Search results for "LITHOSPHERE"
showing 10 items of 96 documents
Quantifying the impact of mechanical layering and underthrusting on the dynamics of the modern India-Asia collisional system with 3-D numerical models
2014
The impact of mechanical layering and the strength of the Indian lower crust on the dynamics of the modern India-Asia collisional system are studied using 3-D thermomechanical modeling. The model includes an Indian oceanic domain, Indian continental domain, and an Asian continental domain. Each domain consists of four layers: upper/lower crust, and upper/lower lithospheric mantle. The Tarim and Sichuan Basins are modeled as effectively rigid blocks and the Quetta-Chaman and Sagaing strike-slip faults as vertical weak zones. The geometry, densities, and viscosities are constrained by geophysical data sets (CRUST2.0, gravity, and seismology). Both static (no horizontal movement of model bound…
Strong intracontinental lithospheric deformation in South China: Implications from seismic observations and geodynamic modeling
2014
Abstract Classical plate tectonics theory predicts concentrated deformation at plate boundaries and weak deformation within plates. Yet, the existence of intracontinental orogens shows that highly deformed regions can occur within continental plates, which is geodynamically incompletely understood. Shear wave splitting measurements in South China show belt-parallel (i.e. NE–SW) fast directions beneath the Wulingshan-Xuefengshan Belts, while no dominant fast direction is found in the cratonic Sichuan Basin. Tomographic studies in the mantle in the same area show that the thickness of lithosphere beneath the intracontinental orogen is larger than that beneath the cratonic Sichuan Basin. In or…
Age and provenance constraints on seismically-determined crustal layers beneath the Paleozoic southern Central Asian Orogen, Inner Mongolia, China
2016
Abstract We present 110 ages and 51 in-situ δ18O values for zircon xenocrysts from a post-99 Ma intraplate basaltic rock suite hosted in a subduction–accretion complex of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt in order to constrain a seismic profile across the Paleozoic Southern Orogen of Inner Mongolia and the northern margin of the North China Craton. Two zircon populations are recognized, namely a Phanerozoic group of 70 zircons comprising granitoid-derived (ca. 431–99 Ma; n = 31; peak at 256 Ma), meta-granitoid-derived (ca. 449–113 Ma; n = 24; peak at 251 Ma) and gabbro-derived (436–242 Ma; n = 15; peaks at 264 and 244 Ma) grains. Each textural type is characterized by a distinct zirc…
Slab-triggered wet upwellings produce large volumes of melt: Insights into the destruction of the North China Craton
2018
Abstract Cratons have remained stable for billions of years, despite of ongoing mantle convection and plate tectonics. The North China Craton (NCC), however, is abnormal, as it has experienced a destruction event during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic which was accompanied by extensive magmatism. Several lines of evidence suggest that the (Paleo-)Pacific plate played an important role in this event. Yet, the geodynamic link between subduction and craton destruction remains poorly understood, and it is unclear why there is no systematic spatial and temporal variation of magmatism related to subduction. Here, we perform 2-D petrological-thermomechanical simulations to investigate the influence of s…
Ultrapotassic Mafic Rocks as Geochemical Proxies for Post-collisional Dynamics of Orogenic Lithospheric Mantle: the Case of Southwestern Anatolia, Tu…
2012
High-Mg ultrapotassic volcanic rock occurrences of lamproitic affinity are exposed in southwestern Anatolia, mostly within the Menderes Massif. From north to south the lamproitic volcanism shows increasingly younger ages ranging from 20 to 4 Ma. Volcanism is contemporaneous with more voluminous shoshonitic, high-K calc-alkaline, and ultrapotassic magmatic activity in the Simav-Selendi, Usak, Kirka, Koroglu, Afyon and Isparta-Golcuk areas. The southward decrease in the age of the volcanism correlates with changes in geochemical composition, particularly a decrease in Sr-87/Sr-86, Pb-207/Pb-204, Zr/Nb and Th/Nb, and an increase in Nd-143/Nd-144, Hf-176/Hf-177, Pb-206/Pb-204, Pb-208/Pb-204 and…
