Asthenospheric flow and origin of volcanism in the Baikal rift area

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lebedev, S.; Meier, T.; Hilst, R.D. van der

2006-01-01

The origin of low-volume, hotspot-like volcanism often observed in continental rift areas is debated, as is the nature of the flow in the mantle beneath. In this paper we assemble seismic constraints on the mantle flow below the Baikal Rift Zone. We combine new evidence from upper-mantle

Metasomatism and the Weakening of Cratons: A Mechanism to Rift Cratons

Science.gov (United States)

Wenker, Stefanie; Beaumont, Christopher

2016-04-01

The preservation of cratons is a demonstration of their strength and resistance to deformation. However, several cratons are rifting now (e.g. Tanzania and North China Craton) or have rifted in the past (e.g. North Atlantic Craton). To explain this paradox, we suggest that widespread metasomatism of the originally cold depleted dehydrated craton mantle lithosphere root can act as a potential weakening mechanism. This process, particularly melt metasomatism, increases root density through a melt-peridotite reaction, and reduces root viscosity by increasing the temperature and rehydrating the cratonic mantle lithosphere. Using 2D numerical models, we model silicate-melt metasomatism and rehydration of cold cratonic mantle lithosphere that is positioned beside standard Phanerozoic lithosphere. The models are designed to investigate when a craton is sufficiently weakened to undergo rifting and is no longer protected by the initially weaker adjacent standard Phanerozoic lithosphere. Melt is added to specified layers in the cratonic mantle lithosphere at a uniform volumetric rate determined by the duration of metasomatism (3 Myr, 10 Myr or 30 Myr), until a total of ~30% by volume of melt has been added. During melt addition heat and mass are properly conserved and the density and volume increase by the respective amounts required by the reaction with the peridotite. No extensional boundary conditions are applied to the models during the metasomatism process. As expected, significant refertilization leads to removal and thinning of progressively more gravitationally unstable cratonic mantle lithosphere. We show that the duration of metasomatism dictates the final temperature in the cratonic upper mantle lithosphere. Consequently, when extensional boundary conditions are applied in our rifting tests in most cases the Phanerozoic lithosphere rifts. The craton rifts only in the models with the hottest cratonic upper mantle lithosphere. Our results indicate rifting of cratons

On the role of mantle depletion and small-scale convection in post rift basin evolution (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, K.; Nielsen, S. B.

2013-12-01

Subsidence and heat flow evolution of the oceanic lithosphere appears to be consistent with the conductive cooling of a ~100 km plate overlying asthenospheric mantle of constant entropy. The physical mechanism behind plate-like subsidence has been suggested to be the result of small-scale convective instabilities which transport heat energy to the base of the lithosphere and cause an eventual departure from half space-like cooling by inhibiting subsidence of old ocean floor and causing an asymptotic surface heat flow of ~50 mW/m^2. Here, we conduct a number of numerical thermo-mechanical experiments of oceanic lithosphere cooling for different models of temperature- and pressure-dependent viscosity. We show that uniform (P, T-dependent) mantle viscosity cannot both explain half space-like subsidence for young (50 mW/m^2) surface heat flow which is observed above old (>100 Myr) lithosphere. The latter requires vigorous sub lithospheric convection which would lead to early (~1Myr) onset of convective instability at shallow depth (paradox, we employ models which account for the density decrease and viscosity increase due to depletion during mid-ocean ridge melting. We demonstrate that the presence of a mantle restite layer within the lithosphere hinders convection at shallow depth and therefore promotes plate-like cooling. A systematic parameter search among 280 different numerical experiments indicates that models with 60-80 km depletion thickness minimize misfit with subsidence and heat flow data. This is consistent with existing petrological models of mid-ocean ridge melting. Our models further indicate that the post-rift subsidence pattern where little or no melting occurred during extension (e.g. non-volcanic margins and continental rifts) may differ from typical oceanic plate-like subsidence by occurring at a nearly constant rate rather than at an exponentially decaying rate. Model comparison with subsidence histories inferred from backstripping analysis implies

Is the Proterozoic Ladoga Rift (SE Baltic Shield) a rift?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Artemieva, Irina; Shulgin, Alexey

2015-01-01

, and geophysical characteristics typical of continental rifts in general and demonstrate that, except for magmatic and, perhaps, some gravity signature, the Lake Ladoga region lacks any other rift features. We also compare the geophysical data from the Lake Ladoga region with similar in age Midcontinent and Valday...... interpreted as an intracratonic Ladoga rift (graben). We question the validity of this geodynamic interpretation by analyzing regional geophysical data (crustal structure, heat flow, Bouguer gravity anomalies, magnetic anomalies, and mantle Vs velocities). We provide a complete list of tectonic, magmatic...... rifts, and provide alternative explanations for Mesoproterozoic geodynamic evolution of the southern Baltic Shield. We propose that Mesoproterozoic mafic intrusions in southern Fennoscandia may be associated with a complex deformation pattern during reconfiguration of (a part of) Nuna (Columbia...

Microstructural and seismic properties of the upper mantle underneath a rifted continental terrane (Baja California): An example of sub-crustal mechanical asthenosphere?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Palasse, L.N.; Vissers, R.L.M.; Paulssen, H.; Basu, A.R.; Drury, M.R.

2012-01-01

The Gulf of California rift is a young and active plate boundary that links the San Andreas strike-slip fault system in California to the oceanic spreading system of the East Pacific Rise. The xenolith bearing lavas of the San Quintin volcanic area provide lower crust and upper mantle samples from

Interactions between magma and the lithospheric mantle during Cenozoic rifting in Central Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Romain; Elkins-Tanton, Linda T.

2010-05-01

During the Cenozoic, extensive intraplate volcanic activity occurred throughout Central Europe. Volcanic eruptions extend over France (the Massif Central), central Germany (Eifel, Vogelsberg, Rhön; Heldburg), the Czech Republic (the Eger graben) and SW Poland (Lower Silesia), a region ~1,200 km wide. The origin of this predominantly alkaline intraplate magmatism is often genetically linked to one or several mantle plumes, but there is no convincing evidence for this. We have measured Pb isotope ratios, together with major and trace elements, in a representative set of mafic to felsic igneous rocks from the intra-plate Cenozoic Rhön Mts. and the Heldburg dike swarm in order to gain insight into the melting source and petrogenetic history of these melts. Three different mafic rock types (tholeiitic basalt, alkali basalt, basanite) were distinguished based on petrography and geochemistry within the investigated areas. Except for the lherzolite-bearing phonolite from the Veste Heldburg all other evolved magmas are trachytes. REE geochemistry and calculated partial melting modeling experiments for the three mafic magma types point to different degrees of partial melting in a garnet-bearing mantle source. In addition a new version of the ternary Th-Hf-Ta diagram is presented in this study as a useful petrological tool. This diagram is not only able to define potentially involved melting source end-members (e.g. asthenosphere, sub-continental lithospheric mantle and continental crust) but also interactions between these members are illustrated. An advantage of this diagram compared to partial melting degree sensitive multi-element diagrams is that a ternary diagram is a closed system. An earlier version of this diagram has been recently used to establish the nature and extent of crust mantle melt interaction of volcanic rifted margins magmas (Meyer et al. 2009). The Th-Hf-Ta geochemistry of the investigated magmas is similar to spinel and garnet xenoliths from different

Orogenic inheritance and continental breakup: Wilson Cycle-control on rift and passive margin evolution

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Schiffer, C.; Petersen, K. D.

2016-12-01

Rifts often develop along suture zones between previously collided continents, as part of the Wilson cycle. The North Atlantic is such an example, formed where Pangaea broke apart along Caledonian and Variscan sutures. Dipping upper mantle structures in E. Greenland and Scotland, have been interpreted as fossil subduction zones and the seismic signature indicates the presence of eclogite and serpentinite. We speculate that this orogenic material may impose a rheological control upon post-orogenic extension and we use thermo-mechanical modelling to explore such effects. Our model includes the following features: 1) Crustal thickness anomalies, 2) Eclogitised mafic crust emplaced in the mantle lithosphere, and 3) Hydrated mantle peridotite (serpentinite) formed in a pre-rift subduction setting. Our models indicate that the inherited structures control the location and the structural and magmatic evolution of the rift. Rifting of thin initial crust allows for relatively large amounts of serpentinite to be preserved within the uppermost mantle. This facilitates rapid continental breakup and serpentinite exhumation. Magmatism does not occur before continental breakup. Rifts in thicker crust preserve little or no serpentinite and thinning is more focused in the mantle lithosphere, rather than in the crust. Continental breakup is therefore preceded by magmatism. This implies that pre-rift orogenic properties may determine whether magma-poor or magma-rich conjugate margins are formed. Our models show that inherited orogenic eclogite and serpentinite are deformed and partially emplaced either as dipping structures within the lithospheric mantle or at the base of the thinned continental crust. The former is consistent with dipping sub-Moho reflectors often observed in passive margins. The latter provides an alternative interpretation of `lower crustal bodies' which are often regarded as igneous bodies. An additional implication of our models is that serpentinite, often

Non-uniform splitting of a single mantle plume by double cratonic roots : Insight into the origin of the central and southern East African Rift System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koptev, Alexander; Cloetingh, Sierd; Gerya, Taras; Calais, Eric; Leroy, Sylvie

Using numerical thermo-mechanical experiments we analyse the role of an active mantle plume and pre-existing lithospheric thickness differences in the structural development of the central and southern East African Rift system. The plume-lithosphere interaction model setup captures the essential

The Porcupine Basin: from rifting to continental breakup

Science.gov (United States)

Reston, Timothy; Gaw, Viola; Klaeschen, Dirk; McDermott, Ken

2015-04-01

Southwest of Ireland, the Porcupine Basin is characterized by axial stretching factors that increase southward to values greater than six and typical of rifted margins. As such, the basin can be regarded as a natural laboratory to investigate the evolution and symmetry of rifting leading towards continental separation and breakup, and in particular the processes of mantle serpentinisation, and the onset of detachment faulting. We have processed through to prestack depth migration a series of E-W profiles crossing the basin at different axial stretching factors and linked by a N-S profile running close to the rift axis. Our results constrain the structure of the basin and have implications for the evolution of rifted margins. In the north at a latitude of 52.25N, no clear detachment is imaged, although faults do appear to cut down into the mantle, so that serpentinisation may have started. Further south (51.75N), a bright reflection (here named P) cuts down to the west from the base of the sedimentary section, is overlain by small fault blocks and appears to represent a detachment fault. P may in part follow the top of partially serpentinized mantle: this interpretation is consistent with gravity modelling, with numerical models of crustal embrittlement and mantle serpentinization during extension and with wide-angle data (see posters of Prada and of Watremez). Furthermore, P closely resembles the S reflection west of Iberia, where such serpentinites are well documented. P develops where the crust was thinned to less than 3 km during rifting, again similar to S. Although overall the basin remains symmetrical, the consistent westward structural dip of the detachment implies that, at high stretching factors, extension became asymmetric. Analysis of the depth sections suggests that the detachment may have been active as a rolling hinge rooting at low-angle beneath the Porcupine Bank, consistent with the presence of a footwall of serpentinites. This requires very weak

Rifting an Archaean Craton: Insights from Seismic Anisotropy Patterns in E. Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Ebinger, C. J.; Tiberi, C.; Currie, C. A.; van Wijk, J.; Albaric, J.

2016-12-01

Few places worldwide offer opportunities to study active deformation of deeply-keeled cratonic lithosphere. The magma-rich Eastern rift transects the eastern edge of the Archaean Tanzania craton in northeastern Tanzania, which has been affected by a large-scale mantle upwelling. Abundant xenolith locales offer constraints on mantle age, composition, and physical properties. Our aim is to evaluate models for magmatic fluid-alteration (metasomatism) and deformation of mantle lithosphere along the edge of cratons by considering spatial variations in the direction and magnitude of seismic anisotropy, which is strongly influenced by mantle flow patterns along lithosphere-asthenosphere topography, fluid-filled cracks (e.g., dikes), and pre-existing mantle lithosphere strain fabrics. Waveforms of teleseismic earthquakes (SKS, SKKS) recorded on the 39-station CRAFTI-CoLiBREA broadband array in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania are used to determine the azimuth and amount of shear-wave splitting accrued as seismic waves pass through the uppermost mantle and lithosphere at the craton edge. Lower crustal earthquakes enable evaluation of seismic anisotropy throughout the crust along the rift flanks and beneath the heavily intruded Magadi and Natron basins, and the weakly intruded Manyara basin. Our results and those of earlier studies show a consistent N50E splitting direction within the craton, with delay times of ca. 1.5 s, and similar direction east of the rift in thinner Pan-African lithosphere. Stations within the rift zone are rotated to a N15-35E splitting, with the largest delay times of 2.5 s at the margin of the heavily intruded Magadi basin. The short length scale of variations and rift-parallel splitting directions are similar to patterns in the Main Ethiopian rift attributed to melt-filled cracks or oriented pockets rising from the base of the lithosphere. The widespread evidence for mantle metasomatism and magma intrusion to mid-crustal levels suggests that

Xenoliths from Bunyaruguru volcanic field: Some insights into lithology of East African Rift upper mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Muravyeva, N. S.; Senin, V. G.

2018-01-01

The mineral composition of mantle xenoliths from kamafugites of the Bunyaruguru volcanic field has been determined. The major and some trace elements (Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mn, Mg, Ca, Na, K, Cr, Ni, Ba, Sr, La, Ce, Nd, Nb) has been analyzed in olivine, clinopyroxene, phlogopite, Cr-spinel, titanomagnetite, perovskite and carbonates of xenoliths and their host lavas. Bunyaruguru is one of three (Katwe-Kikorongo, Fort Portal and Bunyaruguru) volcanic fields included in the Toro-Ankole province located on the North end of the West Branch of the East African Rift. The xenoliths from three craters within the Bunyaruguru volcanic field revealed the different character of metasomatic alteration, reflecting the heterogeneity of the mantle on the kilometer scale. The most unusual finding was composite glimmerite-wehrlite xenolith from the crater Kazimiro, which contains the fresh primary high-Mg olivine with inclusions of Cr-spinel that had not been previously identified in this area. The different composition of phenocryst and xenolith minerals indicates that the studied xenoliths are not cumulus of enclosing magma, but the composition of xenoliths characterizes the lithology of the upper mantle of the area. The carbonate melt inclusions in olivine Fo90 demonstrate the existence of primary carbonatitic magmas in Bunyaruguru upper mantle. The results of texture and chemical investigation of the xenolith minerals indicate the time sequence of metasomatic alteration of Bunyaruguru upper mantle: MARID metasomatism at the first stage followed by carbonate metasomatism. The abundances of REE in perovskites from kamafugite are 2-4 times higher than similar values for xenolith. Therefore the kamafugite magma was been generated from a more enriched mantle source than the source of the xenoliths. The evaluation of P-T conditions formation of clinopyroxene xenolith revealed the range of pressure 20-65 kbar and the temperatures range 830-1040 °C. The pressure of clinopyroxene phenocryst

Lithosphere Response to Intracratonic Rifting: Examples from Europe and Siberia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Artemieva, I. M.; Thybo, H.; Herceg, M.

2012-01-01

is based on critically assessed results from various seismic studies, including reflection and refraction profiles and receiver function studies. We also use global shear-wave tomography models, gravity constraints based on GOCE data, and thermal models for the lithosphere to speculate on thermo...... of basaltic magmas and consequently in a change in mantle density and seismic velocities. Although kimberlite magmatism is commonly not considered as a rifting events, its deep causes may be similar to the mantle-driven rifting and, as a consequence, modification of mantle density and velocity structure may...... in it seismic wave velocity and density structure....

Petrological constraints on melt generation beneath the Asal Rift (Djibouti) using quaternary basalts

Science.gov (United States)

Pinzuti, Paul; Humler, Eric; Manighetti, Isabelle; Gaudemer, Yves

2013-08-01

The temporal evolution of the mantle melting processes in the Asal Rift is evaluated from the chemical composition of 56 new lava flows sampled along 10 km of the rift axis and 9 km off-axis (i.e., erupted within the last 620 kyr). Petrological and primary geochemical results show that most of the samples of the inner floor of the Asal Rift are affected by plagioclase accumulation. Trace element ratios and major element compositions corrected for mineral accumulation and crystallization show a symmetric pattern relative to the rift axis and preserved a clear signal of mantle melting depth variations. While FeO, Fe8.0, Zr/Y, and (Dy/Yb)N decrease from the rift shoulders to the rift axis, SiO2, Na/Ti, Lu/Hf increase and Na2O and Na8.0 are constant across the rift. These variations are qualitatively consistent with shallow melting beneath the rift axis and deeper melting for off-axis lava flows. Na8.0 and Fe8.0 contents show that beneath the rift axis, melting paths are shallow, from 81 ± 4 to 43 ± 5 km. These melting paths are consistent with adiabatic melting in normal-temperature fertile asthenosphere, beneath an extensively thinned mantle lithosphere. On the contrary, melting on the rift shoulders (from 107 ± 7 to 67 ± 8 km) occurred beneath thicker lithosphere, requiring a mantle solidus temperature 100 ± 40°C hotter. In this geodynamic environment, the calculated rate of lithospheric thinning appears to be 4.0 ± 2.0 cm yr-1, a value close to the mean spreading rate (2.9 ± 0.2 cm yr-1) over the last 620 kyr.

Geophysical and geochemical models of the Earth's shields and rift zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, D.H.

1977-01-01

This report summarizes a collection of, synthesis of, and speculation on the geophysical and geochemical models of the earth's stable shields and rift zones. Two basic crustal types, continental and oceanic, and two basic mantle types, stable and unstable, are described. It is pointed out that both the crust and upper mantle play a strongly interactive role with surface geological phenomena ranging from the occurrence of mountains, ocean trenches, oceanic and continental rifts to geographic distributions of earthquakes, faults, and volcanoes. On the composition of the mantle, there is little doubt regarding the view that olivine constitutes a major fraction of the mineralogy of the earth's upper mantle. Studies are suggested to simulate the elasticity and composition of the earth's lower crust and upper mantle

Rifting Thick Lithosphere - Canning Basin, Western Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Czarnota, Karol; White, Nicky

2016-04-01

The subsidence histories and architecture of most, but not all, rift basins are elegantly explained by extension of ~120 km thick lithosphere followed by thermal re-thickening of the lithospheric mantle to its pre-rift thickness. Although this well-established model underpins most basin analysis, it is unclear whether the model explains the subsidence of rift basins developed over substantially thick lithosphere (as imaged by seismic tomography beneath substantial portions of the continents). The Canning Basin of Western Australia is an example where a rift basin putatively overlies lithosphere ≥180 km thick, imaged using shear wave tomography. Subsidence modelling in this study shows that the entire subsidence history of the account for the observed subsidence, at standard crustal densities, the lithospheric mantle is required to be depleted in density by 50-70 kg m-3, which is in line with estimates derived from modelling rare-earth element concentrations of the ~20 Ma lamproites and global isostatic considerations. Together, these results suggest that thick lithosphere thinned to > 120 km is thermally stable and is not accompanied by post-rift thermal subsidence driven by thermal re-thickening of the lithospheric mantle. Our results show that variations in lithospheric thickness place a fundamental control on basin architecture. The discrepancy between estimates of lithospheric thickness derived from subsidence data for the western Canning Basin and those derived from shear wave tomography suggests that the latter technique currently is limited in its ability to resolve lithospheric thickness variations at horizontal half-wavelength scales of <300 km.

Contrasted continental rifting via plume-craton interaction: Applications to Central East African Rift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Koptev

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The East African Rift system (EARS provides a unique system with the juxtaposition of two contrasting yet simultaneously formed rift branches, the eastern, magma-rich, and the western, magma-poor, on either sides of the old thick Tanzanian craton embedded in a younger lithosphere. Data on the pre-rift, syn-rift and post-rift far-field volcanic and tectonic activity show that the EARS formed in the context of the interaction between a deep mantle plume and a horizontally and vertically heterogeneous lithosphere under far-field tectonic extension. We bring quantitative insights into this evolution by implementing high-resolution 3D thermo-mechanical numerical deformation models of a lithosphere of realistic rheology. The models focus on the central part of the EARS. We explore scenarios of plume-lithosphere interaction with plumes of various size and initial position rising beneath a tectonically pre-stretched lithosphere. We test the impact of the inherited rheological discontinuities (suture zones along the craton borders, of the rheological structure, of lithosphere plate thickness variations, and of physical and mechanical contrasts between the craton and the embedding lithosphere. Our experiments indicate that the ascending plume material is deflected by the cratonic keel and preferentially channeled along one of its sides, leading to the formation of a large rift zone along the eastern side of the craton, with significant magmatic activity and substantial melt amount derived from the mantle plume material. We show that the observed asymmetry of the central EARS, with coeval amagmatic (western and magmatic (eastern branches, can be explained by the splitting of warm material rising from a broad plume head whose initial position is slightly shifted to the eastern side of the craton. In that case, neither a mechanical weakness of the contact between the craton and the embedding lithosphere nor the presence of second plume are required to

Comparative Riftology: Insights into the Evolution of Passive Continental Margins and Continental Rifts from the Failed Midcontinent Rift (MCR)

Science.gov (United States)

Elling, R. P.; Stein, C. A.; Stein, S.; Kley, J.; Keller, G. R.; Wysession, M. E.

