Seismic imaging of transition zone discontinuities suggests hot mantle west of Hawaii

The Hawaiian hotspot is often attributed to hot material rising from depth in the mantle, but efforts to detect a thermal plume seismically have been inconclusive. To investigate pertinent thermal anomalies, we imaged with inverse scattering of SS waves the depths to seismic discontinuities below the Central Pacific, which we explain with olivine and garnet transitions in a pyrolitic mantle. The presence of an 800- to 2000-kilometer-wide thermal anomaly (ΔT(max) ~300 to 400 kelvin) deep in the transition zone west of Hawaii suggests that hot material does not rise from the lower mantle through a narrow vertical plume but accumulates near the base of the transition zone before being entrained in flow toward Hawaii and, perhaps, other islands. This implies that geochemical trends in Hawaiian lavas cannot constrain lower mantle domains directly.     

Flow of mantle fluids through the ductile lower crust: helium isotope trends

Heat and mass are injected into the shallow crust when mantle fluids are able to flow through the ductile lower crust. Minimum 3He/4He ratios in surface fluids from the northern Basin and Range Province, western North America, increase systematically from low crustal values in the east to high mantle values in the west, a regional trend that correlates with the rates of active crustal deformation. The highest ratios occur where the extension and shear strain rates are greatest. The correspondence of helium isotope ratios and active transtensional deformation indicates a deformation-enhanced permeability and that mantle fluids can penetrate the ductile lithosphere, even in regions where there is no substantial magmatism. Superimposed on the regional trend are local, high 3He/4He anomalies indicating hidden magmatic activity and/or deep fluid production with locally enhanced permeability, identifying zones with high resource potential, particularly for geothermal energy development.     

Continent-ocean chemical heterogeneity in the mantle based on seismic tomography

Seismic models of global-scale lateral heterogeneity in the mantle show systematic differences below continents and oceans that are too large to be purely thermal in origin. An inversion of the geoid, based on a seismic model that includes viscous flow in the mantle, indicates that the differences beneath continents and oceans can be accounted for by differences in composition in the upper mantle superposed on mantle-wide thermal heterogeneities. The net continent-ocean density differences, integrated over depth, are small and cause only a low flux of mass and heat across the asthenosphere and mantle transition zone.     

Not so hot "hot spots" in the oceanic mantle

Excess volcanism and crustal swelling associated with hot spots are generally attributed to thermal plumes upwelling from the mantle. This concept has been tested in the portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between 34 degrees and 45 degrees (Azores hot spot). Peridotite and basalt data indicate that the upper mantle in the hot spot has undergone a high degree of melting relative to the mantle elsewhere in the North Atlantic. However, application of various geothermometers suggests that the temperature of equilibration of peridotites in the mantle was lower, or at least not higher, in the hot spot than elsewhere. The presence of H(2)O-rich metasomatized mantle domains, inferred from peridotite and basalt data, would lower the melting temperature of the hot spot mantle and thereby reconcile its high degree ofmelting with the lack of a mantle temperature anomaly. Thus, some so-called hot spots might be melting anomalies unrelated to abnormally high mantle temperature or thermal plumes.     

Percolation of core melts at lower mantle conditions

Experiments at high pressure and temperature to determine the dihedral angle of core melts in lower mantle phases yielded a value of approximately 71 degrees for perovskite-dominated matrices. This angle, although greater than the 60 degrees required for completely efficient percolation, is considerably less than the angles observed in mineral matrices at upper mantle pressure-temperature conditions in experiments. In other words, molten iron alloy can flow much more easily in lower mantle mineralogies than in upper mantle mineralogies. Accordingly, although segregation of core material by melt percolation is probably not feasible in the upper mantle, core formation by percolation may be possible in the lower mantle.     