A free plate surface and weak oceanic crust produce single-sided subduction on Earth
2012
[1] Earth’s lithosphere is characterized by the relative movement of almost rigid plates as part of global mantle convection. Subduction zones on present-day Earth are strongly asymmetric features composed of an overriding plate above a subducting plate that sinks into the mantle. While global self-consistent numerical models of mantle convection have reproduced some aspects of plate tectonics, the assumptions behind these models do not allow for realistic single-sided subduction. Here we demonstrate that the asymmetry of subduction results from two major features of terrestrial plates: (1) the presence of a free deformable upper surface and (2) the presence of weak hydrated crust atop subd…
Hf isotope compositions of Mediterranean lamproites: Mixing of melts from asthenosphere and crustally contaminated mantle lithosphere
2010
Abstract Mediterranean lamproites from Spain, Italy, Serbia and Macedonia are mantle-derived ultrapotassic volcanic rocks that occur exclusively in postcollisional, extension-related geodynamic settings within the Alpine–Himalaya orogenic belt. Previous studies inferred them to be multi-component melts, originating by mixing of several mantle end-members: (1) provenance-controlled crust-contaminated mantle component(s), (2) an ultra-depleted mantle component, and (3) a component ultimately derived from the convecting mantle. Hf isotope ratios of Mediterranean lamproites reported here cover a large range of eHf values from 0 to −15, for less variable eNd −2 to −13, providing further evidence…
Crustal structure of the Reykjanes Ridge near 62°N, on the basis of seismic refraction and gravity data
2007
Explosion deep seismic sounding data sections of high quality had been obtained with RV Meteor in the Reykjanes Iceland Seismic Project (RRISP77 [Angenheister, G., Gebrande, H., Miller, H., Goldflam, P., Weigel, W., Jacoby, W.R., Palmason, G., Bjornsson, S., Einarsson, P., Pavlenkova, N.I., Zverev, S., Litvinenko, I.V., Loncarecic, B., Solomon, S., 1980. Reykjanes Ridge Iceland Seismic Experiment (RRISP 77). J. Geophys. 47, 228–238]) which close an information gap near 62°N. Preliminary results were presented by Weigel [Weigel, W., 1980. Aufbau des Reykjanes Ruckens nach refraktionsseismischen Messungen. In: Weigel, W. (Ed.), Reykjanes Rucken, Island, Norwegischer Kontinentalrand. Abschluss…
Rejuvenation and erosion of the cratonic lithosphere
2008
Cratons are ancient continental nuclei that have resisted significant fragmentation for almost two billion years. Yet, many cratons also experience phases of instability in the form of erosion and rejuvenation of their thick lithospheric mantle keels. Melting governed by redox processes as well as small-scale convection play a key role in triggering such instability. Cratons are the ancient cores of continents, characterized by tectonic inactivity, a thick mantle lithosphere and low heat flow. Although stable as tectonically independent units for at least the past 2 billion years, cratons have experienced episodic rejuvenation events throughout their history. The lower part of the lithosphe…
Rapid conversion of elastic energy into plastic shear heating during incipient necking of the lithosphere
1998
An important and novel mechanism for ductile failure of the lithosphere is identified here, which is intrinsic to the thermal-mechanical feedback in a temperature dependent plastic body with coupled elastic fields. Both a temperature-dependent power-law visco-elasto-plastic rheology and a temperature-dependent elasto-plastic rheology are employed to study in a self-consistent fashion the deformation of the lithosphere subject to extension by means of a two-dimensional, finite-element code. A structural perturbation initially localizes elasto-plastic deformation only in its immediate vicinity. However, after 800,000 years have elapsed the localized zone of deformation takes off in a ‘crack-l…