2017-12-01

Continental rifts evolve to seafloor spreading and are preserved in passive margins, or fail and remain as fossil features in continents. Rifts at different stages give insight into these evolutionary paths. Of particular interest is the evolution of volcanic passive margins, which are characterized by seaward dipping reflectors, volcanic rocks yielding magnetic anomalies landward of the oldest spreading anomalies, and are underlain by high-velocity lower crustal bodies. How and when these features form remains unclear. Insights are given by the Midcontinent Rift (MCR), which began to form during the 1.1 Ga rifting of Amazonia from Laurentia, but failed when seafloor spreading was established elsewhere. MCR volcanics are much thicker than other continental flood basalts, due to deposition in a narrow rift rather than a broad region, giving a rift's geometry but a LIP's magma volume. The MCR provides a snapshot of the deposition of a thick and highly magnetized volcanic section during rifting. Surface exposures and reflection seismic data near Lake Superior show a rift basin filled by inward-dipping flood basalt layers. Had the rift evolved to seafloor spreading, the basin would have split into two sets of volcanics with opposite-facing SDRs, each with a magnetic anomaly. Because the rift formed as a series of alternating half-grabens, structural asymmetries between conjugate margins would have naturally occurred had it gone to completion. Hence the MCR implies that many passive margin features form prior to seafloor spreading. Massive inversion of the MCR long after it failed has provided a much clearer picture of its structure compared to failed rifts with lesser degrees of inversion. Seismic imaging as well as gravity and magnetic modeling provide important insight into the effects of inversion on failed rifts. The MCR provides an end member for the evolution of actively extending rifts, characterized by upwelling mantle and negative gravity anomalies, to failed

Geomorphic Response to Spatial and Temporal Tectonic uplift on the Kenya Rift of East African Rift System

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Xue, L.; Abdelsalam, M. G.

2017-12-01

Tectonic uplifts of the shoulders of the East Africa Rift System (EARS) have significant impact on the geological record by reorganizing drainage systems, increasing sediment supply, and changing climate and biogeography. Recent studies in geochronology, geomorphology and geophysics have provided some understanding of the timing of tectonic uplift and its distribution pattern of the (EARS). We do not know how the vertical motion is localized along the rift axis and the relative roles of upwelling of magma and rift extensional processes play in tectonic uplift history. This work presents detailed morphometric study of the fluvial landscape response to the tectonic uplift and climate shifting of the Kenya Rift shoulders in order to reconstruct their incision history, with special attention to timing, location, and intensity of uplift episodes. This work compiles the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Sentinel-2A data, summarized previous 39Ar-40Ar and thermochronology data, and calculates long-term incision rate and geomorphic proxies (normalized steepness and chi-integral) along the Kenya Rift. It also models the age of tectonic/climatic events by using knickpoint celerity model and R/SR integrative approach. It found that the maximum long-term incision rates of 300 mm/kyr to be at the central Kenya Rift, possibly related to the mantle-driven process and rapid tectonic uplift. The geomorphic proxies indicate southward decreasing pattern of the short-term incision rate, possibly related to the migration of the mantle plume.

Volcanism in the Sumisu Rift. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hochstaedter, A.G.; Gill, J.B.; Morris, J.D.

1990-01-01

A bimodal suite of volcanic rocks collected from the Sumisu Rift by ALVIN provide present day example of the first magmatic products of arc rifting during the initiation of back-arc spreading. The trace element and isotopic composition of these rocks, which are contemporaneous with island arc tholeiite lavas of the Izu-Ogasawara arc 20 km to the east, differ from those of arc rocks and N-MORB in their relative incorporation of both subduction-related and non-subduction-related components. Subduction-related components, i.e., those that distinguish volcanic arc basalts from N-MORB, are less pronounced in rift lavas than in arc lavas. Alkali and alkaline earth to high field strength element and REE ratios as well as 87 Sr/ 86 Sr are intermediate between those of N-MORB and Izu arc lavas and indicate that Sumisu Rift basalts are similar to BABB erupted in other, more mature back-arc basins. These results show that back-arc basins may begin their magmatic evolution with BABB rather than more arc-like lavas. Evidence of non-subduction related components remains after the effects of subduction related components are removed or accounted for. Compared to the arc, higher HFSE and REE concentrations, contrasting REE patterns, and ≤ε Nd in the rift reflect derivation of rift lavas from more enriched components. Although SR basalt resembles E-MORB in many trace element ratios, it is referred to as BABB because low concentrations of Nb are similar to those in volcanic arcs and H 2 O/REE and H 2 O/K 2 O exceed those of E-MORB. Differences in HREE pattern and ε Nd require that the E-MORB characteristics result from source heterogeneities and not lower degrees of melting. Enriched mantle beneath the rift may reflect enriched blobs entrained in a more depleted matrix, or injection of new, more enriched mantle. High 208 Pb/ 204 Pb and moderate 207 Pb/ 204 Pb ratios with respect to Pacific MORB also reflect ancient mantle enrichment. (orig.)

Trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope geochemistry of Rungwe Volcanic Province, Tanzania: Implications for a superplume source for East Africa Rift magmatism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paterno R Castillo

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The recently discovered high, plume-like 3He/4He ratios at Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP in southern Tanzania, similar to those at the Main Ethiopian Rift in Ethiopia, strongly suggest that magmatism associated with continental rifting along the entire East African Rift System (EARS has a deep mantle contribution (Hilton et al., 2011. New trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic data for high 3He/4He lavas and tephras from RVP can be explained by binary mixing relationships involving Early Proterozoic (+/- Archaean lithospheric mantle, present beneath the southern EARS, and a volatile-rich carbonatitic plume with a limited range of compositions and best represented by recent Nyiragongo lavas from the Virunga Volcanic Province also in the Western Rift. Other lavas from the Western Rift and from the southern Kenya Rift can also be explained through mixing between the same endmember components. In contrast, lavas from the northern Kenya and Main Ethiopian rifts can be explained through variable mixing between the same mantle plume material and the Middle to Late Proterozoic lithospheric mantle, present beneath the northern EARS. Thus, we propose that the bulk of EARS magmatism is sourced from mixing among three endmember sources: Early Proterozoic (+/- Archaean lithospheric mantle, Middle to Late Proterozoic lithospheric mantle and a volatile-rich carbonatitic plume with a limited range of compositions. We propose further that the African Superplume, a large, seismically anomalous feature originating in the lower mantle beneath southern Africa, influences magmatism throughout eastern Africa with magmatism at RVP and Main Ethiopian Rift representing two different heads of a single mantle plume source. This is consistent with a single mantle plume origin of the coupled He-Ne isotopic signatures of mantle-derived xenoliths and/or lavas from all segments of the EARS (Halldorsson et al., 2014.

Orogenic structural inheritance and rifted passive margin formation

Science.gov (United States)

Salazar Mora, Claudio A.; Huismans, Ritske S.

2016-04-01

Structural inheritance is related to mechanical weaknesses in the lithosphere due to previous tectonic events, e.g. rifting, subduction and collision. The North and South Atlantic rifted passive margins that formed during the breakup of Western Gondwana, are parallel to the older Caledonide and the Brasiliano-Pan-African orogenic belts. In the South Atlantic, 'old' mantle lithospheric fabric resulting from crystallographic preferred orientation of olivine is suggested to play a role during rifted margin formation (Tommasi and Vauchez, 2001). Magnetometric and gravimetric mapping of onshore structures in the Camamu and Almada basins suggest that extensional faults are controlled by two different directions of inherited older Brasiliano structures in the upper lithosphere (Ferreira et al., 2009). In the South Atlantic Campos Basin, 3D seismic data indicate that inherited basement structures provide a first order control on basin structure (Fetter, 2009). Here we investigate the role of structural inheritance on the formation of rifted passive margins with high-resolution 2D thermo-mechanical numerical experiments. The numerical domain is 1200 km long and 600 km deep and represents the lithosphere and the sublithospheric mantle. Model experiments were carried out by creating self-consistent orogenic inheritance where a first phase of orogen formation is followed by extension. We focus in particular on the role of varying amount of orogenic shortening, crustal rheology, contrasting styles of orogen formation on rifted margin style, and the time delay between orogeny and subsequent rifted passive formation. Model results are compared to contrasting structural styles of rifted passive margin formation as observed in the South Atlantic. Ferreira, T.S., Caixeta, J.M., Lima, F.D., 2009. Basement control in Camamu and Almada rift basins. Boletim de Geociências da Petrobrás 17, 69-88. Fetter, M., 2009. The role of basement tectonic reactivation on the structural evolution

Concentration of strain in a marginal rift zone of the Japan backarc during post-rift compression

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, H.; Ishiyama, T.; Kato, N.; Abe, S.; Shiraishi, K.; Inaba, M.; Kurashimo, E.; Iwasaki, T.; Van Horne, A.; No, T.; Sato, T.; Kodaira, S.; Matsubara, M.; Takeda, T.; Abe, S.; Kodaira, C.

2015-12-01

Late Cenozoic deformation zones in Japan may be divided into two types: (1) arc-arc collision zones like those of Izu and the Hokkaido axial zone, and (2) reactivated back-arc marginal rift (BMR) systems. A BMR develops during a secondary rifting event that follows the opening of a back-arc basin. It forms close to the volcanic front and distant from the spreading center of the basin. In Japan, a BMR system developed along the Sea of Japan coast following the opening of the Japan Sea. The BMR appears to be the weakest, most deformable part of the arc back-arc system. When active rifting in the marginal basins ended, thermal subsidence, and then mechanical subsidence related to the onset of a compressional stress regime, allowed deposition of up to 5 km of post-rift, deep-marine to fluvial sedimentation. Continued compression produced fault-related folds in the post-rift sediments, in thin-skin style deformation. Shortening reached a maximum in the BMR system compared to other parts of the back-arc, suggesting that it is the weakest part of the entire system. We examined the structure of the BMR system using active source seismic investigation and earthquake tomography. The velocity structure beneath the marginal rift basin shows higher P-wave velocity in the upper mantle/lower crust which suggests significant mafic intrusion and thinning of the upper continental crust. The syn-rift mafic intrusive forms a convex shape, and the boundary between the pre-rift crust and the mafic intrusive dips outward. In the post-rift compressional stress regime, the boundary of the mafic body reactivated as a reverse fault, forming a large-scale wedge thrust and causing further subsidence of the rift basin. The driver of the intense shortening event along the Sea of Japan coast in SW Japan was the arrival of a buoyant young (15 Ma) Shikoku basin at the Nankai Trough. Subduction stalled and the backarc was compressed. As the buoyant basin cooled, subduction resumed, and the rate of

Receiver functions analysis in Northern Tanzania to understand the earliest stage of rifting

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Tiberi, C.; Albaric, J.; Deschamps, A.; Deverchere, J.; Ebinger, C. J.; Ferdinand, R. W.; Gautier, S.; Lambert, C.; Msabi, M.; Mtelela, K.; Muzuka, A.; Perrot, J.; Rasendra, N.; Roecker, S. W.; Rodzianko, A.; Witkin, E.

2013-12-01

The East African Rift (EAR) is the site of stretching and breakup of the lithosphere in response to a combination of regional pulling forces and mantle upwellings. Deformation results from complex interactions between magmatic intrusions, faulting, asthenospheric dynamism and far field stresses. It thus involves both deep processes and local inherited fabrics. In the frame of two international projects CRAFTI (NSF) and CoLiBrEA (ANR), we gather our skills to lead a multidisciplinary project in order to characterize the factors involved in continental rifting. We target the first 5 My of a magmatic rift initiating in thick (>150 km) continental lithosphere, where we can directly image and detect fault and magma interactions, the role of inherited and rheological heterogeneities of the lithosphere on rift localisation. We deployed 35 broadband seismic stations in Natron and Ngorongoro areas in January 2013 to characterize crustal and mantle structures of the rift. The stations were equipped by 3 component sensors and Reftek Recorders to continuously record teleseisms as well as local seismicity. We present here a receiver function analyse on the teleseismic events recorded during the first 6 months of the experiment. Both P- and S-waves receiver functions were proceeded to document the modification of the crust and the mantle due to plate stretching and magmatic processes. The Vp/Vs ratio informs on the state of the crust, which is affected by magmatic and fluids intrusions at different depths. The S-wave receiver function gives insight into the lithosphere state and the nature of the mantle beneath the rift (archean or plume affected).

Large-scale variation in lithospheric structure along and across the Kenya rift

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Prodehl, C.; Mechie, J.; Kaminski, W.; Fuchs, K.; Grosse, C.; Hoffmann, H.; Stangl, R.; Stellrecht, R.; Khan, M.A.; Maguire, Peter K.H.; Kirk, W.; Keller, Gordon R.; Githui, A.; Baker, M.; Mooney, W.; Criley, E.; Luetgert, J.; Jacob, B.; Thybo, H.; Demartin, M.; Scarascia, S.; Hirn, A.; Bowman, J.R.; Nyambok, I.; Gaciri, S.; Patel, J.; Dindi, E.; Griffiths, D.H.; King, R.F.; Mussett, A.E.; Braile, L.W.; Thompson, G.; Olsen, K.; Harder, S.; Vees, R.; Gajewski, D.; Schulte, A.; Obel, J.; Mwango, F.; Mukinya, J.; Riaroh, D.

1991-01-01

The Kenya rift is one of the classic examples of a continental rift zone: models for its evolution range from extension of the lithosphere by pure shear1, through extension by simple shear2, to diapiric upwelling of an asthenolith3. Following a pilot study in 19854, the present work involved the shooting of three seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection profiles along the axis, across the margins, and on the northeastern flank of the rift (Fig. 1). These lines were intended to reconcile the different crustal thickness estimates for the northern and southern parts of the rift4-6 and to reveal the structure across the rift, including that beneath the flanks. The data, presented here, reveal significant lateral variations in structure both along and across the rift. The crust thins along the rift axis from 35 km in the south to 20 km in the north; there are abrupt changes in Mono depth and uppermost-mantle seismic velocity across the rift margins, and crustal thickening across the boundary between the Archaean craton and PanAfrican orogenic belt immediately west of the rift. These results suggest that thickened crust may have controlled the rift's location, that there is a decrease in extension from north to south, and that the upper mantle immediately beneath the rift may contain reservoirs of magma generated at greater depth.

Teleseismic Investigations of the Malawi and Luangwa Rift Zones: Ongoing Observations From the SAFARI Experiment

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Reed, C. A.; Gao, S. S.; Liu, K. H.; Yu, Y.; Chindandali, P. R. N.; Massinque, B.; Mdala, H. S.; Mutamina, D. M.

2015-12-01

In order to evaluate the influence of crustal and mantle heterogeneities upon the initiation of the Malawi rift zone (MRZ) and reactivation of the Zambian Luangwa rift zone (LRZ) subject to Cenozoic plate boundary stress fields and mantle buoyancy forces, we installed and operated 33 Seismic Arrays For African Rift Initiation (SAFARI) three-component broadband seismic stations in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia from 2012 to 2014. During the twenty-four month acquisition period, nearly 6200 radial receiver functions (RFs) were recorded. Stations situated within the MRZ, either along the coastal plains or within the Shire Graben toward the south, report an average crustal thickness of 42 km relative to approximately 46 km observed at stations located along the rift flanks. This implies the juvenile MRZ is characterized by a stretching factor not exceeding 1.1. Meanwhile, P-to-S velocity ratios within the MRZ increase from 1.71 to 1.82 in southernmost Malawi, indicating a substantial modification of the crust during Recent rifting. Time-series stacking of approximately 5500 RFs recorded by the SAFARI and 44 neighboring network stations reveals an apparent uplift of 10 to 15 km along both the 410- and 660-km mantle transition zone (MTZ) discontinuities beneath the MRZ and LRZ which, coupled with an apparently normal 250-km MTZ thickness, implies a first-order high-velocity contribution from thickened lithosphere. Preliminary manual checking of SAFARI shear-wave splitting (SWS) measurements provides roughly 650 high-quality XKS phases following a component re-orientation to correct station misalignments. Regional azimuthal variations in SWS fast orientations are observed, from rift-parallel in the vicinity of the LRZ to rift-oblique in the MRZ. A major 60° rotation in the fast orientation occurs at approximately 31°E, possibly resulting from the modulation of mantle flow around a relatively thick lithospheric keel situated between the two rift zones.

Transient cracks and triple junctions induced by Cocos-Nazca propagating rift

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Schouten, H.; Smith, D. K.; Zhu, W.; Montesi, L. G.; Mitchell, G. A.; Cann, J. R.

2009-12-01

The Galapagos triple junction is a ridge-ridge-ridge triple junction where the Cocos, Nazca, and Pacific plates meet around the Galapagos microplate (GMP). On the Cocos plate, north of the large gore that marks the propagating Cocos-Nazca (C-N) Rift, a 250-km-long and 50-km-wide band of NW-SE-trending cracks crosscuts the N-S-trending abyssal hills of the East Pacific Rise (EPR). These appear as a succession of minor rifts, accommodating some NE-SW extension of EPR-generated seafloor. The rifts successively intersected the EPR in triple junctions at distances of 50-100 km north of the tip of the C-N Rift. We proposed a simple crack interaction model to explain the location of the transient rifts and their junction with the EPR. The model predicts that crack locations are controlled by the stress perturbation along the EPR, induced by the dominant C-N Rift, and scaled by the distance of its tip to the EPR (Schouten et al., 2008). The model also predicts that tensile stresses are symmetric about the C-N Rift and thus, similar cracks should have occurred south of the C-N Rift prior to formation of the GMP about 1 Ma. There were no data at the time to test this prediction. In early 2009 (AT 15-41), we mapped an area on the Nazca plate south of the C-N rift out to 4 Ma. The new bathymetric data confirm the existence of a distinctive pattern of cracks south of the southern C-N gore that mirrors the pattern on the Cocos plate until about 1 Ma, and lends support to the crack interaction model. The envelope of the symmetric cracking pattern indicates that the distance between the C-N Rift tip and the EPR varied between 40 and 65 km during this time (1-4 Ma). The breakdown of the symmetry at 1 Ma accurately dates the onset of a southern plate boundary of the GMP, now Dietz Deep Rift. At present, the southern rift boundary of the GMP joins the EPR with a steep-sided, 80 km long ridge. This ridge releases the stress perturbation otherwise induced along the EPR by elastic

3D numerical simulations of multiphase continental rifting

Science.gov (United States)

Naliboff, J.; Glerum, A.; Brune, S.

2017-12-01

Observations of rifted margin architecture suggest continental breakup occurs through multiple phases of extension with distinct styles of deformation. The initial rifting stages are often characterized by slow extension rates and distributed normal faulting in the upper crust decoupled from deformation in the lower crust and mantle lithosphere. Further rifting marks a transition to higher extension rates and coupling between the crust and mantle lithosphere, with deformation typically focused along large-scale detachment faults. Significantly, recent detailed reconstructions and high-resolution 2D numerical simulations suggest that rather than remaining focused on a single long-lived detachment fault, deformation in this phase may progress toward lithospheric breakup through a complex process of fault interaction and development. The numerical simulations also suggest that an initial phase of distributed normal faulting can play a key role in the development of these complex fault networks and the resulting finite deformation patterns. Motivated by these findings, we will present 3D numerical simulations of continental rifting that examine the role of temporal increases in extension velocity on rifted margin structure. The numerical simulations are developed with the massively parallel finite-element code ASPECT. While originally designed to model mantle convection using advanced solvers and adaptive mesh refinement techniques, ASPECT has been extended to model visco-plastic deformation that combines a Drucker Prager yield criterion with non-linear dislocation and diffusion creep. To promote deformation localization, the internal friction angle and cohesion weaken as a function of accumulated plastic strain. Rather than prescribing a single zone of weakness to initiate deformation, an initial random perturbation of the plastic strain field combined with rapid strain weakening produces distributed normal faulting at relatively slow rates of extension in both 2D and

Three-Dimensional Rheological Structure of North China Craton Determined by Integration of Multiple observations: Controlling Role for Lithospheric Rifting

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Xiong, X.; Shan, B.; Li, Y.

2017-12-01

The North China Craton (NCC) has undergone significant lithospheric rejuvenation in late Mesozoic and Cenozoic, one feature of which is the widespread extension and rifting. The extension is distinct between the two parts of NCC: widespread rifting in the eastern NCC and localized narrow rifting in the west. The mechanism being responsible for this difference is uncertain and highly debated. Since lithospheric deformation can be regarded as the response of lithosphere to various dynamic actions, the rheological properties of lithosphere must have a fundamental influence on its tectonics and deformation behavior. In this study, we investigated the 3D thermal and rheological structure of NCC by developing a model integrating several geophysical observables (such as surface heatflow, regional elevation, gravity and geoid anomalies, and seismic tomography models). The results exhibit obvious lateral variation in rheological structure between the eastern and western NCC. The overall lithospheric strength is higher in the western NCC than in the east. Despite of such difference in rheology, both parts of NCC are characterized by mantle dominated strength regime, which facilitates the development of narrow rifting. Using ancient heatflow derived from mantle xenoliths studies, and taking the subduction-related dehydration reactions during Mesozoic into account, we constructed the thermal and rheological structure of NCC in Ordovician, early Cretaceous and early Cenozoic. Combining the evidence from numerical simulations, we proposed an evolution path of the rifting in NCC. The lithosphere of NCC in Ordovician was characterized by a normal craton features: low geotherm, high strength and mantle dominated regime. During Jurassic and Cretaceous, the mantle lithosphere in the eastern NCC was hydrated by fluid released by the suduction of the Pacific plate, resulting in weakening of the lithosphere and a transition from mantle dominated to crust dominated regime, which

Geodetic measurements and numerical models of the Afar rifting sequence 2005-2010

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Ali, T.; Feigl, K.; Calais, E.; Hamling, I. J.; Wright, T. J.