Relation of major volcanic center concentration on venus to global tectonic patterns

Global analysis of NASA Magellan image data indicates that a major concentration of volcanic centers covering approximately 40 percent of the surface of Venus occurs between the Beta, Atla, and Themis regiones. Associated with this enhanced concentration are geological characteristics commonly interpreted as rifting and mantle upwelling. Interconnected low plains in an annulus around this concentration are characterized by crustal shortening and infrequent volcanic centers that may represent sites of mantle return flow and net down-welling. Together, these observations suggest the existence of relatively simple, largescale patterns of mantle circulation similar to those associated with concentrations of intraplate volcanism on Earth.     

Inferences on flow at the base of Earth's mantle based on seismic anisotropy

We applied global waveform tomography to model radial anisotropy in the whole mantle. We found that in the last few hundred kilometers near the core-mantle boundary, horizontally polarized S-wave velocities (VSH) are, on average, faster (by approximately 1%) than vertically polarized S-wave velocities (VSV), suggesting a large-scale predominance of horizontal shear. This confirms that the D" region at the base of the mantle is also a mechanical boundary layer for mantle convection. A notable exception to this average signature can be found at the base of the two broad low-velocity regions under the Pacific Ocean and under Africa, often referred to as "superplumes," where the anisotropic pattern indicates the onset of vertical flow.     

Mantle flow beneath a continental strike-slip fault: postseismic deformation after the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake

Two recent large earthquakes in the Mojave Desert, California-the magnitude 7.3 1992 Landers and magnitude 7.1 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes-have each been followed by elevated crustal strain rates over periods of months and years. Geodetic data collected after the Hector Mine earthquake exhibit a temporally decaying horizontal velocity field and a quadrant uplift pattern opposite to that expected for localized shear beneath the earthquake rupture. We interpret the origin of this accelerated crustal deformation to be vigorous flow in the upper mantle in response to the stress changes generated by the earthquake. Our results suggest that transient flow in the upper mantle is a fundamental component of the earthquake cycle and that the lower crust is a coherent stress guide coupling the upper crust with the upper mantle.     

华北典型山区坡地径流的退水过程研究

通过位于北京市怀柔区东台沟的华北山区典型坡面径流场内人工模拟降雨实验,分别讨论了地表径流、壤中流和基岩风化带出流共3层的退水特征,三者比较结果表明,壤中流最早开始退水,其退水历时最长,流量最小;地表径流的退水一般受降雨和地形地貌的影响,雨停后迅速消退;基岩风化带出流通常在地表径流退水的后半段开始.影响因子分析表明,降雨历时与地表径流的退水流量呈幂函数变化趋势;雨强与地表径流的退水流量呈对数变化趋势;雨强与壤中流和基岩风化带出流的退水流量之和呈线性变化趋势.雨强还影响退水流量在总径流量中的分配比例.地表径流、壤中流和基岩风化带出流的退水流量分别占总流量的7.8%、1.7%和5.9%.当雨强1.5 mm/min时,随雨强增加地表径流退水量的比例呈直线增加趋势,雨强2 mm/min时地表径流退水量所占比例反而下降.基岩风化带出流的退水流量所占比例呈幂函数逐渐下降的趋势,壤中流的比例一直较小.计算结果表明,该区退水常数可以分地表径流退水和壤中流-基岩风化带退水共2层,其值分别为0.75和0.94这一结果为进一步研究坡面水文过程乃至流域的退水过程提供了参数.      

The process of formation of ocean crust

Ocean crust is the outermost layer of earth under the oceans. It is separated from the underlying mantle by a seismic transition zone called the Moho. A widely held view is that the Moho represents a petrologic change from basaltic-type rocks to a mantle composed mostly of olivine and pyroxene. According to this view, crust is formed by a steady segregation of basaltic melt, derived from partial melting of the mantle, into a crustal magma chamber wherein cooling and crystallization bring about steady-state accretion to the continuously spreading plates. There is sufficient disagreement between the predictions of this hypothesis and marine geophysical data to cause one to doubt the validity of this formation process. At least two other processes are more compatible with the geophysical data. In one, the crust is formed from the episodic injection of basaltic dikes from a mantle reservoir and the Moho is a primary petrologic boundary. In the other, the crust is treated as a mechanical boundary layer in which thermal contraction results in cracking; by comparison, in the mantle thermal contraction is accommodated by flow. The upper part of the crust is formed from episodic extrusion and intrusion of basaltic melt. The lower crust is formed by rapid hydrothermal alteration of mantle that may be continuously or episodically injected by viscous flow at temperatures below the melting temperature.     

