lithosphere, beneath Sicily, have been derived from the re-processing of the crustal seismic reflection stack (SI.RI.PRO. Project). Of specific interest was the imaging, beneath central-southern Sicily, of a thinned crust with a reflective, “layered” pattern for the lower crust that differs from the one, thicker and sub-transparent, of the northern-central sector. Brittle deformation in the upper crystalline crust along a low-angle normal fault and…
The southern Tyrrhenian Sea margin an example of lithospheric scale strike-slip duplex
2010
The southern Tyrrhenian Sea margin is dominated by deformations whose kinematics are relatively poorly constrained, and different models have been proposed to account for its recent evolution. Analysis of new structural and space geodesy data, combined with available geophysical information, reveal a deformation field characterised by subhorizontal NW-SE directed shortening and SW-NE directed extension. The main recognised regional-scale structure comprises E-W trending fault zones, namely the Ustica-Eolie Line and the Mt. Kumeta-Alcantara Line, connected by the NW-SE trending Marettimo, Trapani, San Vito, Palermo, Gratteri-Mt. Mufara and Eolie faults. This fault network displays a remarkab…
The role of slabs and oceanic plate geometry in the net rotation of the lithosphere, trench motions, and slab return flow
2012
International audience; [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. F…
Melting of sediments in the deep mantle produces saline fluid inclusions in diamonds.
2019
We demonstrate the formation of highly saline mantle fluids by the reaction of subducted sediment with peridotite.
Development of topography in 3-D continental-collision models
2015
Understanding the formation and evolution of high mountain belts, such as the Himalayas and the adjacent Tibetan Plateau, has been the focus of many tectonic and numerical models. Here we employ 3-D numerical simulations to investigate the role that subduction, collision, and indentation play on lithosphere dynamics at convergent margins, and to analyze the conditions under which large topographic plateaus can form in an integrated lithospheric and upper mantle-scale model. Distinct dynamics are obtained for the oceanic subduction side (trench retreat, slab rollback) and the continental-collision side (trench advance, slab detachment, topographic uplift, lateral extrusion). We show that sla…
Mediterranean Tertiary lamproites derived from multiple source components in postcollisional geodynamics
2008
Abstract In the Mediterranean area, lamproitic provinces in Spain, Italy, Serbia and Macedonia have uniform geological, geochemical and petrographic characteristics. Mediterranean lamproites are SiO2-rich lamproites, characterized by relatively low CaO, Al2O3 and Na2O, and high K2O/Al2O3 and Mg-number. They are enriched in LILE relative to HFSE and in Pb, and show depletion in Ti, Nb and Ta. Mediterranean lamproites show huge regional variation of Sr, Nd and 207Pb/204Pb isotopic values, with 87Sr/86Sr range of 0.707–0.722, eNd range from −13 to −3, and 207Pb/204Pb range of 15.62–15.79. Lamproitic rocks are derived from melts with three components involved in their origin, characterized by c…
Speculations on the impact of catastrophic subduction initiation on the Earth System
2016
Abstract The physics of subduction initiation can be studied with numerical models of lithosphere dynamics, to the extent where we can now test the potential consequences of a catastrophic subduction initiation event on the Earth System. The South American Atlantic passive margin is here used to show that, once subduction has catastrophically initiated there, a major geodynamic reconfiguration of the South American plate (SAm) is likely to take place: (1) compression in the east will be inverted to extension, because ridge push will be replaced by subduction rollback and trench retreat; (2) compression in the west will be inverted to extension due to absolute rollback; and (3) without buttr…