2012-12-01

Rifting episodes are characterized by magma migration and dike intrusions that perturb the stress field within the surrounding lithosphere, inducing viscous flow in the lower crust and upper mantle that leads to observable, transient surface deformation. The Manda Hararo-Dabbahu rifting episode that occurred in the Afar depression between 2005 and 2010 is the first such episode to unfold fully in the era of satellite geodesy, thus providing a unique opportunity to probe the rheology of lithosphere at a divergent plate boundary. GPS and SAR measurements over the region since 2005 show accelerated surface deformation rates during post-diking intervals [Wright et al., Nature Geosci., 2012]. Using these observations in combination with a numerical model, we estimate model parameters that best explain the deformation signal. Our model accounts for three distinct processes: (i) secular plate spreading between Nubian and Arabian plates, (ii) time dependent post-rifting viscoelastic relaxation following the 14 dike intrusions that occurred between 2005 and 2010, including the 60 km long mega dike intrusion of September 2005, and (iii) magma accumulation within crustal reservoirs that feed the dikes. To model the time dependent deformation field, we use the open-source unstructured finite element code, Defmod [Ali, 2011, http://defmod.googlecode.com/]. Using a gradient-based iterative scheme [Ali and Feigl, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 2012], we optimize the fit between observed and modeled deformation to estimate parameters in the model, including the locking depth of the rift zone, geometry and depth of magma reservoirs and rheological properties of lower crust and upper mantle, along with their formal uncertainties.

Thermomechanical Controls on the Success and Failure of Continental Rift Systems

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Brune, S.

2017-12-01

Studies of long-term continental rift evolution are often biased towards rifts that succeed in breaking the continent like the North Atlantic, South China Sea, or South Atlantic rifts. However there are many prominent rift systems on Earth where activity stopped before the formation of a new ocean basin such as the North Sea, the West and Central African Rifts, or the West Antarctic Rift System. The factors controlling the success and failure of rifts can be divided in two groups: (1) Intrinsic processes - for instance frictional weakening, lithospheric thinning, shear heating or the strain-dependent growth of rift strength by replacing weak crust with strong mantle. (2) External processes - such as a change of plate divergence rate, the waning of a far-field driving force, or the arrival of a mantle plume. Here I use numerical and analytical modeling to investigate the role of these processes for the success and failure of rift systems. These models show that a change of plate divergence rate under constant force extension is controlled by the non-linearity of lithospheric materials. For successful rifts, a strong increase in divergence velocity can be expected to take place within few million years, a prediction that agrees with independent plate tectonic reconstructions of major Mesozoic and Cenozoic ocean-forming rift systems. Another model prediction is that oblique rifting is mechanically favored over orthogonal rifting, which means that simultaneous deformation within neighboring rift systems of different obliquity and otherwise identical properties will lead to success and failure of the more and less oblique rift, respectively. This can be exemplified by the Cretaceous activity within the Equatorial Atlantic and the West African Rifts that lead to the formation of a highly oblique oceanic spreading center and the failure of the West African Rift System. While in nature the circumstances of rift success or failure may be manifold, simplified numerical and

Seismic Investigations of the Crust and Upper Mantle Structure in Antarctica and Madagascar

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Ramirez, Cristo

In the three studies that form this dissertation, seismic data from Antarctica and Madagascar have been analyzed to obtain new insights into crustal structure and mantle flow. Until recently, there have been little seismic data available from these areas for interrogating Earth structure and processes. In Antarctica, I analyzed datasets from temporary deployments of broadband seismic stations in both East and West Antarctica. In Madagascar, I analyzed data from a temporary network of broadband stations, along with data from three permanent stations. The seismic data have been processed and modeled using a wide range of techniques to characterize crust and mantle structure. Crustal structure in the East Antarctic Craton resembles Precambrian terrains around the world in its thickness and shear wave velocities. The West Antarctic Rift System has thinner crust, consistent with crustal thickness beneath other Cretaceous rifts. The Transantarctic Mountains show thickening of the crust from the costal regions towards the interior of the mountain range, and high velocities in the lower crust at several locations, possibly resulting from the Ferrar magmatic event. Ross Island and Marie Byrd Land Dome have elevated crustal Vp/Vs ratios, suggesting the presence of partial melt and/or volcaniclastic material within the crust. The pattern of seismic anisotropy in Madagascar is complex and cannot arise solely due to mantle flow from the African superplume, as previously proposed. To explain the complex pattern of anisotropy, a combination of mechanisms needs to be invoked, including mantle flow from the African superplume, mantle flow from the Comoros hotspot, small scale upwelling in the mantle induced by lithospheric delamination, and fossil anisotropy in the lithospheric mantle along Precambrian shear zones.

Chemical provinces and dynamic melting of the NE Atlantic mantle

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Tronnes, R. G.

2009-12-01

Low-degree melting of fertile parts of the NE Atlantic mantle yields primitive alkaline basalts in the Icelandic off-rift zones and at Jan Mayen. Olivine tholeiites in the Icelandic rift zones and oceanic spreading ridges are formed by protracted decompressional melting. The V-shaped ridges SW and NE of Iceland indicate that rising, hot material is supplied by a pulsating plume and deflected laterally for distances of about 1000 km from Iceland (Jones et al. GGG 2002; Breivik et al. JGR 2006). Plume material deflected along the rift zones and spreading ridges undergoes mixing with the ambient asthenosphere and extensive melting at shallow level, whereas material deflected in other directions may flow laterally at deeper levels and remain largely unmelted and fertile. A recent investigation of a suite of primitive off-rift basalts from Iceland and Jan Mayen (Debaille et al., 2009, GCA) demonstrated an important source contribution from subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Available data on the primitive off-rift basalts and tholeiitic basalts from Iceland and the NE Atlantic ridges indicates the existence of three main composite mantle components, characterized by the following relative isotope ratios (H: high, I: intermediate and L: low ratio) for 87/86Sr, 143/144Nd, 206/204Pb, 187/188Os and 3/4He, respectively: 1. Iceland plume with depleted lower mantle mixed with recycled oceanic crust: I, I, H, H, H 2. Strongly depleted and later re-enriched SCLM: H, L, I, L, L 3. Depleted asthenosphere: L, H, L, I, L The two first composite components contain enriched and depleted subcomponents with distinct isotope signatures. The isotope ratio variations between the fertile components are larger than between the refractory components. The 3/4He ratio, however, is much higher in the depleted plume component than in the depleted SCLM and asthenospheric components. The old SCLM material could in principle be recycled and embedded in the lower mantle and supplied to the

Devonian magmatism in the Timan Range, Arctic Russia - subduction, post-orogenic extension, or rifting?

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Pease, V.; Scarrow, J. H.; Silva, I. G. Nobre; Cambeses, A.

2016-11-01

Devonian mafic magmatism of the northern East European Craton (EEC) has been variously linked to Uralian subduction, post-orogenic extension associated with Caledonian collision, and rifting. New elemental and isotopic analyses of Devonian basalts from the Timan Range and Kanin Peninsula, Russia, in the northern EEC constrain magma genesis, mantle source(s) and the tectonic process(es) associated with this Devonian volcanism to a rift-related context. Two compositional groups of low-K2O tholeiitic basalts are recognized. On the basis of Th concentrations, LREE concentrations, and (LREE/HREE)N, the data suggest two distinct magma batches. Incompatible trace elements ratios (e.g., Th/Yb, Nb/Th, Nb/La) together with Nd and Pb isotopes indicate involvement of an NMORB to EMORB 'transitional' mantle component mixed with variable amounts of a continental component. The magmas were derived from a source that developed high (U,Th)/Pb, U/Th and Sm/Nd over time. The geochemistry of Timan-Kanin basalts supports the hypothesis that the genesis of Devonian basaltic magmatism in the region resulted from local melting of transitional mantle and lower crust during rifting of a mainly non-volcanic continental rifted margin.

Mantle and crustal contribution in the genesis of Recent basalts from off-rift zones in Iceland: Constraints from Th, Sr and O isotopes

Science.gov (United States)

Sigmarsson, Olgeir; Condomines, Michel; Fourcade, Serge

1992-05-01

Along the two volcanic off-rift zones in Iceland, the Sn˦fellsnes volcanic zone (SNVZ) and the South Iceland volcanic zone (SIVZ), geochemical parameters vary regularly along the strike towards the centre of the island. Recent basalts from the SNVZ change from alkali basalts to tholeiites where the volcanic zone reaches the active rift axis, and their 87Sr/ 86Sr and Th/U ratios decrease in the same direction. These variations are interpreted as the result of mixing between mantle melts from two distinct reservoirs below Sn˦fellsnes. The mantle melt would be more depleted in incompatible elements, but with a higher 3He/ 4He ratio ( R/Ra≈ 20) beneath the centre of Iceland than at the tip of the Sn˦fellsnes volcanic zone ( R/Ra≈ 7.5). From southwest to northeast along the SIVZ, the basalts change from alkali basalts to FeTi basalts and quartz-normative tholeiites. The Th/U ratio of the Recent basalts increases and both ( 230Th/ 232Th ) and δ 18O values decrease in the same direction. This reflects an important crustal contamination of the FeTi-rich basalts and the quartz tholeiites. The two types of basalts could be produced through assimilation and fractional crystallization in which primary alkali basaltic and olivine tholeiitic melts 'erode' and assimilate the base of the crust. The increasingly tholeiitic character of the basalts towards the centre of Iceland, which reflects a higher degree of partial melting, is qualitatively consistent with increasing geothermal gradient and negative gravity anomaly. The highest Sr isotope ratio in Recent basalts from Iceland is observed inÖr˦fajökull volcano, which has a 3He/ 4He ratio ( R/Ra≈ 7.8) close to the MORB value, and this might represent a mantle source similar to that of Mauna Loa in Hawaii.

Initiation and evolution of the Oligo-Miocene rift basins of southwestern Europe: Contribution of deep seismic reflection profiling

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Bois, C.

1993-11-01

Southwestern European Oligo-Miocene rift basins have recently been investigated by deep seismic reflection profiling. The study of these data, together with other geophysical and geological data, shows that the rifts, which run from the Rhinegraben to the western Mediterranean, do not form a single clearcut system. The N-trending rifts (Rhinegraben, Bresse and Limagne) were developed on a cold and rigid lithosphere affected by the Alpine collision. The NE-trending rifts (southeastern France, Gulf of Lions and Valencia Trough) were formed slightly later in a backarc basin associated with an active segment of the European-Iberian plate that was heated, affected by widespread calcalkaline volcanism and probably weakened. All the southwestern European rifts and basins together may, however, be related to a common heritage represented by the boundary between the European-Iberian and African-Apulian plates that was created in the Jurassic with the initiation of the Tethys Ocean. The present features of the southwestern European Oligo-Miocène rift basins may be explained by a combination of three geodynamic mechanisms: mechanical stretching of the lithosphere, active mantle uplifting, and subordinate lithospheric flexuring. All the rifts were probably initiated by passive stretching. A systematic discrepancy between stretching derived from fault analysis and attenuation of the crust has been observed in all the rifts. This suggests that these rifts were subsequently reworked by one or several active mantle upwelling events associated with late shoulder uplift, asthenosphere upwelling and anomalous P-wave velocities in the lowermost crust and the uppermost mantle. Crustal attenuation may have been achieved by mantle intrusion, metamorphism of the deep crust and/or its delamination. Some of the rifts were affected by lithospheric flexuring. Combinations, in various proportions, of a small number of geodynamic mechanisms probably controlled many basins in the world. This

Crustal and mantle velocity models of southern Tibet from finite frequency tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xiaofeng; Shen, Yang; Chen, Yongshun John; Ren, Yong

2011-02-01

Using traveltimes of teleseismic body waves recorded by several temporary local seismic arrays, we carried out finite-frequency tomographic inversions to image the three-dimensional velocity structure beneath southern Tibet to examine the roles of the upper mantle in the formation of the Tibetan Plateau. The results reveal a region of relatively high P and S wave velocity anomalies extending from the uppermost mantle to at least 200 km depth beneath the Higher Himalaya. We interpret this high-velocity anomaly as the underthrusting Indian mantle lithosphere. There is a strong low P and S wave velocity anomaly that extends from the lower crust to at least 200 km depth beneath the Yadong-Gulu rift, suggesting that rifting in southern Tibet is probably a process that involves the entire lithosphere. Intermediate-depth earthquakes in southern Tibet are located at the top of an anomalous feature in the mantle with a low Vp, a high Vs, and a low Vp/Vs ratio. One possible explanation for this unusual velocity anomaly is the ongoing granulite-eclogite transformation. Together with the compressional stress from the collision, eclogitization and the associated negative buoyancy force offer a plausible mechanism that causes the subduction of the Indian mantle lithosphere beneath the Higher Himalaya. Our tomographic model and the observation of north-dipping lineations in the upper mantle suggest that the Indian mantle lithosphere has been broken laterally in the direction perpendicular to the convergence beneath the north-south trending rifts and subducted in a progressive, piecewise and subparallel fashion with the current one beneath the Higher Himalaya.

Magma-poor vs. magma-rich continental rifting and breakup in the Labrador Sea

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Gouiza, M.; Paton, D.

2017-12-01

Magma-poor and magma-rich rifted margins show distinct structural and stratigraphic geometries during the rift to breakup period. In magma-poor margins, crustal stretching is accommodated mainly by brittle faulting and the formation of wide rift basins shaped by numerous graben and half-graben structures. Continental breakup and oceanic crust accretion are often preceded by a localised phase of (hyper-) extension where the upper mantle is embrittled, serpentinized, and exhumed to the surface. In magma-rich margins, the rift basin is narrow and extension is accompanied by a large magmatic supply. Continental breakup and oceanic crust accretion is preceded by the emplacement of a thick volcanic crust juxtaposing and underplating a moderately thinned continental crust. Both magma-poor and magma-rich rifting occur in response to lithospheric extension but the driving forces and processes are believed to be different. In the former extension is assumed to be driven by plate boundary forces, while in the latter extension is supposed to be controlled by sublithospheric mantle dynamics. However, this view fails in explaining observations from many Atlantic conjugate margins where magma-poor and magma-rich segments alternate in a relatively abrupt fashion. This is the case of the Labrador margin where the northern segment shows major magmatic supply during most of the syn-rift phase which culminate in the emplacement of a thick volcanic crust in the transitional domain along with high density bodies underplating the thinned continental crust; while the southern segment is characterized mainly by brittle extension, mantle seprentinization and exhumation prior to continental breakup. In this work, we use seismic and potential field data to describe the crustal and structural architectures of the Labrador margin, and investigate the tectonic and mechanical processes of rifting that may have controlled the magmatic supply in the different segments of the margin.

ALVIN-SeaBeam studies of the Sumisu Rift, Izu-Bonin arc

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, B.; Brown, G.; Fryer, P.; Gill, J. B.; Hochstaedter, A. G.; Hotta, H.; Langmuir, C. H.; Leinen, M.; Nishimura, A.; Urabe, T.

1990-10-01

Bimodal volcanism, normal faulting, rapid sedimentation, and hydrothermal circulation characterize the rifting of the Izu-Bonin arc at 31°N. Analysis of the zigzag pattern, in plan view, of the normal faults that bound Sumisu Rift indicates that the extension direction (080° ± 10°) is orthogonal to the regional trend of the volcanic front. Normal faults divide the rift into an inner rift on the arc side, which is the locus for maximum subsidence and sedimentation, and an outer rift further west. Transfer zones that link opposing master faults and/or rift flank uplifts further subdivide the rift into three segments along strike. Volcanism is concentrated along the ENE-trending transfer zone which separates the northern and central rift segments. The differential motion across the zone is accommodated by interdigitating north-trending normal faults rather than by ENE-trending oblique-slip faults. Volcanism in the outer rift has built 50-700 m high edifices without summit craters whereas in the inner rift it has formed two multi-vent en echelon ridges (the largest is 600 m high and 16 km long). The volcanism is dominantly basaltic, with compositions reflecting mantle sources little influenced by arc components. An elongate rhyolite dome and low-temperature hydrothermal deposits occur at the en echelon step in the larger ridge, which is located at the intersection of the transfer zone with the inner rift. The chimneys, veins, and crusts are composed of silica, barite and iron oxide, and are of similar composition to the ferruginous chert that mantles the Kuroko deposits. A 1.2-km transect of seven ALVIN heat flow measurements at 30°48.5'N showed that the inner-rift-bounding faults may serve as water recharge zones, but that they are not necessarily areas of focussed hydrothermal outflow, which instead occurs through the thick basin sediments. The rift basin and arc margin sediments are probably dominated by permeable rhyolitic pumice and ash erupted from submarine

The Magmatic Budget of Rifted Margins: is it Related to Inheritance?

Science.gov (United States)

Manatschal, G.; Tugend, J.; Gillard, M.; Sauter, D.

2017-12-01

High quality reflection and refraction seismic surveys show a divergent style of margin architecture often referred to as magma-poor or magma-rich. More detailed studies show, however, that the evolution of these margins can be similar, despite the variable quantity and distribution of magmatism. These observations suggest that simple relations between magmatic and extensional systems are inappropriate to describe the magmatic history of rifted margins. Moreover, the study of magmatic additions indicates that they may occur, prior to, during or after lithospheric breakup. Furthermore, the observation that the magmatic budget may change very abruptly along strike and across the margin is difficult to reconcile with the occurrence of plumes or other deep-seated large-scale mantle phenomena only. These overall observations result in questions on how magmatic and tectonic processes are interacting during rifting and lithospheric breakup and on how far the inherited composition and temperature of the decompressing mantle may control the magmatic budget during rifting. In our presentation we will review examples from present-day and fossil rifted margins to discuss their structural and magmatic evolution and whether they are considered as magma-rich or magma-poor. The key questions that we aim to address are: 1) whether decompression melting is the driving force, or rather the consequence of extension, 2) how far the magmatic budget is controlled by inherited mantle composition and temperature, and 3) how important magma storage is during initial stages of rifting. Eventually, we will discuss to what extent the evolution of margins may reflect the interplay between inheritance (innate/"genetic code") and the actual physical processes (acquired/external factors).

Mantle Upwellings Below the Ibero-Maghrebian Region with a Common Deep Source from P Travel-time Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Civiero, C.; Custodio, S.; Silveira, G. M.; Rawlinson, N.; Arroucau, P.

2017-12-01

The processes responsible for the geodynamical evolution of the Ibero-Maghrebian domain are still enigmatic. Several geophysical studies have improved our understanding of the region, but no single model has been accepted yet. This study takes advantage of the dense station networks deployed from France in the north to Canary Islands and Morocco in the south to provide a new high-resolution P-wave velocity model of the structure of the upper-mantle and top of the lower mantle. These images show subvertical small-scale upwellings below Atlas Range, Canary Islands and Central Iberia that seem to cross the transition zone. The results, together with geochemical evidence and a comparison with previous global tomographic models, reveal the ponding or flow of deep-plume material beneath the transition zone, which seems to feed upper-mantle "secondary" pulses. In the upper mantle the plumes, in conjunction with the subduction-related upwellings, allow the hot mantle to rise in the surrounding zones. During its rising, the mantle interacts with horizontal SW slab-driven flow which skirts the Alboran slab and connects with the mantle upwelling below Massif Central through the Valencia Trough rift.

Mantle superplumes induce geomagnetic superchrons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter eOlson

2015-07-01

Full Text Available We use polarity reversal systematics from numerical dynamos to quantify the hypothesis that the modulation of geomagnetic reversal frequency, including geomagnetic superchrons, results from changes in core heat flux related to growth and collapse of lower mantle superplumes. We parameterize the reversal frequency sensitivity from numerical dynamos in terms of average core heat flux normalized by the difference between the present-day core heat flux and the core heat flux at geomagnetic superchron onset. A low-order polynomial fit to the 0-300 Ma Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS reveals that a decrease in core heat flux relative to present-day of approximately 30% can account for the Cretaceous Normal Polarity and Kiaman Reverse Polarity Superchrons, whereas the hyper-reversing periods in the Jurassic require a core heat flux equal to or higher than present-day. Possible links between GPTS transitions, large igneous provinces (LIPs, and the two lower mantle superplumes are explored. Lower mantle superplume growth and collapse induce GPTS transitions by increasing and decreasing core heat flux, respectively. Age clusters of major LIPs postdate transitions from hyper-reversing to superchron geodynamo states by 30-60 Myr, suggesting that superchron onset may be contemporaneous with LIP-forming instabilities produced during collapses of lower mantle superplumes.

The stress shadow induced by the 1975-1984 Krafla rifting episode

KAUST Repository

Maccaferri, F.

2013-03-01

It has been posited that the 1975–1984 Krafla rifting episode in northern Iceland was responsible for a significant drop in the rate of earthquakes along the Húsavík-Flatey Fault (HFF), a transform fault that had previously been the source of several magnitude 6–7 earthquakes. This compelling case of the existence of a stress shadow has never been studied in detail, and the implications of such a stress shadow remain an open question. According to rate-state models, intense stress shadows cause tens of years of low seismicity rate followed by a faster recovery phase of rate increase. Here, we compare the long-term predictions from a Coulomb stress model of the rifting episode with seismological observations from the SIL catalog (1995–2011) in northern Iceland. In the analyzed time frame, we find that the rift-induced stress shadow coincides with the eastern half of the fault where the observed seismicity rates are found to be significantly lower than expected, given the historical earthquake activity there. We also find that the seismicity rates on the central part of the HFF increased significantly in the last 17 years, with the seismicity progressively recovering from west to east. Our observations confirm that rate-state theory successfully describes the long-term seismic rate variation during the reloading phase of a fault invested by a negative Coulomb stress. Coincident with this recovery, we find that the b-value of the frequency-magnitude distribution changed significantly over time. We conclude that the rift-induced stress shadow not only decreased the seismic rate on the eastern part of the HFF but also temporarily modified how the system releases seismic energy, with more large magnitude events in proportion to small ones. This behavior is currently being overturned, as rift-induced locking is now being compensated by tectonic forcing.

The stress shadow induced by the 1975-1984 Krafla rifting episode

Science.gov (United States)

Maccaferri, F.; Rivalta, E.; Passarelli, L.; Jónsson, S.