Highly siderophile element constraints on accretion and differentiation of the Earth-Moon system

A new combined rhenium-osmium- and platinum-group element data set for basalts from the Moon establishes that the basalts have uniformly low abundances of highly siderophile elements. The data set indicates a lunar mantle with long-term, chondritic, highly siderophile element ratios, but with absolute abundances that are over 20 times lower than those in Earth's mantle. The results are consistent with silicate-metal equilibrium during a giant impact and core formation in both bodies, followed by post-core-formation late accretion that replenished their mantles with highly siderophile elements. The lunar mantle experienced late accretion that was similar in composition to that of Earth but volumetrically less than (approximately 0.02% lunar mass) and terminated earlier than for Earth.     

142Nd evidence for early (>4.53 Ga) global differentiation of the silicate Earth

New high-precision samarium-neodymium isotopic data for chondritic meteorites show that their 142Nd/144Nd ratio is 20 parts per million lower than that of most terrestrial rocks. This difference indicates that most (70 to 95%) of Earth's mantle is compositionally similar to the incompatible element-depleted source of mid-ocean ridge basalts, possibly as a result of a global differentiation 4.53 billion years ago (Ga), within 30 million years of Earth's formation. The complementary enriched reservoir has never been sampled and is probably located at the base of the mantle. These data influence models of Earth's compositional structure and require revision of the timing of global differentiation on Earth's Moon and Mars.     

How mantle slabs drive plate tectonics

The gravitational pull of subducted slabs is thought to drive the motions of Earth's tectonic plates, but the coupling between slabs and plates is not well established. If a slab is mechanically attached to a subducting plate, it can exert a direct pull on the plate. Alternatively, a detached slab may drive a plate by exciting flow in the mantle that exerts a shear traction on the base of the plate. From the geologic history of subduction, we estimated the relative importance of "pull" versus "suction" for the present-day plates. Observed plate motions are best predicted if slabs in the upper mantle are attached to plates and generate slab pull forces that account for about half of the total driving force on plates. Slabs in the lower mantle are supported by viscous mantle forces and drive plates through slab suction.     

Trench-parallel flow beneath the nazca plate from seismic anisotropy

Shear-wave splitting of S and SKS phases reveals the anisotropy and strain field of the mantle beneath the subducting Nazca plate, Cocos plate, and the Caribbean region. These observations can be used to test models of mantle flow. Two-dimensional entrained mantle flow beneath the subducting Nazca slab is not consistent with the data. Rather, there is evidence for horizontal trench-parallel flow in the mantle beneath the Nazca plate along much of the Andean subduction zone. Trench-parallel flow is attributale utable to retrograde motion of the slab, the decoupling of the slab and underlying mantle, and a partial barrier to flow at depth, resulting in lateral mantle flow beneath the slab. Such flow facilitates the transfer of material from the shrinking mantle reservoir beneath the Pacific basin to the growing mantle reservoir beneath the Atlantic basin. Trenchparallel flow may explain the eastward motions of the Caribbean and Scotia sea plates, the anomalously shallow bathymetry of the eastern Nazca plate, the long-wavelength geoid high over western South America, and it may contribute to the high elevation and intense deformation of the central Andes.     

The mantle flow field beneath western North America

Although motions at the surface of tectonic plates are well determined, the accompanying horizontal mantle flow is not. We have combined observations of surface deformation and upper mantle seismic anisotropy to estimate this flow field for western North America. We find that the mantle velocity is 5.5 +/- 1.5 centimeters per year due east in a hot spot reference frame, nearly opposite to the direction of North American plate motion (west-southwest). The flow is only weakly coupled to the motion of the surface plate, producing a small drag force. This flow field is probably due to heterogeneity in mantle density associated with the former Farallon oceanic plate beneath North America.     