2013-03-01

It has been posited that the 1975-1984 Krafla rifting episode in northern Iceland was responsible for a significant drop in the rate of earthquakes along the Húsavík-Flatey Fault (HFF), a transform fault that had previously been the source of several magnitude 6-7 earthquakes. This compelling case of the existence of a stress shadow has never been studied in detail, and the implications of such a stress shadow remain an open question. According to rate-state models, intense stress shadows cause tens of years of low seismicity rate followed by a faster recovery phase of rate increase. Here, we compare the long-term predictions from a Coulomb stress model of the rifting episode with seismological observations from the SIL catalog (1995-2011) in northern Iceland. In the analyzed time frame, we find that the rift-induced stress shadow coincides with the eastern half of the fault where the observed seismicity rates are found to be significantly lower than expected, given the historical earthquake activity there. We also find that the seismicity rates on the central part of the HFF increased significantly in the last 17 years, with the seismicity progressively recovering from west to east. Our observations confirm that rate-state theory successfully describes the long-term seismic rate variation during the reloading phase of a fault invested by a negative Coulomb stress. Coincident with this recovery, we find that the b-value of the frequency-magnitude distribution changed significantly over time. We conclude that the rift-induced stress shadow not only decreased the seismic rate on the eastern part of the HFF but also temporarily modified how the system releases seismic energy, with more large magnitude events in proportion to small ones. This behavior is currently being overturned, as rift-induced locking is now being compensated by tectonic forcing.

Geochemical and petrological constraints on mantle composition of the Ohře(Eger) rift, Bohemian Massif: peridotite xenoliths from the České Středohoří Volcanic complex and northern Bohemia

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ackerman, Lukáš; Medaris Jr., G.; Špaček, P.; Ulrych, Jaromír

2015-01-01

Roč. 104, č. 8 (2015), s. 1957-1979 ISSN 1437-3254 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/09/1170 Institutional support: RVO:67985831 Keywords : Bohemian Massif * mantle * metasomatism * Ohře(Eger) rift * xenolith Subject RIV: DB - Geology ; Mineralogy Impact factor: 2.133, year: 2015

Mid–Late Neoproterozoic rift-related volcanic rocks in China: Geological records of rifting and break-up of Rodinia

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Linqi Xia

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Early Cambrian and Mid–Late Neoproterozoic volcanic rocks in China are widespread on several Precambrian continental blocks, which had aggregated to form part of the Rodinia supercontinent by ca. 900 Ma. On the basis of petrogeochemical data, the basic lavas can be classified into two major magma types: HT (Ti/Y > 500 and LT (Ti/Y  0.85 and HT2 (Nb/La ≤ 0.85, and LT1 (Nb/La > 0.85 and LT2 (Nb/La ≤ 0.85 subtypes, respectively. The geochemical variation of the HT2 and LT2 lavas can be accounted for by lithospheric contamination of asthenosphere- (or plume- derived magmas, whereas the parental magmas of the HT1 and LT1 lavas did not undergo, during their ascent, pronounced lithospheric contamination. These volcanics exhibit at least three characteristics: (1 most have a compositional bimodality; (2 they were formed in an intracontinental rift setting; and (3 they are genetically linked with mantle plumes or a mantle surperplume. This rift-related volcanism at end of the Mid–Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian coincided temporally with the separation between Australia–East Antarctica, South China and Laurentia and between Australia and Tarim, respectively. The Mid–Late Neoproterozoic volcanism in China is the geologic record of the rifting and break-up of the supercontinent Rodinia.

Mantle Earthquakes in Thinned Proterozoic Lithosphere: Harrat Lunayyir, Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchette, A. R.; Klemperer, S. L.; Mooney, W. D.; Zahran, H. M.

2017-12-01

Harrat Lunayyir is an active volcanic field located in the western Arabian Shield 100 km outside of the Red Sea rift margin. We use common conversion point (CCP) stacking of P-wave receiver functions (PRFs) to show that the Moho is at 38 km depth, close to the 40 km crustal thickness measured in the center of the craton, whereas the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) is at 60 km, far shallower than the 150 km furthest in the craton. We locate 67 high-frequency earthquakes with mL ≤ 2.5 at depths of 40-50 km below the surface, located clearly within the mantle lid. The occurrence of earthquakes within the lithospheric mantle requires a geothermal temperature profile that is below equilibrium. The lithosphere cannot have thinned to its present thickness earlier than 15 Ma, either during an extended period of rifting possibly beginning 24 Ma or, more likely, as part of the second stage of rifting following collision between Arabia and Eurasia.

3D Numerical Rift Modeling with Application to the East African Rift System

Science.gov (United States)

Glerum, A.; Brune, S.; Naliboff, J.

2017-12-01

As key components of plate tectonics, continental rifting and the formation of passive margins have been extensively studied with both analogue models and numerical techniques. Only recently however, technical advances have enabled numerical investigations into rift evolution in three dimensions, as is actually required for including those processes that cause rift-parallel variability, such as structural inheritance and oblique extension (Brune 2016). We use the massively parallel finite element code ASPECT (Kronbichler et al. 2012; Heister et al. 2017) to investigate rift evolution. ASPECT's adaptive mesh refinement enables us to focus resolution on the regions of interest (i.e. the rift center), while leaving other areas such as the asthenospheric mantle at coarse resolution, leading to kilometer-scale local mesh resolution in 3D. Furthermore, we implemented plastic and viscous strain weakening of the nonlinear viscoplastic rheology required to develop asymmetric rift geometries (e.g. Huismans and Beaumont 2003). Additionally created plugins to ASPECT allow us to specify initial temperature and composition conditions based on geophysical data (e.g. LITHO1.0, Pasyanos et al. 2014) or to prescribe more general along-strike variation in the initial strain seeding the rift. Employing the above functionality, we construct regional models of the East African Rift System (EARS), the world's largest currently active rift. As the EARS is characterized by both orthogonal and oblique rift sections, multi-phase extension histories as well as magmatic and a-magmatic branches (e.g. Chorowicz 2005; Ebinger and Scholz 2011), it constitutes an extensive natural laboratory for our research into the 3D nature of continental rifting. References:Brune, S. (2016), in Plate boundaries and natural hazards, AGU Geophysical Monograph 219, J. C. Duarte and W. P. Schellart (Eds.). Chorowicz, J. (2005). J. Afr. Earth Sci., 43, 379-410. Ebinger, C. and Scholz, C. A. (2011), in Tectonics of

Interaction between mantle and crustal detachments: a non-linear system controlling lithospheric extension

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbaum, G.; Regenauer-Lieb, K.; Weinberg, R. F.

2009-12-01

We use numerical modelling to investigate the development of crustal and mantle detachment faults during lithospheric extension. Our models simulate a wide range of rift systems with varying values of crustal thickness and heat flow, showing how strain localization in the mantle interacts with localization in the upper crust and controls the evolution of extensional systems. Model results reveal a richness of structures and deformation styles, which grow in response to a self-organized mechanism that minimizes the internal stored energy of the system by localizing deformation at different levels of the lithosphere. Crustal detachment faults are well developed during extension of overthickened (60 km) continental crust, even when the initial heat flow is relatively low (50 mW/m2). In contrast, localized mantle deformation is most pronounced when the extended lithosphere has a normal crustal thickness (30-40 km) and an intermediate (60-70 mW/m2) heat flow. Results show a non-linear response to subtle changes in crustal thickness or heat flow, characterized by abrupt and sometime unexpected switches in extension modes (e.g. from diffuse rifting to effective lithospheric-scale rupturing) or from mantle- to crust-dominated strain localization. We interpret this non-linearity to result from the interference of doming wavelengths. Disharmony of crust and mantle doming wavelengths results in efficient communication between shear zones at different lithospheric levels, leading to rupturing of the whole lithosphere. In contrast, harmonious crust and mantle doming inhibits interaction of shear zones across the lithosphere and results in a prolonged rifting history prior to continental breakup.

Root zone of a continental rift

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirsch, Moritz; Svenningsen, Olaf

2016-01-01

melt are considered to account for the compositional range exhibited by the KIC igneous rocks. U/Pb SIMS geochronological data from zircon rims yield an emplacement age of 578 ± 9 Ma. The KIC is thus younger and more depleted than coeval mafic rocks found in the Seve Nappe, and is interpreted...... to represent a high-level magma plumbing system in a late-stage continental rift. The composition and volume of rift-related igneous rocks in the Seve Nappes are inconsistent with a mantle plume origin, but are thought to record progressive lithospheric thinning and increasing involvement of an asthenospheric......Mafic magmatic rocks formed between ca. 615 and 560 Ma along the Neoproterozoic margins of Baltica and Laurentia are classically attributed to continental rifting heralding the opening of the Iapetus Ocean. We report new data for the Kebnekaise Intrusive Complex (KIC) exposed in the Seve Nappes...

Possible Different Rifting Mechanisms Between South and North Part of the Fenhe-Weihe Rift Zone Revealed by Shear Velocity Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Ai, S.; Zheng, Y.

2017-12-01

As an active intraplate continental rift, FWR plays an important role in accommodating the trans-tension in the Trans North China Craton (TNCO). Velocity field derived from GPS measurements reveals that the northern part of FWR is still under extension in N105°E direction at a rate of 4±2 mm/yr [Shen et al., 2000]. Actually, the FWR has been the most seismically active region in NCC. Bouguer gravity profile and seismic sounding lines [Xu and Ma, 1992] revealed a 2-3 km uplift of Moho depth beneath Taiyuan basin and 5-6 km beneath the Southwestern rift zone, those geophysical observations give clues to the un-evenly upwelling of the asthenosphere beneath the rift system and the different rifting process of the FWR. Therefore, studying the extension process of FWR is meaningful to understanding the NCC geodynamics associated with rifting tectonism. Using vertical continuous waveforms recorded during 2014 from CEarray, we construct a reliable and detailed 3-D crustal and uppermost mantle S-wave velocity structure of FWR, using a Bayesian Monte-Carlo method to jointly interpret teleseismic P-wave receiver functions and Rayleigh wave dispersions [Shen et al., 2013]. In the upmost crust, FWR appear as awful low velocity anomaly zone (LVZ), while the Taihang and Lvliang mountain ranges are imaged as strong high velocity anomaly zones(HVZ). In the middle crust, the low velocity zones still keep their LVZ features Additionally, nearly the whole FWR appears as a linearly LVZ line separating Taihang Uplift and Lvliang Uplift, except beneath Shilingguan and Linshi blocks that separate the Xinxian, Taiyuan and Linfen Basins, consisting with the high seismicity there. The velocity of the lower crust beneath Taiyuan and Weihe Basin are relatively higher than the rest rift regions, we interpret them as the limited mafic underplating beneath the TNCO. From the lower crust to upper mantle, the Datong volcanic zone display robust low velocity features, though the lowest velocity

The geology and geophysics of the Oslo rift

Science.gov (United States)

Ruder, M. E.

1981-01-01

The regional geology and geophysical characteristics of the Oslo graben are reviewed. The graben is part of a Permian age failed continental rift. Alkali olivine, tholefitic, and monzonitic intrusives as well as basaltic lavas outline the extent of the graben. Geophysical evidence indicates that rifting activity covered a much greater area in Skagerrak Sea as well as the Paleozoic time, possibly including the northern Skagerrak Sea as well as the Oslo graben itself. Much of the surficial geologic characteristics in the southern part of the rift have since been eroded or covered by sedimentation. Geophysical data reveal a gravity maximum along the strike of the Oslo graben, local emplacements of magnetic material throughout the Skagerrak and the graben, and a slight mantle upward beneath the rift zone. Petrologic and geophysical maps which depict regional structure are included in the text. An extensive bibliography of pertinent literature published in English between 1960 and 1980 is also provided.

Ancient melt depletion overprinted by young carbonatitic metasomatism in the New Zealand lithospheric mantle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scott, James M.; Hodgkinson, A.; Palin, J.M.

2014-01-01

radiogenic than, the HIMU mantle reservoir. Metasomatism appears to pre-date ubiquitous pyroxene core to rim Al diffusion zoning, which may have resulted from cooling of the lithospheric mantle following cessation of Late Cretaceous-Eocene rifting of Zealandia from Gondwana. Nd isotope data, however, suggest...

The chemically zoned 1949 eruption on La Palma (Canary Islands): Petrologic evolution and magma supply dynamics of a rift zone eruption

Science.gov (United States)

Klügel, Andreas; Hoernle, Kaj A.; Schmincke, Hans-Ulrich; White, James D. L.

2000-03-01

The 1949 rift zone eruption along the Cumbre Vieja ridge on La Palma involved three eruptive centers, 3 km spaced apart, and was chemically and mineralogically zoned. Duraznero crater erupted tephrite for 14 days and shut down upon the opening of Llano del Banco, a fissure that issued first tephrite and, after 3 days, basanite. Hoyo Negro crater opened 4 days later and erupted basanite, tephrite, and phonotephrite, while Llano del Banco continued to issue basanite. The eruption ended with Duraznero erupting basanite with abundant crustal and mantle xenoliths. The tephrites and basanites from Duraznero and Llano del Banco show narrow compositional ranges and define a bimodal suite. Each batch ascended and evolved separately without significant intermixing, as did the Hoyo Negro basanite, which formed at lower degrees of melting. The magmas fractionated clinopyroxene +olivine±kaersutite±Ti-magnetite at 600-800 MPa and possibly 800-1100 MPa. Abundant reversely zoned phenocrysts reflect mixing with evolved melts at mantle depths. Probably as early as 1936, Hoyo Negro basanite entered the deep rift system at 200-350 MPa. Some shallower pockets of this basanite evolved to phonotephrite through differentiation and assimilation of wall rock. A few months prior to eruption, a mixing event in the mantle may have triggered the final ascent of the magmas. Most of the erupted tephrite and basanite ascended from mantle depths within hours to days without prolonged storage in crustal reservoirs. The Cumbre Vieja rift zone differs from the rift zones of Kilauea volcano (Hawaii) in lacking a summit caldera or a summit reservoir feeding the rift system and in being smaller and less active with most of the rift magma solidifying between eruptions.

Geodetic measurements and models of rifting in Northern Iceland for 1993-1998 (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, T.; Feigl, K.; Thurber, C. H.; Masterlark, T.; Carr, B.; Sigmundsson, F.

2010-12-01

Rifting occurs as episodes of active deformation in individual rift segments of the Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ) in Iceland. Here we simulate deformation around the Krafla central volcano and rift system in NVZ in order to explain InSAR data acquired between 1993 and 1998. The General Inversion for Phase Technique (GIPhT) is used to model the InSAR phase data directly, without unwrapping [Feigl and Thurber, Geophys. J. Int., 2009]. Using a parallel simulated annealing algorithm, GIPhT minimizes the non-linear cost function that quantifies the misfit between observed and modeled values of the phase. We test the hypothesis that the observed deformation can be explained by a combination of at least three processes including: (i) secular plate spreading, (ii) post rifting relaxation following the Krafla rifting episode (1975-1984), and (iii) deflation of a shallow magma chamber beneath the central volcano. The calibration parameters include material properties of upper/lower crust and mantle as well as flux rates for the elements of the plumbing system. The best fitting Maxwell model favors a stronger lower crust (~1.0E+20 Pa.s) and a mantle viscosity of ~1.0E+18 Pa.s as well as a shallow deflating magma chamber. The deformation appears to be linear in time over the observed interval.

Continental rift formation and transition to ocean sea floor spreading : A case study of the Afar triple junction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lavecchia, A.L.

2017-01-01

Lithosphere extension, thinning and breakup are fundamental processes in geodynamics. During rift development, both the lithosphere and the mantle are involved in a coupled system, in which the main mechanisms and the forces associated with them often vary during the rift evolution. Furthermore, the

Lithospheric low-velocity zones associated with a magmatic segment of the Tanzanian Rift, East Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Plasman, M.; Tiberi, C.; Ebinger, C.; Gautier, S.; Albaric, J.; Peyrat, S.; Déverchère, J.; Le Gall, B.; Tarits, P.; Roecker, S.; Wambura, F.; Muzuka, A.; Mulibo, G.; Mtelela, K.; Msabi, M.; Kianji, G.; Hautot, S.; Perrot, J.; Gama, R.

2017-07-01

Rifting in a cratonic lithosphere is strongly controlled by several interacting processes including crust/mantle rheology, magmatism, inherited structure and stress regime. In order to better understand how these physical parameters interact, a 2 yr long seismological experiment has been carried out in the North Tanzanian Divergence (NTD), at the southern tip of the eastern magmatic branch of the East African rift, where the southward-propagating continental rift is at its earliest stage. We analyse teleseismic data from 38 broad-band stations ca. 25 km spaced and present here results from their receiver function (RF) analysis. The crustal thickness and Vp/Vs ratio are retrieved over a ca. 200 × 200 km2 area encompassing the South Kenya magmatic rift, the NTD and the Ngorongoro-Kilimanjaro transverse volcanic chain. Cratonic nature of the lithosphere is clearly evinced through thick (up to ca. 40 km) homogeneous crust beneath the rift shoulders. Where rifting is present, Moho rises up to 27 km depth and the crust is strongly layered with clear velocity contrasts in the RF signal. The Vp/Vs ratio reaches its highest values (ca. 1.9) beneath volcanic edifices location and thinner crust, advocating for melting within the crust. We also clearly identify two major low-velocity zones (LVZs) within the NTD, one in the lower crust and the second in the upper part of the mantle. The first one starts at 15-18 km depth and correlates well with recent tomographic models. This LVZ does not always coexist with high Vp/Vs ratio, pleading for a supplementary source of velocity decrease, such as temperature or composition. At a greater depth of ca. 60 km, a mid-lithospheric discontinuity roughly mimics the step-like and symmetrically outward-dipping geometry of the Moho but with a more slanting direction (NE-SW) compared to the NS rift. By comparison with synthetic RF, we estimate the associated velocity reduction to be 8-9 per cent. We relate this interface to melt ponding

Lithosphere destabilization by melt percolation during pre-oceanic rifting: Evidence from Alpine-Apennine ophiolitic peridotites

Science.gov (United States)

Piccardo, Giovanni; Ranalli, Giorgio

2017-04-01

Orogenic peridotites from Alpine-Apennine ophiolite Massifs (Lanzo, Voltri, External and Internal Ligurides, - NW Italy, and Mt. Maggiore - Corsica) derive from the mantle lithosphere of the Ligurian Tethys. Field/structural and petrologic/geochemical studies provide constraints on the evolution of the lithospheric mantle during pre-oceanic passive rifting of the late Jurassic Ligurian Tethys ocean. Continental rifting by far-field tectonic forces induced extension of the lithosphere by means of km-scale extensional shear zones that developed before infiltration of melts from the asthenosphere (Piccardo and Vissers, 2007). After significant thinning of the lithosphere, the passively upwelling asthenosphere underwent spinel-facies decompression melting along the axial zone of the extensional system. Silica-undersaturated melt fractions percolated through the lithospheric mantle via diffuse/focused porous flow and interacted with the host peridotite through pyroxenes-dissolving/olivine-precipitating melt/rock reactions. Pyroxene dissolution and olivine precipitation modified the composition of the primary silica-undersaturated melts into derivative silica-saturated melts, while the host lithospheric spinel lherzolites were transformed into pyroxene-depleted/olivine-enriched reactive spinel harzburgites and dunites. The derivative liquids interacted through olivine-dissolving/orthopyroxene+plagioclase-crystallizing reactions with the host peridotites that were impregnated and refertilized (Piccardo et al., 2015). The saturated melts stagnated and crystallized in the shallow mantle lithosphere (as testified by diffuse interstitial crystallization of euhedral orthopyroxene and anhedral plagioclase) and locally ponded, forming orthopyroxene-rich/olivine-free gabbro-norite pods (Piccardo and Guarnieri, 2011). Reactive and impregnated peridotites are characterized by high equilibration temperatures (up to 1250 °C) even at low pressure, plagioclase-peridotite facies

Geodynamic modelling of the rift-drift transition: Application to the Red Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Fierro, E.; Schettino, A.; Capitanio, F. A.; Ranalli, G.

2017-12-01

The onset of oceanic accretion after a rifting phase is generally accompanied by an initial fast pulse of spreading in the case of volcanic margins, such that the effective spreading rate exceeds the relative far-field velocity between the two plates for a short time interval. This pulse has been attributed to edge-driven convention (EDC), although our numerical modelling shows that the shear stress at the base of the lithosphere cannot exceed 1 MPa. In general, we have developed a 2D numerical model of the mantle instabilities during the rifting phase, in order to determine the geodynamic conditions at the rift-drift transition. The model was tested using Underworld II software, variable rheological parameters, and temperature and stress-dependent viscosity. Our results show an increase of strain rates at the top of the lithosphere with the lithosphere thickness as well as with the initial width of the margin up to 300 km. Beyond this value, the influence of the initial rift width can be neglected. An interesting outcome of the numerical model is the existence of an axial zone characterized by higher strain rates, which is flanked by two low-strain stripes. As a consequence, the model suggests the existence of an area of syn-rift compression within the rift valley. Regarding the post-rift phase, we propose that at the onset of a seafloor spreading, a phase of transient creep allows the release of the strain energy accumulated in the mantle lithosphere during the rifting phase, through anelastic relaxation. Then, the conjugated margins would be subject to post-rift contraction and eventually to tectonic inversion of the rift structures. To explore the tenability of this model, we introduce an anelastic component in the lithosphere rheology, assuming both the classical linear Kelvin-Voigt rheology and a non-linear Kelvin model. The non-linear model predicts viable relaxation times ( 1-2Myrs) to explain the post-rift tectonic inversion observed along the Arabian

Active Magmatic Underplating in Western Eger Rift, Central Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Hrubcová, Pavla; Geissler, Wolfram H.; Bräuer, Karin; Vavryčuk, Václav; Tomek, Čestmír.; Kämpf, Horst

2017-12-01

The Eger Rift is an active element of the European Cenozoic Rift System associated with intense Cenozoic intraplate alkaline volcanism and system of sedimentary basins. The intracontinental Cheb Basin at its western part displays geodynamic activity with fluid emanations, persistent seismicity, Cenozoic volcanism, and neotectonic crustal movements at the intersections of major intraplate faults. In this paper, we study detailed geometry of the crust/mantle boundary and its possible origin in the western Eger Rift. We review existing seismic and seismological studies, provide new interpretation of the reflection profile 9HR, and supplement it by new results from local seismicity. We identify significant lateral variations of the high-velocity lower crust and relate them to the distribution and chemical status of mantle-derived fluids and to xenolith studies from corresponding depths. New interpretation based on combined seismic and isotope study points to a local-scale magmatic emplacement at the base of the continental crust within a new rift environment. This concept of magmatic underplating is supported by detecting two types of the lower crust: a high-velocity lower crust with pronounced reflectivity and a high-velocity reflection-free lower crust. The character of the underplated material enables to differentiate timing and tectonic setting of two episodes with different times of origin of underplating events. The lower crust with high reflectivity evidences magmatic underplating west of the Eger Rift of the Late Variscan age. The reflection-free lower crust together with a strong reflector at its top at depths of 28-30 km forms a magma body indicating magmatic underplating of the late Cenozoic (middle and upper Miocene) to recent. Spatial and temporal relations to recent geodynamic processes suggest active magmatic underplating in the intracontinental setting.

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the eastern Gulf of Aden conjugate passive margins: Narrowness and asymmetry in oblique rifting context

Science.gov (United States)

Nonn, Chloé; Leroy, Sylvie; Khanbari, Khaled; Ahmed, Abdulhakim

2017-11-01

Here, we focus on the yet unexplored eastern Gulf of Aden, on Socotra Island (Yemen), Southeastern Oman and offshore conjugate passive margins between the Socotra-Hadbeen (SHFZ) and the eastern Gulf of Aden fracture zones. Our interpretation leads to onshore-offshore stratigraphic correlation between the passive margins. We present a new map reflecting the boundaries between the crustal domains (proximal, necking, hyper-extended, exhumed mantle, proto-oceanic and oceanic domains) and structures using bathymetry, magnetic surveys and seismic reflection data. The most striking result is that the magma-poor conjugate margins exhibit asymmetrical architecture since the thinning phase (Upper Rupelian-Burdigalian). Their necking domains are sharp ( 40-10 km wide) and their hyper-extended domains are narrow and asymmetric ( 10-40 km wide on the Socotra margin and 50-80 km wide on the Omani margin). We suggest that this asymmetry is related to the migration of the rift center producing significant lower crustal flow and sequential faulting in the hyper-extended domain. Throughout the Oligo-Miocene rifting, far-field forces dominate and the deformation is accommodated along EW to N110°E northward-dipping low angle normal faults. Convection in the mantle near the SHFZ may be responsible of change in fault dip polarity in the Omani hyper-extended domain. We show the existence of a northward-dipping detachment fault formed at the beginning of the exhumation phase (Burdigalien). It separates the northern upper plate (Oman) from southern lower plate (Socotra Island) and may have generated rift-induced decompression melting and volcanism affecting the upper plate. We highlight multiple generations of detachment faults exhuming serpentinized subcontinental mantle in the ocean-continent transition. Associated to significant decompression melting, final detachment fault may have triggered the formation of a proto-oceanic crust at 17.6 Ma and induced late volcanism up to 10 Ma

Role of mantle flow in Nubia-Somalia plate divergence

Science.gov (United States)

Stamps, D. S.; Iaffaldano, G.; Calais, E.

2015-01-01

Present-day continental extension along the East African Rift System (EARS) has often been attributed to diverging sublithospheric mantle flow associated with the African Superplume. This implies a degree of viscous coupling between mantle and lithosphere that remains poorly constrained. Recent advances in estimating present-day opening rates along the EARS from geodesy offer an opportunity to address this issue with geodynamic modeling of the mantle-lithosphere system. Here we use numerical models of the global mantle-plates coupled system to test the role of present-day mantle flow in Nubia-Somalia plate divergence across the EARS. The scenario yielding the best fit to geodetic observations is one where torques associated with gradients of gravitational potential energy stored in the African highlands are resisted by weak continental faults and mantle basal drag. These results suggest that shear tractions from diverging mantle flow play a minor role in present-day Nubia-Somalia divergence.

The crust and upper mantle of central East Greenland - implications for continental accretion and rift evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Schiffer, Christian; Balling, Niels; Ebbing, Jörg; Holm Jacobsen, Bo; Bom Nielsen, Søren

2016-04-01

The geological evolution of the North Atlantic Realm during the past 450 Myr, which has shaped the present-day topographic, crustal and upper mantle features, was dominated by the Caledonian orogeny and the formation of the North Atlantic and associated igneous activity. The distinct high altitude-low relief landscapes that accompany the North Atlantic rifted passive margins are the focus of a discussion of whether they are remnant and modified Caledonian features or, alternatively, recently uplifted peneplains. Teleseismic receiver function analysis of 11 broadband seismometers in the Central Fjord Region in East Greenland indicates the presence of a fossil subduction complex, including a slab of eclogitised mafic crust and an overlying wedge of hydrated mantle peridotite. This model is generally consistent with gravity and topography. It is shown that the entire structure including crustal thickness variations and sub-Moho heterogeneity gives a superior gravity and isostatic topographic fit compared to a model with a homogeneous lithospheric layer (1). The high topography of >1000 m in the western part of the area is supported by the c. 40 km thick crust. The eastern part requires buoyancy from the low velocity/low density mantle wedge. The geometry, velocities and densities are consistent with structures associated with a fossil subduction zone. The spatial relations with Caledonian structures suggest a Caledonian origin. The results indicate that topography is isostatically compensated by density variations within the lithosphere and that significant present-day dynamic topography seems not to be required. Further, this structure is suggested to be geophysically very similar to the Flannan reflector imaged north of Scotland, and that these are the remnants of the same fossil subduction zone, broken apart and separated during the formation of the North Atlantic in the early Cenozoic (2). 1) Schiffer, C., Jacobsen, B.H., Balling, N., Ebbing, J. and Nielsen, S

Lithospheric mantle evolution in the Afro-Arabian domain: Insights from Bir Ali mantle xenoliths (Yemen)

Science.gov (United States)

Sgualdo, P.; Aviado, K.; Beccaluva, L.; Bianchini, G.; Blichert-Toft, J.; Bryce, J. G.; Graham, D. W.; Natali, C.; Siena, F.

2015-05-01

Detailed petrological and geochemical investigations of an extensive sampling of mantle xenoliths from the Neogene-Quaternary Bir Ali diatreme (southern Yemen) indicate that the underlying lithospheric mantle consists predominantly of medium- to fine-grained (often foliated) spinel-peridotites (85-90%) and spinel-pyroxenites (10-15%) showing thermobarometric estimates in the P-T range of 0.9-2.0 GPa and 900-1150 °C. Peridotites, including lherzolites, harzburgites and dunites delineate continuous chemical, modal and mineralogical variations compatible with large extractions of basic melts occurring since the late Proterozoic (~ 2 Ga, according to Lu-Hf model ages). Pyroxenites may represent intrusions of subalkaline basic melts interacting and equilibrated with the host peridotite. Subsequent metasomatism has led to modal changes, with evidence of reaction patches and clinopyroxene and spinel destabilization, as well as formation of new phases (glass, amphibole and feldspar). These changes are accompanied by enrichment of the most incompatible elements and isotopic compositions. 143Nd/144Nd ranges from 0.51419 to 0.51209 (εNd from + 30.3 to - 10.5), 176Hf/177Hf from 0.28459 to 0.28239 (εHf from + 64.4 to - 13.6), and 208Pb/204Pb from 36.85 to 41.56, thus extending from the depleted mantle (DM) towards the enriched OIB mantle (EM and HIMU) components. 3He/4He (R/RA) ratios vary from 7.2 to 7.9 with He concentrations co-varying with the most incompatible element enrichment, in parallel with metasomatic effects. These metasomatic events, particularly effective in harzburgites and dunites, are attributable to the variable interaction with alkaline basic melts related to the general extensional and rifting regime affecting the East Africa-Arabian domain during the Cenozoic. In this respect, Bir Ali mantle xenoliths resemble those occurring along the Arabian margins and the East Africa Rift system, similarly affected by alkaline metasomatism, whereas they are

Numerical modelling of edge-driven convection during rift-to-drift transition: application to the Red Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Fierro, Elisa; Capitanio, Fabio A.; Schettino, Antonio; Morena Salerno, V.

2017-04-01

We use numerical modeling to investigate the coupling of mantle instabilities and surface tectonics along lithospheric steps developing during rifting. We address whether edge driven convection (EDC) beneath rifted continental margins and shear flow during rift-drift transition can play a role in the observed post-rift compressive tectonic evolution of the divergent continental margins along the Red Sea. We run a series of 2D simulations to examine the relationship between the maximum compression and key geometrical parameters of the step beneath continental margins, such as the step height due to lithosphere thickness variation and the width of the margins, and test the effect of rheology varying temperature- and stress-dependent viscosity in the lithosphere and asthenosphere. The development of instabilities is initially illustrated as a function of these parameters, to show the controls on the lithosphere strain distribution and magnitude. We then address the transient evolution of the instabilities to characterize their duration. In an additional suite of models, we address the development of EDC during plate motions, thus accounting for the mantle shearing due to spreading. Our results show an increase of strain with the step height as well as with the margin width up to 200 km. After this value the influence of ridge margin can be neglected. Strain rates are, then, quantified for a range of laboratory-constrained constitutive laws for mantle and lithosphere forming minerals. These models propose a viable mechanism to explain the post-rift tectonic inversion observed along the Arabian continental margin and the episodic ultra-fast sea floor spreading in the central Red Sea, where the role of EDC has been invoked.

Mantle temperature as a control on the time scale of thermal evolution of extensional basins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Kenni Dinesen; Armitage, J.J.; Nielsen, S.B.

2015-01-01

Abstract Extension of the lithosphere, the thermo-mechanical boundary layer above the convecting mantle, is followed by cooling and subsidence. The timescale of oceanic basin subsidence is ∼100 Myr whereas basins of the continental interior often subside continuously for more than 200 Myr after...... rifting. Using numerical modelling, we show how these diverse rifting scenarios are unified when accounting for varying mantle potential temperature. At a temperature of 1300 °C, cooling is plate-like with nearly exponential subsidence as observed in oceanic basins. At 1200 °C, subsidence is almost linear...... and continues for more than 800 Myr. The longevity of basin subsidence in the continental interior can therefore be explained by variation of mantle temperature. An additional cause of the longevity of subsidence is related to the equilibrium thickness of the lithosphere which is increased by the local...

Estimation of age of Dali-Ganis rifting and associated volcanic activity, Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Basilevsky, A. T.

1993-01-01

This paper deals with the estimation of age for the Dali and Ganis Chasma rift zones and their associated volcanism based on photogeologic analysis of stratigraphic relations of rift-associated features with impact craters which have associated features indicative of their age. The features are radar-dark and parabolic, and they are believed to be mantles of debris derived from fallout of the craters' ejecta. They are thought to be among the youngest features on the Venusian surface, so their 'parent' craters must also be very young, evidently among the youngest 10 percent of Venus' crater population. Dali Chasma and Ganis Chasma are a part of a system of rift zones contained within eastern Aphrodite and Atla Regio which is a significant component of Venus tectonics. The rifts of this system are fracture belts which dissect typical Venusian plains with rare islands of tessera terrain. The rift zone system consists of several segments following each other (Diane, Dali, Ganis) and forming the major rift zone line, about 10,000 km long, which has junctions with several other rift zones, including Parga Chasma Rift. The junctions are usually locations of rift-associated volcanism in the form of volcanic edifices (Maat and Ozza Montes) or plain-forming flows flooding some areas within the rift zones and the adjacent plains.

Mantle helium in the Red Sea brines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lupton, J.E.; Weiss, R.F.; Craig, H.

1977-01-01

It is stated that He isotope studies of terrestrial samples have shown the existence of two He components that are clearly distinct from atmospheric He. These are termed 'crustal' He and 'mantle' He; the latter was discovered as 'excess 3 He' in deep ocean water and attributed to a flux of primordial He from the mantle. Studies of the 3 He/ 4 He ratio in deep Pacific water and in He trapped in submarine basalt glasses showed that this 'mantle' component is characterised by ratios about ten times the atmospheric ratio and 100 times the ratio in 'crustal' He. Basalt glasses from other deep sea waters also showed similar ratios, and it is indicated that 'mantle' He in areas in which new lithosphere is being formed has a unique and uniform isotopic signature. Measurements of He and Ne are here reported that reveal additional information on the origin of Red Sea brines and their relationship to the Red Sea rifts. (U.K.)

High resolution 2D numerical models from rift to break-up: Crustal hyper-extension, Margin asymmetry, Sequential faulting

Science.gov (United States)

Brune, Sascha; Heine, Christian; Pérez-Gussinyé, Marta; Sobolev, Stephan

2013-04-01

Numerical modelling is a powerful tool to integrate a multitude of geological and geophysical data while addressing fundamental questions of passive margin formation such as the occurrence of crustal hyper-extension, (a-)symmetries between conjugate margin pairs, and the sometimes significant structural differences between adjacent margin segments. This study utilises knowledge gathered from two key examples of non-magmatic, asymmetric, conjugate margin pairs, i.e. Iberia-New Foundland and Southern Africa-Brazil, where many published seismic lines provide solid knowledge on individual margin geometry. While both margins involve crustal hyper-extension, it is much more pronounced in the South Atlantic. We investigate the evolution of these two margin pairs by carefully constraining our models with detailed plate kinematic history, laboratory-based rheology, and melt fraction evaluation of mantle upwelling. Our experiments are consistent with observed fault patterns, crustal thickness, and basin stratigraphy. We conduct 2D thermomechanical rift models using the finite element code SLIM3D that operates with nonlinear stress- and temperature-dependent elasto-visco-plastic rheology, with parameters provided by laboratory experiments on major crustal and upper mantle rocks. In our models we also calculate the melt fraction within the upwelling asthenosphere, which allows us to control whether the model indeed corresponds to the non-magmatic margin type or not. Our modelling highlights two processes as fundamental for the formation of hyper-extension and margin asymmetry at non-magmatic margins: (1) Strain hardening in the rift center due to cooling of upwelling mantle material (2) The formation of a weak crustal domain adjacent to the rift center caused by localized viscous strain softening and heat transfer from the mantle. Simultaneous activity of both processes promotes lateral rift migration in a continuous way that generates a wide layer of hyper-extended crust on

Contribution of slab melting to magmatism at the active rifts zone in the middle of the Izu-Bonin arc

Science.gov (United States)

Hirai, Y.; Okamura, S.; Sakamoto, I.; Shinjo, R.; Wada, K.; Yoshida, T.

2016-12-01

The active rifts zone lies just behind the Quaternary volcanic front in the middle of the Izu-Bonin arc. Volcanism at the active rifts zone has been active since ca. 2 Ma, and late Quaternary basaltic lavas (< 0.1 Ma) and hydrothermal activity occur along the central axis of the rifts (Taylor, 1992; Ishizuka et al., 2003). In this paper we present new Sr, Nd, and Hf isotope and trace element data for the basalts erupted in the active rifts zone, including the Aogashima, Myojin and Sumisu rifts. Two geochemical groups can be identified within the active rift basalts: High-Zr basalts (HZB) and Low-Zr basalts (LZB). In the case of the Sumisu rift, the HZB exhibits higher in K2O, Na2O, Y, Zr and Ni, and also has higher Ce/Yb and Zr/Y, lower Ba/Th than the LZB. Depletion of Zr-Hf in the N-MORB spidergram characterizes the LZB from the Aogashima, Myojin and Sumisu rifts. The 176Hf/177Hf ratios are slightly lower in the HZB than in the LZB, decoupling of 176Hf/177Hf ratios and 143Nd/144Nd ratios. Estimated primary magma compositions suggest that primary magma segregation for the HZB occurred at depths less than 70 km ( 2 GPa), whereas the LZB more than 70 km (2 3 GPa). ODP Leg126 site 788, 790, and 791 reached the basaltic basement of the Sumisu rift (Gill et al., 1992). The geochemical data and stratigraphic relations of the basement indicate that the HZB is younger than the LZB. Geochemical modelling demonstrates that slab-derived melt mixed with mantle wedge produces the observed isotopic and trace elemental characteristics. The LZB volcanism at the early stage of the back-arc rifting is best explained by a partial melting of subducted slab saturated with trace quantities of zircon under low-temperature conditions in the mantle wedge. On the other hand, the HZB requires a partial melt of subducted slab accompanied by full dissolution of zircon under high-temperature conditions in the mantle wedge, which could have been caused by hot asthenospheric injection during the

Geochemical constraints on the petrogenesis of the pyroclastic rocks in Abakaliki basin (Lower Benue Rift), Southeastern Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Chukwu, Anthony; Obiora, Smart C.

2018-05-01

The pyroclastic rocks in the Cretaceous Abakaliki basin occur mostly as oval-shaped bodies, consisting of lithic/lava and vitric fragments. They are commonly characterized by parallel and cross laminations, as well contain xenoliths of shale, mudstone and siltstones from the older Asu River Group of Albian age. The rocks are basic to ultrabasic in composition, comprising altered alkali basalts, altered tuffs, minor lapillistones and agglomerates. The mineral compositions are characterized mainly by laths of calcic plagioclase, pyroxene (altered), altered olivines and opaques. Calcite, zeolite and quartz represent the secondary mineral constituents. Geochemically, two groups of volcaniclastic rocks, are distinguished: alkaline and tholeiitic rocks, both represented by fresh and altered rock samples. The older alkali basalts occur within the core of the Abakaliki anticlinorium while the younger tholeiites occur towards the periphery. Though most of the rocks are moderate to highly altered [Loss on ignition (LOI, 3.43-22.07 wt. %)], the use of immobile trace element such as Nb, Zr, Y, Hf, Ti, Ta and REEs reflect asthenospheric mantle source compositions. The rocks are enriched in incompatible elements and REEs (∑REE = 87.98-281.0 ppm for alkaline and 69.45-287.99 ppm for tholeiites). The ratios of La/Ybn are higher in the alkaline rocks ranging from 7.69 to 31.55 compared to the tholeiitic rocks which range from 4.4 to 16.89 and indicating the presence of garnet-bearing lherzolite in the source mantle. The spidergrams and REEs patterns along with Zr/Nb, Ba/Nb, Rb/Nb ratios suggest that the rocks were generated by a mantle plume from partial melting of mixed enriched mantle sources (HIMU, EMI and EMII) similar to the rocks of the south Atlantic Ocean such as St. Helena (alkaline rocks) and Ascension rocks (tholeiitic rocks). The rocks were formed in a within-plate setting of the intra-continental rift type similar to other igneous rocks in the Benue Rift and are not

The evolution of rifting process in the tectonic history of the Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Milanovsky, E. E.; Nikishin, A. M.

1985-01-01

The continental rifting is the response of the lithosphere to the oriented tension. The distribution of viscosity in the lithosphere plays an essential role during all stages of the rifting. The viscosity is a function of the temperature, the lithostatic pressure, the rock composition, the deformation rate and other factors. The temperature is the most important factor. The vertical section of continental lithosphere of the rift zone may be divided into the following layers: the upper crust, in which brittle deformation prevails; the medialcrust, in which the role of plastic deformation increases; the lower crust, in which plastic deformation prevails; and the uppermost plastic part of the mantle overlapping asthenosphere. The depth of the boundaries in the crust layers are mainly controlled by the temperature.

The Effects of Ridge Axis Width on Mantle Melting at Mid-Ocean Ridges

Science.gov (United States)

Montesi, L.; Magni, V.; Gaina, C.

2017-12-01

Mantle upwelling in response to plate divergence produces melt at mid-ocean ridges. Melt starts when the solidus is crossed and stops when conductive cooling overcomes heat advection associated with the upwelling. Most mid-ocean ridge models assume that divergence takes place only in a narrow zone that defines the ridge axis, resulting in a single upwelling. However, more complex patterns of divergence are occasionally observed. The rift axis can be 20 km wide at ultraslow spreading center. Overlapping spreading center contain two parallel axes. Rifting in backarc basins is sometimes organized as a series of parallel spreading centers. Distributing plate divergence over several rifts reduces the intensity of upwelling and limits melting. Can this have a significant effect on the expected crustal thickness and on the mode of melt delivery at the seafloor? We address this question by modeling mantle flow and melting underneath two spreading centers separated by a rigid block. We adopt a non-linear rheology that includes dislocation creep, diffusion creep and yielding and include hydrothermal cooling by enhancing thermal conductivity where yielding takes place. The crustal thickness decreases if the rifts are separated by 30 km or more but only if the half spreading rate is between 1 and 2 cm/yr. At melting depth, a single upwelling remains the norm until the separation of the rifts exceeds a critical value ranging from 15 km in the fastest ridges to more than 50 km at ultraslow spreading centers. The stability of the central upwelling is due to hydrothermal cooling, which prevents hot mantle from reaching the surface at each spreading center. When hydrothermal cooling is suppressed, or the spreading centers are sufficiently separated, the rigid block becomes extremely cold and separates two distinct, highly asymmetric upwellings that may focus melt beyond the spreading center. In that case, melt delivery might drive further and further the divergence centers, whereas

Fine scale heterogeneity in the Earth's upper mantle - observation and interpretation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thybo, Hans

2014-01-01

can be correlated to main plate tectonic features, such as oceanic spreading centres, continental rift zones and subducting slabs. Much seismological mantle research is now concentrated on imaging fine scale heterogeneity, which may be detected and imaged with high-resolution seismic data with dense...