A Cold Suboceanic Mantle Belt at the Earth's Equator

An exceptionally low degree of melting of the upper mantle in the equatorial part of the mid-Atlantic Ridge is indicated by the chemical composition of mantle-derived mid-ocean ridge peridotites and basalts. These data imply that mantle temperatures below the equatorial Atlantic are at least approximately 150 degrees C cooler than those below the normal mid-Atlantic Ridge, suggesting that isotherms are depressed and the mantle is downwelling in the equatorial Atlantic. An equatorial minimum of the zero-age crustal elevation of the East Pacific Rise suggests a similar situation in the Pacific. If so, an oceanic upper mantle cold equatorial belt separates hotter mantle regimes and perhaps distinct chemical and isotopic domains in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Gravity data suggest the presence of high density material in the oceanic equatorial upper mantle, which is consistent with its inferred low temperature and undepleted composition. The equatorial distribution of cold, dense upper mantle may be ultimately an effect of the Earth's rotation.     

Pacific geomagnetic secular variation

We have considered several different types of records of long-period geomagnetic secular variation: direct measurements made in geomagnetic observatories; paleomagnetic measurements on Hawaiian lava flows with accurately known ages in the interval 0 to 200 years; paleomagentic measurements on Hawaiian lava flows with loosely determined ages within the interval 200 to 10,000 years ago; and worldwide paleomagnetic measurements of the average geomagnetic angular dispersion recorded in lava flows that formed during the past 0.7 million years. All these magnetic records indicate that, during this time, the nondipole component of the earth's field was lower in the central Pacific than elsewhere, as it is today. This, in turn, indicates that there is some type of inhomogeneity in the lower mantle which is coupled to the earth's core in such a way as to suppress the generation of the nondipole field beneath the central Pacific. With the present incomplete state of knowledge about the processes that give rise to the earth's field, it is uncertain whether undulations in the core-mantle interface or lateral variations in the composition and physical state of the lower mantle are ultimately responsible for the pattern of secular variation seen at the earth's surface.     

Rheology of the upper mantle: a synthesis

Rheological properties of the upper mantle of the Earth play an important role in the dynamics of the lithosphere and asthenosphere. However, such fundamental issues as the dominant mechanisms of flow have not been well resolved. A synthesis of laboratory studies and geophysical and geological observations shows that transitions between diffusion and dislocation creep likely occur in the Earth's upper mantle. The hot and shallow upper mantle flows by dislocation creep, whereas cold and shallow or deep upper mantle may flow by diffusion creep. When the stress increases, grain size is reduced and the upper mantle near the transition between these two regimes is weakened. Consequently, deformation is localized and the upper mantle is decoupled mechanically near these depths.     

Geodynamic evidence for a chemically depleted continental tectosphere

The tectosphere, namely the portions of Earth's mantle lying below cratons, has a thermochemical structure that differs from average suboceanic mantle. The tectosphere is thought to be depleted in its basaltic components and to have an intrinsic buoyancy that balances the mass increase associated with its colder temperature relative to suboceanic mantle. Inversions of a large set of geodynamic data related to mantle convection, using tomography-based mantle flow models, indicate that the tectosphere is chemically depleted and relatively cold to 250 kilometers depth below Earth's surface. The approximate equilibrium between thermal and chemical buoyancy contributes to cratonic stability over geological time.     

Plate tectonics and hotspots: the third dimension

High-resolution seismic tomographic models of the upper mantle provide powerful new constraints on theories of plate tectonics and hotspots. Midocean ridges have extremely low seismic velocities to a depth of 100 kilometers. These low velocities imply partial melting. At greater depths, low-velocity and high-velocity anomalies record, respectively, previous positions of migrating ridges and trenches. Extensional, rifting, and hotspot regions have deep (> 200 kilometers) low-velocity anomalies. The upper mantle is characterized by vast domains of high temperature rather than small regions surrounding hotspots; the asthenosphere is not homogeneous or isothermal. Extensive magmatism requires a combination of hot upper mantle and suitable lithospheric conditions. High-velocity regions of the upper 200 kilometers of the mantle correlate with Archean cratons.