Rift-drift transition in the Dangerous Grounds, South China Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Xi; Shen, Chuanbo; Mei, Lianfu; Zhao, Zhigang; Xie, Xiaojun

2018-04-01

The South China Sea (SCS) has a long record of rifting before and after subsequent seafloor spreading, affecting the wide continent of the Dangerous Grounds, and its scissor-shape opening manner results in the rifting structures that vary along this margin. Some 2000 km of regional multichannel seismic data combined with borehole and dredge data are interpreted to analyze the multistage rifting process, structural architecture and dynamic evolution across the entire Dangerous Grounds. Key sequence boundaries above the Cenozoic basement are identified and classified into the breakup unconformity and the rift end unconformity, which consist of the rift-related unconformities. Reflector T70 in the east of the Dangerous Grounds represents the breakup unconformity, which is likely corresponding to the spreading of the East Subbasin. T60 formed on the top of carbonate platform is time equivalent to the spreading of the Southwest Subbasin, marking the breakup unconformity of the central Dangerous Grounds. The termination of the spreading of the SCS is manifested by the rift end unconformity of T50 in the southwest and the final rift occurring in the northwest of the Dangerous Grounds is postponed to the rift end unconformity of T40. On the basis of the stratigraphic and structural analysis, distinct segments in the structural architecture of the syn-rift units and the ages of rift-drift transition show obvious change from the proximal zone to the distal zone. Three domains, which are the Reed Bank-Palawan Rift domain, the Dangerous Grounds Central Detachment domain and Nam Con Son Exhumation domain, reflect the propagation of the margin rifting developed initially by grabens formed by high angle faults, then large half-grabens controlled by listric faults and detachments and finally rotated fault blocks in the hyper-extended upper crust associated with missing lower crust or exhumed mantle revealing a migration and stepwise rifting process in the south margin of the SCS.

Imaging rifting at the lithospheric scale in the northern East African Rift using S-to-P receiver functions

Science.gov (United States)

Lavayssiere, A.; Rychert, C.; Harmon, N.; Keir, D.; Hammond, J. O. S.; Kendall, J. M.; Leroy, S. D.; Doubre, C.

2017-12-01

The lithosphere is modified during rifting by a combination of mechanical stretching, heating and potentially partial melt. We image the crust and upper mantle discontinuity structure beneath the northern East African Rift System (EARS), a unique tectonically active continental rift exposing along strike the transition from continental rifting in the Main Ethiopian rift (MER) to incipient seafloor spreading in Afar and the Red Sea. S-to-P receiver functions from 182 stations across the northern EARS were generated from 3688 high quality waveforms using a multitaper technique and then migrated to depth using a regional velocity model. Waveform modelling of data stacked in large conversion point bins confirms the depth and strength of imaged discontinuities. We image the Moho at 29.6±4.7 km depth beneath the Ethiopian plateaux with a variability in depth that is possibly due to lower crustal intrusions. The crust is 27.3±3.9 km thick in the MER and thinner in northern Afar, 17.5±0.7 km. The model requires a 3±1.2% reduction in shear velocity with increasing depth at 68.5±1.5 km beneath the Ethiopian plateaux, consistent with the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). We do not resolve a LAB beneath Afar and the MER. This is likely associated with partial melt near the base of the lithosphere, reducing the velocity contrast between the melt-intruded lithosphere and the partially molten asthenosphere. We identify a 4.5±0.7% increase in velocity with depth at 91±3 km beneath the MER. This change in velocity is consistent with the onset of melting found by previous receiver functions and petrology studies. Our results provide independent constraints on the depth of melt production in the asthenosphere and suggest melt percolation through the base of the lithosphere beneath the northernmost East African rift.

Structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean)

Science.gov (United States)

Banda, E.; Ansorge, J.; Boloix, M.; Córdoba, D.

1980-09-01

Data are presented from deep seismic sounding along the strike of the Balearic Islands carried out in 1976. The interpretation of the data gives the following results: A sedimentary cover of 4 km around Ibiza to 7 km under Mallorca overlies the crystalline basement. This basement with a P-wave velocity of 6.0 km/s at the top reaches a depth of at least 15 km under Ibiza and 17 km under Mallorca with an increase to 6.1 km/s at these depths. The crust-mantle boundary lies at a depth of 20 km and 25 km, respectively. A well documented upper-mantle velocity of 7.7 km/s is found along the entire profile. The Moho rises to a depth of 20 km about 30 km north of Mallorca and probably continues rising towards the center of the North Balearic Sea. The newly deduced crustal structure together with previously determined velocity-depth sections in the North Balearic Sea as well as heat flow and aeromagnetic data can be interpreted as an extended rift structure caused by large-scale tensional processes in the upper mantle. The available data suggest that the entire zone from the eastern Alboran Sea to the area north of the Balearic Islands represents the southeastern flank of this rift system. In this model the provinces of Spain along the east coast would represent the northwestern rift flank.

Off-axis volcano-tectonic activity during continental rifting: Insights from the transversal Goba-Bonga lineament, Main Ethiopian Rift (East Africa)

Science.gov (United States)

Corti, Giacomo; Sani, Federico; Agostini, Samuele; Philippon, Melody; Sokoutis, Dimitrios; Willingshofer, Ernst

2018-03-01

The Main Ethiopian Rift, East Africa, is characterized by the presence of major, enigmatic structures which strike approximately orthogonal to the trend of the rift valley. These structures are marked by important deformation and magmatic activity in an off-axis position in the plateaus surrounding the rift. In this study, we present new structural data based on a remote and field analysis, complemented with analogue modelling experiments, and new geochemical analysis of volcanic rocks sampled in different portions of one of these transversal structures: the Goba-Bonga volcano-tectonic lineament (GBVL). This integrated analysis shows that the GBVL is associated with roughly E-W-trending prominent volcano-tectonic activity affecting the western plateau. Within the rift floor, the approximately E-W alignment of Awasa and Corbetti calderas likely represent expressions of the GBVL. Conversely, no tectonic or volcanic features of similar (E-W) orientation have been recognized on the eastern plateau. Analogue modelling suggests that the volcano-tectonic features of the GBVL have probably been controlled by the presence of a roughly E-W striking pre-existing discontinuity beneath the western plateau, which did not extend beneath the eastern plateau. Geochemical analysis supports this interpretation and indicates that, although magmas have the same sub-lithospheric mantle source, limited differences in magma evolution displayed by products found along the GBVL may be ascribed to the different tectonic framework to the west, to the east, and in the axial zone of the rift. These results support the importance of the heterogeneous nature of the lithosphere and the spatial variations of its structure in controlling the architecture of continental rifts and the distribution of the related volcano-tectonic activity.

Strike-slip tectonics during rift linkage

Science.gov (United States)

Pagli, C.; Yun, S. H.; Ebinger, C.; Keir, D.; Wang, H.

2017-12-01

The kinematics of triple junction linkage and the initiation of transforms in magmatic rifts remain debated. Strain patterns from the Afar triple junction provide tests of current models of how rifts grow to link in area of incipient oceanic spreading. Here we present a combined analysis of seismicity, InSAR and GPS derived strain rate maps to reveal that the plate boundary deformation in Afar is accommodated primarily by extensional tectonics in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden rifts, and does not require large rotations about vertical axes (bookshelf faulting). Additionally, models of stress changes and seismicity induced by recent dykes in one sector of the Afar triple junction provide poor fit to the observed strike-slip earthquakes. Instead we explain these patterns as rift-perpendicular shearing at the tips of spreading rifts where extensional strains terminate against less stretched lithosphere. Our results demonstrate that rift-perpendicular strike-slip faulting between rift segments achieves plate boundary linkage during incipient seafloor spreading.

Mantle dynamics following supercontinent formation

Science.gov (United States)

Heron, Philip J.

This thesis presents mantle convection numerical simulations of supercontinent formation. Approximately 300 million years ago, through the large-scale subduction of oceanic sea floor, continental material amalgamated to form the supercontinent Pangea. For 100 million years after its formation, Pangea remained relatively stationary, and subduction of oceanic material featured on its margins. The present-day location of the continents is due to the rifting apart of Pangea, with supercontinent dispersal being characterized by increased volcanic activity linked to the generation of deep mantle plumes. The work presented here investigates the thermal evolution of mantle dynamics (e.g., mantle temperatures and sub-continental plumes) following the formation of a supercontinent. Specifically, continental insulation and continental margin subduction are analyzed. Continental material, as compared to oceanic material, inhibits heat flow from the mantle. Previous numerical simulations have shown that the formation of a stationary supercontinent would elevate sub-continental mantle temperatures due to the effect of continental insulation, leading to the break-up of the continent. By modelling a vigorously convecting mantle that features thermally and mechanically distinct continental and oceanic plates, this study shows the effect of continental insulation on the mantle to be minimal. However, the formation of a supercontinent results in sub-continental plume formation due to the re-positioning of subduction zones to the margins of the continent. Accordingly, it is demonstrated that continental insulation is not a significant factor in producing sub-supercontinent plumes but that subduction patterns control the location and timing of upwelling formation. A theme throughout the thesis is an inquiry into why geodynamic studies would produce different results. Mantle viscosity, Rayleigh number, continental size, continental insulation, and oceanic plate boundary evolution are

Seismic Anisotropy Beneath the Eastern Flank of the Rio Grande Rift

Science.gov (United States)

Benton, N. W.; Pulliam, J.

2015-12-01

Shear wave splitting was measured across the eastern flank of the Rio Grande Rift (RGR) to investigate mechanisms of upper mantle anisotropy. Earthquakes recorded at epicentral distances of 90°-130° from EarthScope Transportable Array (TA) and SIEDCAR (SC) broadband seismic stations were examined comprehensively, via the Matlab program "Splitlab", to determine whether SKS and SKKS phases indicated anisotropic properties. Splitlab allows waveforms to be rotated, filtered, and windowed interactively and splitting measurements are made on a user-specified waveform segment via three independent methods simultaneously. To improve signal-to-noise and improve reliability, we stacked the error surfaces that resulted from grid searches in the measurements for each station location. Fast polarization directions near the Rio Grande Rift tend to be sub-parallel to the RGR but then change to angles that are consistent with North America's average plate motion, to the east. The surface erosional depression of the Pecos Valley coincides with fast polarization directions that are aligned in a more northerly direction than their neighbors, whereas the topographic high to the east coincides with an easterly change of the fast axis.The area above a mantle high velocity anomaly discovered separately via seismic tomography which may indicate thickened lithosphere, corresponds to unusually large delay times and fast polarization directions that are more closely aligned to a north-south orientation. The area of southeastern New Mexico that falls between the mantle fast anomaly and the Great Plains craton displays dramatically smaller delay times, as well as changes in fast axis directions toward the northeast. Changes in fast axis directions may indicate flow around the mantle anomaly; small delay times could indicate vertical or attenuated flow.

3D Thermo-Mechanical Models of Plume-Lithosphere Interactions: Implications for the Kenya rift

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Scheck-Wenderoth, M.; Koptev, A.; Sippel, J.

2017-12-01

We present three-dimensional (3D) thermo-mechanical models aiming to explore the interaction of an active mantle plume with heterogeneous pre-stressed lithosphere in the Kenya rift region. As shown by the recent data-driven 3D gravity and thermal modeling (Sippel et al., 2017), the integrated strength of the lithosphere for the region of Kenya and northern Tanzania appears to be strongly controlled by the complex inherited crustal structure, which may have been decisive for the onset, localization and propagation of rifting. In order to test this hypothesis, we have performed a series of ultra-high resolution 3D numerical experiments that include a coupled mantle/lithosphere system in a dynamically and rheologically consistent framework. In contrast to our previous studies assuming a simple and quasi-symmetrical initial condition (Koptev et al., 2015, 2016, 2017), the complex 3D distribution of rock physical properties inferred from geological and geophysical observations (Sippel et al., 2017) has been incorporated into the model setup that comprises a stratified three-layer continental lithosphere composed of an upper and lower crust and lithospheric mantle overlaying the upper mantle. Following the evidence of the presence of a broad low-velocity seismic anomaly under the central parts of the East African Rift system (e.g. Nyblade et al, 2000; Chang et al., 2015), a 200-km radius mantle plume has been seeded at the bottom of a 635 km-depth model box representing a thermal anomaly of 300°C temperature excess. In all model runs, results show that the spatial distribution of surface deformation is indeed strongly controlled by crustal structure: within the southern part of the model box, a localized narrow zone stretched in NS direction (i.e. perpendicularly to applied far-field extension) is aligned along a structural boundary within the lower crust, whereas in the northern part of the model domain, deformation is more diffused and its eastern limit coincides with

Water-induced convection in the Earth's mantle transition zone

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Richard, Guillaume C.; Bercovici, David

2009-01-01

Water enters the Earth's mantle by subduction of oceanic lithosphere. Most of this water immediately returns to the atmosphere through arc volcanism, but a part of it is expected as deep as the mantle transition zone (410-660 km depth). There, slabs can be deflected and linger before sinking into the lower mantle. Because it lowers the density and viscosity of the transition zone minerals (i.e., wadsleyite and ringwoodite), water is likely to affect the dynamics of the transition zone mantle overlying stagnant slabs. The consequences of water exchange between a floating slab and the transition zone are investigated. In particular, we focus on the possible onset of small-scale convection despite the adverse thermal gradient (i.e., mantle is cooled from below by the slab). The competition between thermal and hydrous effects on the density and thus on the convective stability of the top layer of the slab is examined numerically, including water-dependent density and viscosity and temperature-dependent water solubility. For plausible initial water content in a slab (≥0.5 wt %), an episode of convection is likely to occur after a relatively short time delay (5-20 Ma) after the slab enters the transition zone. However, water induced rheological weakening is seen to be a controlling parameter for the onset time of convection. Moreover, small-scale convection above a stagnant slab greatly enhances the rate of slab dehydration. Small-scale convection also facilitates heating of the slab, which in itself may prolong the residence time of the slab in the transition zone.

The Chara-Sina dyke swarm in the structure of the Middle Paleozoic Vilyui rift system (Siberian Craton)

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Kiselev, A. I.; Konstantinov, K. M.; Yarmolyuk, V. V.; Ivanov, A. V.

2016-11-01

The formation of the Vilyui rift system in the eastern Siberian Craton was finished with breakdown of the continent and formation of its eastern margin. A characteristic feature of this rift system is the radial distribution of dyke swarms of basic rocks. This peculiarity allows us to relate it to the breaking processes above the mantle plume, the center of which was located in the region overlain in the modern structure by the foreland of the Verkhoyan folded-thrust belt. The Chara-Sina dyke swarm is the southern part of a large area of Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism in the eastern Siberian Craton. The OIB-like geochemical characteristics of dolerite allow us to suggest that the melting substrate for Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism was represented by a relatively homogeneous, mid-depleted mantle of the plume with geochemical parameters similar to those of OIB.

The Kenya rift revisited: insights into lithospheric strength through data-driven 3-D gravity and thermal modelling

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Sippel, Judith; Meeßen, Christian; Cacace, Mauro; Mechie, James; Fishwick, Stewart; Heine, Christian; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena; Strecker, Manfred R.

2017-01-01

We present three-dimensional (3-D) models that describe the present-day thermal and rheological state of the lithosphere of the greater Kenya rift region aiming at a better understanding of the rift evolution, with a particular focus on plume-lithosphere interactions. The key methodology applied is the 3-D integration of diverse geological and geophysical observations using gravity modelling. Accordingly, the resulting lithospheric-scale 3-D density model is consistent with (i) reviewed descriptions of lithological variations in the sedimentary and volcanic cover, (ii) known trends in crust and mantle seismic velocities as revealed by seismic and seismological data and (iii) the observed gravity field. This data-based model is the first to image a 3-D density configuration of the crystalline crust for the entire region of Kenya and northern Tanzania. An upper and a basal crustal layer are differentiated, each composed of several domains of different average densities. We interpret these domains to trace back to the Precambrian terrane amalgamation associated with the East African Orogeny and to magmatic processes during Mesozoic and Cenozoic rifting phases. In combination with seismic velocities, the densities of these crustal domains indicate compositional differences. The derived lithological trends have been used to parameterise steady-state thermal and rheological models. These models indicate that crustal and mantle temperatures decrease from the Kenya rift in the west to eastern Kenya, while the integrated strength of the lithosphere increases. Thereby, the detailed strength configuration appears strongly controlled by the complex inherited crustal structure, which may have been decisive for the onset, localisation and propagation of rifting.

Crustal thickness and Moho sharpness beneath the Midcontinent rift from receiver functions

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Moikwathai Moidaki

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent rift (MCR in the central US is an approximately 2000 km long, 100 km wide structure from Kansas to Michigan. During the 20-40 million years of rifting, a thick (up to 20 km layer of basaltic lava was deposited in the rift valleys. Quantifying the effects of the rifting and associated volcanic eruptions on the structure and composition of the crust and mantle beneath the MCR is important for the understanding of the evolution of continental lithosphere. In this study we measure the crustal thickness (H, and the sharpness of the Moho (R at about 24 portable and permanent stations in Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota by stacking Pto- S converted waves (PmS and their multiples (PPmS and PSmS. Under the assumption that the crustal mean velocity in the study area is the same as the IASP91 earth model, we find a significantly thickened crust beneath the MCR of about 53 km. The crustal Vp/Vs ratios increases from about 1.80 off rift to as large as 1.95 within the rift, which corresponds to an increase of Poisson’s ratio from 0.28 to 0.32, suggesting a more mafic crust beneath the MCR. The R measurements are spatially variable and are relatively small in the vicinity of the MCR, indicating the disturbance of the original sharp Moho by the rifting and magmatic intrusion and volcanic eruption.

Crust-mantle branch of the global carbon cycle and origin of deep-seated hydrocarbons

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Sorokhtin N. O.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The processes of multi-stage and polycyclic transformation and transfer of carbon in the crust and mantle have been described. The sediments drawn in the plate underthrust zones break down, become transformed and altered by metamorphic events, and part of the newly formed carbon compounds is transferred by the mantle convective currents to rift zones of the mid-oceanic ridges and carried up to the surface as hydrocarbons of various composition and carbon dioxide. This material becomes re-deposited on the sea floor as sediments forming carbonaceous and carbon-bearing units. As a result of multi-stage mechanism of physical and chemical transformations in the crust-mantle areas of the Earth hydrocarbon compounds acquire features of abiogenic origin remaining, in fact, exogenic. The revealed crust-mantle carbon cycle represents part of a global process for the cyclic carbon transfer from the atmosphere to the mantle and back. The scale of its manifestation is likely not so wide, and numerous small (mm and portions of millimeters particles of exogenic substance and dispersed carbon drawn in the plate underthrust zones form a stable geochemical tail of the crustal direction in the mantle propagating in the plane of convective currents motion. The scale of this process may be indirectly suggested by the volumes of hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide de-gassing and hydrogen in the rift systems of the Earth crust. The amount of generated hydrocarbon gases with deep-seated origin cannot form large gas and oil-and-gas fields since their significant part is transferred to the atmosphere. Just some portion of compounds may be deposited in oceanic sediments and generate gas-hydrate pools.

Depleted subcontinental lithospheric mantle and its tholeiitic melt metasomatism beneath NE termination of the Eger Rift (Europe): the case study of the Steinberg (Upper Lusatia, SE Germany) xenoliths

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Kukuła, Anna; Puziewicz, Jacek; Matusiak-Małek, Magdalena; Ntaflos, Theodoros; Büchner, Jörg; Tietz, Olaf

2015-12-01

The ca. 30 Ma Steinberg basanite occurs at the NE termination of the Eger (Ohře) Rift in the NW Bohemian Massif, Central Europe, and belongs to the Cenozoic alkaline Central European Volcanic Province. The basanite hosts a suite of mantle xenoliths, most of which are harzburgites containing relatively magnesian olivine (Fo 90.5-91.6) and Al-poor (0.04-0.13 a pfu) orthopyroxene (mg# 0.90-0.92). Some of these harzburgites also contain volumetrically minor clinopyroxene (mg# 0.92-0.95, Al 0.03-0.13 a pfu) and have U-shaped LREE-enriched REE patterns. The Steinberg harzburgites are typical for the Lower Silesian - Upper Lusatian domain of the European subcontinental lithospheric mantle. They represent residual mantle that has undergone extensive partial melting and was subsequently affected by mantle metasomatism by mixed carbonatite-silicate melts. The Steinberg xenolith suite comprises also dunitic xenoliths affected by metasomatism by melt similar to the host basanite, which lowered the Fo content in olivine to 87.6 %. This metasomatism happened shortly before xenolith entrainment in the erupting lava. One of the xenoliths is a wehrlite (olivine Fo 73 %, clinopyroxene mg# 0.83-0.85, subordinate orthopyroxene mg# 0.76-0.77). Its clinopyroxene REE pattern is flat and slightly LREE-depleted. This wehrlite is considered to be a tholeiitic cumulate. One of the studied harzburgites contains clinopyroxene with similar trace element contents to those in wehrlite. This type of clinopyroxene records percolation of tholeiitic melt through harzburgite. The tholeiitic melt might be similar to Cenozoic continental tholeiites occurring in the Central European Volcanic Province (e.g., Vogelsberg, Germany).

Factors influencing seismic wave attenuation in the lithosphere in continental rift zones

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А. А. Dobrynina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Attenuation of seismic waves in the crust and the upper mantle has been studied in three global rift systems: the Baikal rift system (Eurasia, the North Tanzanian divergence zone (Africa and the Basin and Range Province (North America. Using the records of direct and coda waves of regional earthquakes, the single scattering theory [Aki, Chouet, 1975], the hybrid model from [Zeng, 1991] and the approach described in [Wennerberg, 1993], we estimated the seismic quality factor (QC, frequency parameter (n, attenuation coefficient (δ, and total attenuation (QT. In addition, we evaluated the contributions of two components into total attenuation: intrinsic attenuation (Qi, and scattering attenuation (Qsc. Values of QC are strongly dependent on the frequency within the range of 0.2–16 Hz, as well as on the length of the coda processing window. The observed increase of QC with larger lengths of the coda processing window can be interpreted as a decrease in attenuation with increasing depth. Having compared the depth variations in the attenuation coefficient (δ and the frequency (n with the velocity structures of the studied regions, we conclude that seismic wave attenuation changes at the velocity boundaries in the medium. Moreover, the comparison results show that the estimated variations in the attenuation parameters with increasing depth are considerably dependent on utilized velocity models of the medium. Lateral variations in attenuation of seismic waves correlate with the geological and geophysical characteristics of the regions, and attenuation is primarily dependent on the regional seismic activity and regional heat flow. The geological inhomogeneities of the medium and the age of crust consolidation are secondary factors. Our estimations of intrinsic attenuation (Qi and scattering attenuation (Qsc show that in all the three studied regions, intrinsic attenuation is the major contributor to total attenuation. Our study shows that the

Linking lowermost mantle structure, core-mantle boundary heat flux and mantle plume formation

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Li, Mingming; Zhong, Shijie; Olson, Peter

2018-04-01

The dynamics of Earth's lowermost mantle exert significant control on the formation of mantle plumes and the core-mantle boundary (CMB) heat flux. However, it is not clear if and how the variation of CMB heat flux and mantle plume activity are related. Here, we perform geodynamic model experiments that show how temporal variations in CMB heat flux and pulses of mantle plumes are related to morphologic changes of the thermochemical piles of large-scale compositional heterogeneities in Earth's lowermost mantle, represented by the large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs). We find good correlation between the morphologic changes of the thermochemical piles and the time variation of CMB heat flux. The morphology of the thermochemical piles is significantly altered during the initiation and ascent of strong mantle plumes, and the changes in pile morphology cause variations in the local and the total CMB heat flux. Our modeling results indicate that plume-induced episodic variations of CMB heat flux link geomagnetic superchrons to pulses of surface volcanism, although the relative timing of these two phenomena remains problematic. We also find that the density distribution in thermochemical piles is heterogeneous, and that the piles are denser on average than the surrounding mantle when both thermal and chemical effects are included.

Groundwater fluoride enrichment in an active rift setting: Central Kenya Rift case study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olaka, Lydia A., E-mail: lydiaolaka@gmail.com [Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, P.O Box 30197, Nairobi (Kenya); Wilke, Franziska D.H. [Geoforschungs Zentrum, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam (Germany); Olago, Daniel O.; Odada, Eric O. [Department of Geology, University of Nairobi, P.O Box 30197, Nairobi (Kenya); Mulch, Andreas [Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt (Germany); Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt (Germany); Musolff, Andreas [UFZ-Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Hydrogeology, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany)

2016-03-01

Groundwater is used extensively in the Central Kenya Rift for domestic and agricultural demands. In these active rift settings groundwater can exhibit high fluoride levels. In order to address water security and reduce human exposure to high fluoride in drinking water, knowledge of the source and geochemical processes of enrichment are required. A study was therefore carried out within the Naivasha catchment (Kenya) to understand the genesis, enrichment and seasonal variations of fluoride in the groundwater. Rocks, rain, surface and groundwater sources were sampled for hydrogeochemical and isotopic investigations, the data was statistically and geospatially analyzed. Water sources have variable fluoride concentrations between 0.02–75 mg/L. 73% exceed the health limit (1.5 mg/L) in both dry and wet seasons. F{sup −} concentrations in rivers are lower (0.2–9.2 mg/L) than groundwater (0.09 to 43.6 mg/L) while saline lake waters have the highest concentrations (0.27–75 mg/L). The higher values are confined to elevations below 2000 masl. Oxygen (δ{sup 18}O) and hydrogen (δD) isotopic values range from − 6.2 to + 5.8‰ and − 31.3 to + 33.3‰, respectively, they are also highly variable in the rift floor where they attain maximum values. Fluoride base levels in the precursor vitreous volcanic rocks are higher (between 3750–6000 ppm) in minerals such as cordierite and muscovite while secondary minerals like illite and kaolinite have lower remnant fluoride (< 1000 ppm). Thus, geochemical F{sup −} enrichment in regional groundwater is mainly due to a) rock alteration, i.e. through long residence times and natural discharge and/or enhanced leakages of deep seated geothermal water reservoirs, b) secondary concentration fortification of natural reservoirs through evaporation, through reduced recharge and/or enhanced abstraction and c) through additional enrichment of fluoride after volcanic emissions. The findings are useful to help improve water management

Seismic velocity structure of the crust and shallow mantle of the Central and Eastern United States by seismic surface wave imaging

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Pollitz, Fred; Mooney, Walter D.

2016-01-01

Seismic surface waves from the Transportable Array of EarthScope's USArray are used to estimate phase velocity structure of 18 to 125 s Rayleigh waves, then inverted to obtain three-dimensional crust and upper mantle structure of the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) down to ∼200 km. The obtained lithosphere structure confirms previously imaged CEUS features, e.g., the low seismic-velocity signature of the Cambrian Reelfoot Rift and the very low velocity at >150 km depth below an Eocene volcanic center in northwestern Virginia. New features include high-velocity mantle stretching from the Archean Superior Craton well into the Proterozoic terranes and deep low-velocity zones in central Texas (associated with the late Cretaceous Travis and Uvalde volcanic fields) and beneath the South Georgia Rift (which contains Jurassic basalts). Hot spot tracks may be associated with several imaged low-velocity zones, particularly those close to the former rifted Laurentia margin.

Geodynamics of rift-plume interaction in Iceland as constrained by new 40Ar/ 39Ar and in situ U-Pb zircon ages

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Martin, E.; Paquette, J. L.; Bosse, V.; Ruffet, G.; Tiepolo, M.; Sigmarsson, O.

2011-11-01

The interaction between a rift zone and a mantle plume leads to exceptional situations in Iceland where the island is 1.5 wider than expected, given the North-Atlantic spreading rate. In order to give a better idea of the timeframe of this evolution, we present 32 new 40Ar/ 39Ar and in-situ U-Pb dating on zircon from 16 volcanic systems located from the west to east coasts of Iceland. The North Iceland Rift Zone (NIRZ) was initiated at least 12 Ma ago. Furthermore, during these last 12 Ma, the NIRZ half spreading rate was between 0.7 and 1.2 cm/yr and it propagated to the south at a rate of 1.0-1.2 cm/yr. The excess width of Iceland can thus not be explained by faster spreading rate in the past. Here we discuss a model that explains the ~ 200 km 'excess' of crust, taking into account the eastward relocation of the rift zone and corresponding older crustal capture over the course of Iceland's geological history. The most recent rift relocation is dated at approximately 6 Ma at Snæfellsnes Peninsula in the west, whereas the oldest volcanic systems (15-13 Ma) from the extreme north east of Iceland were most likely generated at the Kolbeinsey ridge north of Iceland rather than in the NIRZ itself. The need for rift relocations and crustal capture to explain the width of Iceland strongly suggests that during rift-plume interaction the mantle plume plays an active role. It forces the active rift zone to be frequently relocated by rift jumps above its center leaving inactive rift zones as older synclines in the geological record. This result in an eastward position of the rift zone in Iceland relative to the North Atlantic ridge, and it can be predicted that in a few tens of millions of years the Mid-Atlantic ridge and the Icelandic plume may become decoupled.

Papilledema secondary to a superior sagittal sinus thrombosis. Mantle cell lymphoma paraneoplastic syndrome.

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Platas-Moreno, I; Antón-Benito, A; Pérez-Cid-Rebolleda, M T; Rosado Sierra, M B

2016-01-01

A 46 year old patient presented with visual loss in the left eye during the previous months. Ophthalmoscopic examination and magnetic resonance angiography found the presence of papilledema due to thrombosis in superior sagittal sinus. The examination findings revealed a mantle cell lymphoma. Cerebral venous thrombosis is an unusual cause of papilledema. This type of thrombosis may be secondary to hyper-viscosity within a context of a paraneoplastic syndrome. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Española de Oftalmología. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Contrasting geochemical trends in the fertile and refractory parts of the NE Atlantic mantle source

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Tronnes, R. G.; Debaille, V.; Brandon, A. D.; Waight, T. E.; Graham, D. W.; Williams, A.; Lee, C. A.

2008-12-01

Primitive alkaline basalts from the Icelandic off-rift volcanic zones and Jan Mayen represent low-degree melts from the fertile parts of the NE Atlantic mantle. Olivine tholeiites and picrites from the Icelandic rift zones and nearby oceanic spreading ridges are formed by protracted decompressional melting. The V-shaped ridges along the Reykjanes, Kolbeinsey and Aegir ridges indicate that ascending source material is supplied by a pulsating plume and deflected laterally for distances of about 1000 km from Iceland (Jones et al. GGG 2002; Breivik et al. JGR 2006). Plume material deflected in the direction of the rift zones and spreading ridges undergoes extensive melting at shallow level, whereas material deflected in other directions flows laterally at deeper levels and remains largely unmelted and more fertile. The comparison of a sample suite of primitive off-rift basalts from Iceland and Jan Mayen (Debaille et al., in prep.) with olivine tholeiites and picrites from the Icelandic rift zones (mainly Brandon et al. GCA 2007) demonstrate opposing geochemical trends. The degree of source enrichment, expressed by the La/Sm-ratio, is positively and negatively correlated with 87/86Sr and 143/144Nd throughout the entire range of depleted rift zone tholeiites and enriched off-rift basalts. In the rift zone tholeiites the La/Sm-ratio has negative correlations with Mg# and Mg-content and positive correlations with 187/188Os and 3/4He. These four trends have opposite equivalents for the off-rift basalts. The most enriched and alkaline basalts from Jan Mayen and Snæfellsnes have the lowest 3/4He of 6-9*Ra and 187/188Os of 0.12-0.13. The trends seem to require a source component with ancient melt depletion and subsequent enrichment. A subcontinental lithospheric mantle keel (SCLM) is the most likely origin for the enriched component with high LILE, La/Sm and 87/86Sr and low 143/144Nd, 3/4He and 187/188Os. The most enriched alkaline basalts have notably higher Mg# and Mg and

Geometry of the Arabia-Somalia Plate Boundary into Afar: Preliminary Results from the Seismic Profile Across the Asal Rift (Djibouti)

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Vergne, J.; Doubre, C.; Mohamed, K.; Tiberi, C.; Leroy, S.; Maggi, A.

2010-12-01

In the Afar Depression, the Asal-Ghoubbet Rift in Djibouti is a young segment on land at the propagating tip of the Aden Ridge. This segment represents an ideal laboratory to observe the mechanisms of extension and the structural evolutions involved, from the continental break-up to the first stage of oceanic spreading. However, we lack first order information about the crustal and upper mantle structure in this region, which for example prevent detailed numerical modeling of the deformations observed at the surface from GPS or InSAR. Moreover the current permanent network is not well suited to precisely constrain the ratio of seismic/aseismic deformation and to characterize the active deformation and the rifting dynamics. Since November 2009 we have maintained a temporary network of 25 seismic stations deployed along a 150 km-long profile. Because we expect rapid variations of the lithospheric structure across the 10 km-wide central part of the rift, we gradually decreased the inter-stations spacing to less than 1 km in the middle section of the profile. In order to obtain a continuous image of the plate boundary, from the topographic surface to the upper mantle, several techniques and methods will be applied: P and S wave receiver functions, tomographies based on body waves, surface waves and seismic noise correlation, anisotropy, and finally a gravity-seismic joint inversion. We present some preliminary results deduced from the receiver functions applied to the data acquired during the first months of the experiment. We migrate several sets of receiver functions computed in various frequency bands to resolve both mantle interfaces and fine scale structures within the thin crust in the center of the rift. These first images confirm a rapid variation of the Moho depth on both sides of the rift and a very complex lithospheric structure in the central section with several low velocity zones within the top 50km that might correspond to magma lenses.

Flux and genesis of CO2 degassing from volcanic-geothermal fields of Gulu-Yadong rift in the Lhasa terrane, South Tibet: Constraints on characteristics of deep carbon cycle in the India-Asia continent subduction zone

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Zhang, Lihong; Guo, Zhengfu; Sano, Yuji; Zhang, Maoliang; Sun, Yutao; Cheng, Zhihui; Yang, Tsanyao Frank

2017-11-01

Gulu-Yadong rift (GYR) is the longest extensional, NE-SW-trending rift in the Himalayas and Lhasa terrane of South Tibet. Many volcanic-geothermal fields (VGFs), which comprise intense hot springs, steaming fissures, geysers and soil micro-seepage, are distributed in the GYR, making it ideal area for studying deep carbon emissions in the India-Asia continent subduction zone. As for the northern segment of GYR in the Lhasa terrane, its total flux and genesis of CO2 emissions are poorly understood. Following accumulation chamber method, soil CO2 flux survey has been carried out in VGFs (i.e., Jidaguo, Ningzhong, Sanglai, Tuoma and Yuzhai from south to north) of the northern segment of GYR. Total soil CO2 output of the northern GYR is about 1.50 × 107 t a-1, which is attributed to biogenic and volcanic-geothermal source. Geochemical characteristics of the volcanic-geothermal gases (including CO2 and He) of the northern GYR indicate their significant mantle-derived affinities. Combined with previous petrogeochemical and geophysical data, our He-C isotope modeling calculation results show that (1) excess mantle-derived 3He reflects degassing of volatiles related with partial melts from enriched mantle wedge induced by northward subduction of the Indian lithosphere, and (2) the crust-mantle interaction can provide continuous heat and materials for the overlying volcanic-geothermal system, in which magma-derived volatiles are inferred to experience significant crustal contamination during their migration to the surface.

The Volcanic Myths of the Red Sea - Temporal Relationship Between Magmatism and Rifting

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Stockli, D. F.; Bosworth, W.

2017-12-01

evidence for the formation of SDRs or the accretion of a thick proto-oceanic crust. In fact, there appears to be evidence for hyperextension and possible mantle exhumation prior to Pliocene inception of seafloor spreading, making the Red Sea overall a rather magma-poor rift - and hardly the poster child for magmatic rifting and continental break-up.

Cratonic roots and lower crustal seismicity: Investigating the role of deep intrusion in the Western rift, Africa

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Drooff, C.; Ebinger, C. J.; Lavayssiere, A.; Keir, D.; Oliva, S. J.; Tepp, G.; Gallacher, R. J.

2017-12-01

Improved seismic imaging beneath the African continent reveals lateral variations in lithospheric thickness, and crustal structure, complementing a growing crust and mantle xenolith data base. Border fault systems in the active cratonic rifts of East Africa are characterized by lower crustal seismicity, both in magmatic sectors and weakly magmatic sectors, providing constraints on crustal rheology and, in some areas, magmatic fluid migration. We report new seismicity data from magmatic and weakly magmatic sectors of the East African rift zone, and place the work in the context of independent geophysical and geochemical studies to models for strain localization during early rifting stages. Specifically, multidisciplinary studies in the Magadi Natron rift sectors reveal volumetrically large magmatic CO2 degassing along border faults with seismicity along projections of surface dips to the lower crust. The magmatic CO2 degassing and high Vp/Vs ratios and reflectivity of the lower crust implies that the border fault serves a conduit between the lower crustal underplating and the atmospheric. Crustal xenoliths in the Eastern rift sector indicate a granulitic lower crust, which is relatively weak in the presence of fluids, arguing against a strong lower crust. Within magmatic sectors, seismic, structural, and geochemistry results indicate that frequent lower crustal earthquakes are promoted by elevated pore pressures from volatile degassing along border faults, and hydraulic fracture around the margins of magma bodies. Within some weakly magmatic sectors, lower crustal earthquakes also occur along projections of border faults to the lower crust (>30 km), and they are prevalent in areas with high Vp/Vs in the lower crust. Within the southern Tanganyika rift, focal mechanisms are predominantly normal with steep nodal planes. Our comparative studies suggest that pervasive metasomatism above a mantle plume, and melt extraction in thin zones between cratonic roots, lead to

Continental rupture and the creation of new crust in the Salton Trough rift, Southern California and northern Mexico: Results from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project

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Han, Liang; Hole, John A.; Stock, Joann M.; Fuis, Gary S.; Kell, Annie; Driscoll, Neal W.; Kent, Graham M.; Harding, Alistair J.; Rymer, Michael J.; González-Fernández, Antonio; Lázaro-Mancilla, Octavio

2016-10-01

A refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic profile along the axis of the Salton Trough, California and Mexico, was analyzed to constrain crustal and upper mantle seismic velocity structure during active continental rifting. From the northern Salton Sea to the southern Imperial Valley, the crust is 17-18 km thick and approximately one-dimensional. The transition at depth from Colorado River sediment to underlying crystalline rock is gradual and is not a depositional surface. The crystalline rock from 3 to 8 km depth is interpreted as sediment metamorphosed by high heat flow. Deeper felsic crystalline rock could be stretched preexisting crust or higher-grade metamorphosed sediment. The lower crust below 12 km depth is interpreted to be gabbro emplaced by rift-related magmatic intrusion by underplating. Low upper mantle velocity indicates high temperature and partial melting. Under the Coachella Valley, sediment thins to the north and the underlying crystalline rock is interpreted as granitic basement. Mafic rock does not exist at 12-18 km depth as it does to the south, and a weak reflection suggests Moho at 28 km depth. Structure in adjacent Mexico has slower midcrustal velocity, and rocks with mantle velocity must be much deeper than in the Imperial Valley. Slower velocity and thicker crust in the Coachella and Mexicali valleys define the rift zone between them to be >100 km wide in the direction of plate motion. North American lithosphere in the central Salton Trough has been rifted apart and is being replaced by new crust created by magmatism, sedimentation, and metamorphism.

Continental rupture and the creation of new crust in the Salton Trough rift, southern California and northern Mexico: Results from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Liang; Hole, John A.; Stock, Joann M.; Fuis, Gary S.; Kell, Annie; Driscoll, Neal W.; Kent, Graham M.; Rymer, Michael J.; Gonzalez-Fernandez, Antonio; Aburto-Oropeza, Octavio

2016-01-01

A refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic profile along the axis of the Salton Trough, California and Mexico, was analyzed to constrain crustal and upper mantle seismic velocity structure during active continental rifting. From the northern Salton Sea to the southern Imperial Valley, the crust is 17-18 km thick and approximately one-dimensional. The transition at depth from Colorado River sediment to underlying crystalline rock is gradual and is not a depositional surface. The crystalline rock from ~3 to ~8 km depth is interpreted as sediment metamorphosed by high heat flow. Deeper felsic crystalline rock could be stretched pre-existing crust or higher grade metamorphosed sediment. The lower crust below ~12 km depth is interpreted to be gabbro emplaced by rift-related magmatic intrusion by underplating. Low upper-mantle velocity indicates high temperature and partial melting. Under the Coachella Valley, sediment thins to the north and the underlying crystalline rock is interpreted as granitic basement. Mafic rock does not exist at 12-18 depth as it does to the south, and a weak reflection suggests Moho at ~28 km depth. Structure in adjacent Mexico has slower mid-crustal velocity and rocks with mantle velocity must be much deeper than in the Imperial Valley. Slower velocity and thicker crust in the Coachella and Mexicali valleys define the rift zone between them to be >100 km wide in the direction of plate motion. North American lithosphere in the central Salton Trough has been rifted apart and is being replaced by new crust created by magmatism, sedimentation, and metamorphism.

Mid-Continent Rift: Rift, LIP, or Both?

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, C. A.; Stein, S. A.; Kley, J.; Hindle, D.; Keller, G. R., Jr.

2014-12-01

North America's Midcontinent Rift (MCR) is traditionally considered to have formed by midplate extension and volcanism ~1.1 Ga that ended due to compression from the Grenville orogeny, the ~1.3 - ~0.98 Ga assembly of Amazonia (Precambrian northeast South America), Laurentia (Precambrian North America), and other continents into the supercontinent of Rodinia. We find that a more plausible scenario is that it formed as part of the rifting of Amazonia from Laurentia and became inactive once seafloor spreading was established. The MCR has aspects both of a continental rift - a segmented linear depression filled with sedimentary and igneous rocks - and a large igneous province (LIP). Comparison of areas and volumes for a range of continental LIPS shows that the MCR volcanic rocks are significantly thicker than the others. The MCR flood basalts have steeper dips and thicker overlying sediments than other continental flood basalts, and were deposited in a subsiding basin after most extension ended, indicating that they are better viewed as post-rift than syn-rift rocks. Hence we view the MCR as a LIP deposited in crust weakened by rifting, and thus first a rift and then a LIP.

Springtide-induced magnification of Earth mantle resonance causes tectonics and conceals universality of physics at all scales

OpenAIRE

Omerbashich, Mensur

2006-01-01

I demonstrate two fundamental contributions. First, the Earth tectonics is generally a consequence of the springtide-induced magnification of mechanical resonance in the Earth mantle. The same mechanism that causes bridges to collapse under the soldiers step-marching makes also the Earth lithosphere fail under the springtide-induced magnification of the mantle resonance resulting in strong earthquakes. Secondly, by generalizing the above finding onto any body anywhere in all the Universes and...

The basal part of the Oman ophiolitic mantle: a fossil Mantle Wedge?

Science.gov (United States)

Prigent, Cécile; Guillot, Stéphane; Agard, Philippe; Godard, Marguerite; Chauvet, Alain; Dubacq, Benoit; Monié, Patrick; Yamato, Philippe

2014-05-01

Although the Oman ophiolite is classically regarded as being the direct analog of oceanic lithosphere created at fast spreading ridges, the geodynamic context of its formation is still highly debated. The other alternative end-member model suggests that this ophiolite entirely formed in a supra-subduction zone setting. Fluids involved in the hydration of the oceanic lithosphere and in the presence of a secondary boninitic and andesitic volcanism may provide a way to discriminate between these two interpretations: are they descending near-axis hydrothermal fluxes (first model) or ascending from a subducting slab (second model)? We herein focus on the base of the ophiolitic mantle in order to characterize the origin of fluids and decipher hydration processes. Samples were taken along hecto- to kilometre-long sections across the basal banded unit directly overlying the amphibolitic/granulitic metamorphic sole. We carried out a petrological, structural and geochemical study on these rocks and their constitutive minerals. Our results show that, unlike the generally refractory character of Oman harzburgites, all the basal mantle rocks display secondary crystallization of clinopyroxene and amphibole through metasomatic processes. The microstructures and the chronology of these secondary mineralizations (clinopyroxene, pargasitic amphibole, antigorite and then lizardite/chrysotile) suggest that these basal rocks have been affected by cooling from mantle temperatures (serpentines (B, Sr, Rb, Ba, As), are consistent with amphibolite-derived fluids (Ishikawa et al., 2005) and cannot be easily explained by other sources. Based on these observations, we propose a geodynamic model in which intense and continuous metasomatism of the cooling base of the ophiolitic mantle is due to the release of fluids coming from the progressive dehydration of underlying amphibolitic rocks. This process is compatible with the progressive subduction of the Arabian margin during the Upper

Rifting and Subsidence in the Gulf of Mexico: Implications for Syn-rift, Sag, and Salt Sections, and Subsequent Paleogeography

Science.gov (United States)

Pindell, J. L.; Graham, R.; Horn, B.

2013-05-01

Thick (up to 5 km), rapid (depression where basement had already subsided tectonically, and thus could receive up to 5 km of salt, roughly the isostatic maximum on exhumed mantle, hyper-thinned continent, or new ocean crust. ION-GXT and other seismic data along W Florida and NW Yucatán show that (1) mother salt was only 1 km thick in these areas, (2) that these areas were depositionally connected to areas of thicker deposition, and (3) the top of all salt was at global sea level, and hence the sub-salt unconformity along Florida and Yucatán was only 1 km deep by end of salt deposition. These observations fit the air-filled chasm hypothesis; however, two further observations make that mechanism highly improbable: (1) basinward limits of sub-salt unconformities along Florida/Yucatán are deeper than top of adjacent ocean crust emplaced at ~2.7 km subsea (shown by backstripping), and (2) deepest abyssal sediments over ocean crust onlap the top of distal salt, demonstrating that the salt itself was rapidly drowned after deposition. Study of global ION datasets demonstrates the process of "rapid outer marginal collapse" at most margins, which we believe is achieved by low-angle detachment on deep, landward-dipping, Moho-equivalent surfaces such that outer rifted margins are hanging walls of crustal scale half-grabens over mantle. The tectonic accommodation space produced (up to 3 km, < 3 Ma) can be filled by ~5 km of sag/salt sequences with little apparent hanging wall rifting. When salt (or other) deposition lags behind, or ends during, outer marginal collapse, deep-water settings result. We suggest that this newly identified, "outer marginal detachment phase", normally separates the traditional "rift" from "drift" stages during continental margin creation. Importantly, this 2-3 km of subsidence presently is neither treated as tectonic nor as thermal in traditional subsidence analysis; thus, Beta estimates may be excessive at many outer margins. Outer marginal

Dike intrusions during rifting episodes obey scaling relationships similar to earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

L., Passarelli; E., Rivalta; A., Shuler

2014-01-01

As continental rifts evolve towards mid-ocean ridges, strain is accommodated by repeated episodes of faulting and magmatism. Discrete rifting episodes have been observed along two subaerial divergent plate boundaries, the Krafla segment of the Northern Volcanic Rift Zone in Iceland and the Manda-Hararo segment of the Red Sea Rift in Ethiopia. In both cases, the initial and largest dike intrusion was followed by a series of smaller intrusions. By performing a statistical analysis of these rifting episodes, we demonstrate that dike intrusions obey scaling relationships similar to earthquakes. We find that the dimensions of dike intrusions obey a power law analogous to the Gutenberg-Richter relation, and the long-term release of geodetic moment is governed by a relationship consistent with the Omori law. Due to the effects of magma supply, the timing of secondary dike intrusions differs from that of the aftershocks. This work provides evidence of self-similarity in the rifting process. PMID:24469260

Mixing and Progressive Melting of Deep and Shallow Mantle Sources in the NE Atlantic and Arctic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trønnes, Reidar; Debaille, Vincianne; Erambert, M.

2013-01-01

). The SCLM-component was mixed with the local asthenosphere during and shortly after the continental rifting and ocean basin opening. Using combined Sr-Nd-Pb- Os-He-isotope systematics, the Iceland plume can be modelled as a mixture of 70% refractory/primordial lower mantle (LM) and 30% recycled oceanic...

Bottom to top lithosphere structure and evolution of western Eger Rift (Central Europe)

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Babuška, Vladislav; Fiala, Jiří; Plomerová, Jaroslava

2010-01-01

Roč. 99, č. 4 (2010), s. 891-907 ISSN 1437-3254 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/07/1088; GA AV ČR IAA300120709 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30120515; CEZ:AV0Z30130516 Keywords : western Bohemian Massif * Eger (Ohře) Rift * lithosphere structure and development * mantle seismic anisotropy Subject RIV: DC - Siesmology, Volcanology, Earth Structure Impact factor: 1.980, year: 2010

Thermal evolution of a hyperextended rift basin, Mauléon Basin, western Pyrenees

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Nicole R.; Stockli, Daniel F.; Lavier, Luc L.; Hayman, Nicholas W.

2017-06-01

Onshore and offshore geological and geophysical observations and numerical modeling have greatly improved the conceptual understanding of magma-poor rifted margins. However, critical questions remain concerning the thermal evolution of the prerift to synrift phases of thinning ending with the formation of hyperextended crust and mantle exhumation. In the western Pyrenees, the Mauléon Basin preserves the structural and stratigraphic record of Cretaceous extension, exhumation, and sedimentation of the proximal-to-distal margin development. Pyrenean shortening uplifted basement and overlying sedimentary basins without pervasive shortening or reheating, making the Mauléon Basin an ideal locality to study the temporal and thermal evolution of magma-poor hyperextended rift systems through coupling bedrock and detrital zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronometric data from transects characterizing different structural rifting domains. These new data indicate that the basin was heated during early rifting to >180°C with geothermal gradients of 80-100°C/km. The proximal margin recorded rift-related exhumation/cooling at circa 98 Ma, whereas the distal margin remained >180°C until the onset of Paleocene Pyrenean shortening. Lithospheric-scale numerical modeling shows that high geothermal gradients, >80°C/km, and synrift sediments >180°C, can be reached early in rift evolution via heat advection by lithospheric depth-dependent thinning and blanketing caused by the lower thermal conductivity of synrift sediments. Mauléon Basin thermochronometric data and numerical modeling illustrate that reheating of basement and synrift strata might play an important role and should be considered in the future development of conceptual and numerical models for hyperextended magma-poor continental rifted margins.

Nature of the uppermost mantle below the Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland: new insights from seismic refraction and gravity data modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Prada, M.; Watremez, L.; Chen, C.; O'Reilly, B.; Minshull, T. A.; Reston, T. J.; Wagner, G.; Gaw, V.; Klaeschen, D.; Shannon, P.

2015-12-01

The Porcupine Basin is a tongue-shaped basin SW of Ireland formed during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. Its history of sedimentation reveals several rifting and subsidence phases during the Late Paleozoic and Cenozoic, with a particular major rift phase occurring in Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous times. Previous work, focused on seismic and gravity data, suggest the presence of major crustal faulting and uppermost mantle serpentinization in the basin. Serpentinization is a key factor in lithospheric extension since it reduces the strength of mantle rocks, and hence, influences the tectonics of the lithosphere. Besides reducing the seismic velocity of the rock, serpentinization decreases mantle rock density favoring isostatic rebound and basin uplift, thus affecting the tectonic and thermal evolution of the basin. Here we characterize the deep structure of the Porcupine Basin from wide-angle seismic (WAS) and gravity data, with especial emphasis on the nature of the underlying mantle. The WAS data used were acquired along a 300 km long transect across the northern region of the basin. We used a travel time inversion method to model the data and obtain a P-wave velocity (Vp) model of the crust and uppermost mantle, together with the geometry of the main geological interfaces. The crustal structure along the model reveals a maximum stretching factor of ~5-6. These values are well within the range of crustal extension at which the crust becomes entirely brittle allowing the formation of major crustal faulting and serpentinization of the mantle. To further constrain the seismic structure and hence the nature of the mantle we assess the Vp uncertainty of the model by means of a Monte Carlo analysis and perform gravity modeling to test different interpretations regarding mantle rock nature. This project is funded by the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme Group 4.

Subsurface images of the Eastern Rift, Africa, from the joint inversion of body waves, surface waves and gravity: investigating the role of fluids in early-stage continental rifting

Science.gov (United States)

Roecker, S.; Ebinger, C.; Tiberi, C.; Mulibo, G.; Ferdinand-Wambura, R.; Mtelela, K.; Kianji, G.; Muzuka, A.; Gautier, S.; Albaric, J.; Peyrat, S.

2017-08-01

The Eastern Rift System (ERS) of northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, where a cratonic lithosphere is in the early stages of rifting, offers an ideal venue for investigating the roles of magma and other fluids in such an environment. To illuminate these roles, we jointly invert arrival times of locally recorded P and S body waves, phase delays of ambient noise generated Rayleigh waves and Bouguer anomalies from gravity observations to generate a 3-D image of P and S wave speeds in the upper 25 km of the crust. While joint inversion of gravity and arrival times requires a relationship between density and wave speeds, the improvement in resolution obtained by the combination of these disparate data sets serves to further constrain models, and reduce uncertainties. The most significant features in the 3-D model are (1) P and S wave speeds that are 10-15 per cent lower beneath the rift zone than in the surrounding regions, (2) a relatively high wave speed tabular feature located along the western edge of the Natron and Manyara rifts, and (3) low (∼1.71) values of Vp/Vs throughout the upper crust, with the lowest ratios along the boundaries of the rift zones. The low P and S wave speeds at mid-crustal levels beneath the rift valley are an expected consequence of active volcanism, and the tabular, high-wave speed feature is interpreted to be an uplifted footwall at the western edge of the rift. Given the high levels of CO2 outgassing observed at the surface along border fault zones, and the sensitivity of Vp/Vs to pore-fluid compressibility, we infer that the low Vp/Vs values in and around the rift zone are caused by the volcanic plumbing in the upper crust being suffused by a gaseous CO2 froth on top of a deeper, crystalline mush. The repository for molten rock is likely located in the lower crust and upper mantle, where the Vp/Vs ratios are significantly higher.

SECULAR CHANGES IN RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PLATE-TECTONIC AND MANTLE-PLUME ENGENDERED PROCESSES DURING PRECAMBRIAN TIME

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. V. Mints

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Paradoxically, the lists of “proxies” of both plate- and plume-related settings are devoid of even a mention of the high-grade metamorphic rocks (granulite, amphibolite and high-temperature eclogite facies. However, the granulite-gneiss belts and areas which contain these rocks, have a regional distribution in both the Precambrian and the Phanerozoic records. The origin and evolution of the granulite-gneiss belts correspond to the activity of plumes expressed in vigorous heating of the continental crust; intraplate magmatism; formation of rift depressions filled with sediments, juvenile lavas, and pyroclastic flow deposits; and metamorphism of lower and middle crustal complexes under conditions of granulite and high-temperature amphibolite facies that spreads over the fill of rift depressions also. Granulite-gneiss complexes of the East European Craton form one of the main components of the large oval intracontinental tectonic terranes of regional or continental rank. Inclusion of the granulite-gneiss complexes from Eastern Europe, North and South America, Africa, India, China and Australia in discussion of the problem indicated in the title to this paper, suggests consideration of a significant change in existing views on the relations between the plate- and plume-tectonic processes in geological history, as well as in supercontinent assembly and decay. The East European and North American cratons are fragments of the long-lived supercontinent Lauroscandia. After its appearance at ~2.8 Ga, the crust of this supercontinent evolved under the influence of the sequence of powerful mantle plumes (superplumes up to ~0.85 Ga. During this time Lauroscandia was subjected to rifting, partial breakup and the following reconstruction of the continent. The processes of plate-tectonic type (rifting with the transition to spreading and closing of the short-lived ocean with subduction within Lauroscandia were controlled by the superplumes. Revision of the

Upper mantle velocity structure beneath Italy from direct and secondary P-wave teleseismic tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. De Gori

1997-06-01

Full Text Available High-quality teleseismic data digitally recorded by the National Seismic Network during 1988-1995 have been analysed to tomographically reconstruct the aspherical velocity structure of the upper mantle beneath the Italian region. To improve the quality and the reliability of the tomographic images, both direct (P, PKPdf and secondary (pP,sP,PcP,PP,PKPbc,PKPab travel-time data were used in the inversion. Over 7000 relative residuals were computed with respect to the IASP91 Earth velocity model and inverted using a modified version of the ACH technique. Incorporation of data of secondary phases resulted in a significant improvement of the sampling of the target volume and of the spatial resolution of the heterogeneous zones. The tomographic images show that most of the lateral variations in the velocity field are confined in the first ~250 km of depth. Strong low velocity anomalies are found beneath the Po plain, Tuscany and Eastern Sicily in the depth range between 35 and 85 km. High velocity anomalies dominate the upper mantle beneath the Central-Western Alps, Northern-Central Apennines and Southern Tyrrhenian sea at lithospheric depths between 85 and 150 km. At greater depth, positive anomalies are still observed below the northernmost part of the Apenninic chain and Southern Tyrrhenian sea. Deeper anomalies present in the 3D velocity model computed by inverting only the first arrivals dataset, generally appear less pronounced in the new tomographic reconstructions. We interpret this as the result of the ray sampling improvement on the reduction of the vertical smearing effects.

The latest geodynamics in Asia: Synthesis of data on volcanic evolution, lithosphere motion, and mantle velocities in the Baikal-Mongolian region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergei Rasskazov

2017-07-01

Full Text Available From a synthesis of data on volcanic evolution, movement of the lithosphere, and mantle velocities in the Baikal-Mongolian region, we propose a comprehensive model for deep dynamics of Asia that assumes an important role of the Gobi, Baikal, and North Transbaikal transition-layer melting anomalies. This layer was distorted by lower-mantle fluxes at the beginning of the latest geodynamic stage (i.e. in the early late Cretaceous due to avalanches of slab material that were stagnated beneath the closed fragments of the Solonker, Ural-Mongolian paleoceans and Mongol-Okhotsk Gulf of Paleo-Pacific. At the latest geodynamic stage, Asia was involved in east–southeast movement, and the Pacific plate moved in the opposite direction with subduction under Asia. The weakened upper mantle region of the Gobi melting anomaly provided a counterflow connected with rollback in the Japan Sea area. These dynamics resulted in the formation of the Honshu-Korea flexure of the Pacific slab. A similar weakened upper mantle region of the North Transbaikal melting anomaly was associated with the formation of the Hokkaido-Amur flexure of the Pacific slab, formed due to progressive pull-down of the slab material into the transition layer in the direction of the Pacific plate and Asia convergence. The early–middle Miocene structural reorganization of the mantle processes in Asia resulted in the development of upper mantle low-velocity domains associated with the development of rifts and orogens. We propose that extension at the Baikal Rift was caused by deviator flowing mantle material, initiated under the moving lithosphere in the Baikal melting anomaly. Contraction at the Hangay orogen was created by facilitation of the tectonic stress transfer from the Indo-Asian interaction zone due to the low-viscosity mantle in the Gobi melting anomaly.

High-resolution seismic survey for the characterization of planned PIER-ICDP fluid-monitoring sites in the Eger Rift zone

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, H.; Buske, S.

2017-12-01

The Eger Rift zone (Czech Republic) is a intra-continental non-volcanic region and is characterized by outstanding geodynamic activities, which result in earthquake swarms and significant CO2 emanations. Because fluid-induced stress can trigger earthquake swarms, both natural phenomena are probably related to each other. The epicentres of the earthquake swarms cluster at the northern edge of the Cheb Basin. Although the location of the cluster coincides with the major Mariánské-Lázně Fault Zone (MLFZ) the strike of the focal plane indicates another fault zone, the N-S trending Počátky-Plesná Zone (PPZ). Isotopic analysis of the CO2-rich fluids revealed a significant portion of upper mantle derived components, hence a magmatic fluid source in the upper mantle was postulated. Because of these phenomena, the Eger Rift area is a unique site for interdisciplinary drilling programs to study the fluid-earthquake interaction. The ICDP project PIER (Probing of Intra-continental magmatic activity: drilling the Eger Rift) will set up an observatory, consisting of five monitoring boreholes. In preparation for the drilling, the goal of the seismic survey is the characterization of the projected fluid-monitoring drill site at the CO2 degassing mofette field near Hartoušov. This will be achieved by a 6 km long profile with dense source and receiver spacing. The W-E trending profile will cross the proposed drill site and the surface traces of MLFZ and PPZ. The outcome of the seismic survey will be a high-resolution structural image of potential reflectors related to these fault zones. This will be achieved by the application of advanced pre-stack depth migration methods and a detailed P-wave velocity distribution of the area obtained from first arrival tomography. During interpretation of the seismic data, a geoelectrical resistivity model, acquired along the same profile line, will provide important constraints, especially with respect to fluid pathways.

Mantle flow influence on subduction evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Chertova, Maria V.; Spakman, Wim; Steinberger, Bernhard

2018-05-01

The impact of remotely forced mantle flow on regional subduction evolution is largely unexplored. Here we investigate this by means of 3D thermo-mechanical numerical modeling using a regional modeling domain. We start with simplified models consisting of a 600 km (or 1400 km) wide subducting plate surrounded by other plates. Mantle inflow of ∼3 cm/yr is prescribed during 25 Myr of slab evolution on a subset of the domain boundaries while the other side boundaries are open. Our experiments show that the influence of imposed mantle flow on subduction evolution is the least for trench-perpendicular mantle inflow from either the back or front of the slab leading to 10-50 km changes in slab morphology and trench position while no strong slab dip changes were observed, as compared to a reference model with no imposed mantle inflow. In experiments with trench-oblique mantle inflow we notice larger effects of slab bending and slab translation of the order of 100-200 km. Lastly, we investigate how subduction in the western Mediterranean region is influenced by remotely excited mantle flow that is computed by back-advection of a temperature and density model scaled from a global seismic tomography model. After 35 Myr of subduction evolution we find 10-50 km changes in slab position and slab morphology and a slight change in overall slab tilt. Our study shows that remotely forced mantle flow leads to secondary effects on slab evolution as compared to slab buoyancy and plate motion. Still these secondary effects occur on scales, 10-50 km, typical for the large-scale deformation of the overlying crust and thus may still be of large importance for understanding geological evolution.

Short wavelength lateral variability of lithospheric mantle beneath the Middle Atlas (Morocco) as recorded by mantle xenoliths

Science.gov (United States)

El Messbahi, Hicham; Bodinier, Jean-Louis; Vauchez, Alain; Dautria, Jean-Marie; Ouali, Houssa; Garrido, Carlos J.

2015-05-01

The Middle Atlas is a region where xenolith-bearing volcanism roughly coincides with the maximum of lithospheric thinning beneath continental Morocco. It is therefore a key area to study the mechanisms of lithospheric thinning and constrain the component of mantle buoyancy that is required to explain the Moroccan topography. Samples from the two main xenolith localities, the Bou Ibalghatene and Tafraoute maars, have been investigated for their mineralogy, microstructures, crystallographic preferred orientation, and whole-rock and mineral compositions. While Bou Ibalghatene belongs to the main Middle Atlas volcanic field, in the 'tabular' Middle Atlas, Tafraoute is situated about 45 km away, on the North Middle Atlas Fault that separates the 'folded' Middle Atlas, to the South-East, from the 'tabular' Middle Atlas, to the North-West. Both xenolith suites record infiltration of sub-lithospheric melts that are akin to the Middle Atlas volcanism but were differentiated to variable degrees as a result of interactions with lithospheric mantle. However, while the Bou Ibalghatene mantle was densely traversed by high melt fractions, mostly focused in melt conduits, the Tafraoute suite records heterogeneous infiltration of smaller melt fractions that migrated diffusively, by intergranular porous flow. As a consequence the lithospheric mantle beneath Bou Ibalghaten was strongly modified by melt-rock interactions in the Cenozoic whereas the Tafraoute mantle preserves the record of extensional lithospheric thinning, most likely related to Mesozoic rifting. The two xenolith suites illustrate distinct mechanisms of lithospheric thinning: extensional thinning in Tafraoute, where hydrous incongruent melting triggered by decompression probably played a key role in favouring strain localisation, vs. thermal erosion in Bou Ibalghatene, favoured and guided by a dense network of melt conduits. Our results lend support to the suggestion that lithospheric thinning beneath the Atlas

Active and fossil mantle flows in the western Alpine region unravelled by seismic anisotropy analysis and high-resolution P wave tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Salimbeni, Simone; Malusà, Marco G.; Zhao, Liang; Guillot, Stéphane; Pondrelli, Silvia; Margheriti, Lucia; Paul, Anne; Solarino, Stefano; Aubert, Coralie; Dumont, Thierry; Schwartz, Stéphane; Wang, Qingchen; Xu, Xiaobing; Zheng, Tianyu; Zhu, Rixiang

2018-04-01

The anisotropy of seismic velocities in the mantle, when integrated with high-resolution tomographic models and geologic information, can be used to detect active mantle flows in complex plate boundary areas, providing new insights on the impact of mantle processes on the topography of mountain belts. Here we use a densely spaced array of temporary broadband seismic stations to analyze the seismic anisotropy pattern of the western Alpine region, at the boundary between the Alpine and Apenninic slabs. Our results are supportive of a polyphase development of anisotropic mantle fabrics, possibly starting from the Jurassic to present. Geophysical data presented in this work, and geologic evidence taken from the literature, indicate that: (i) fossil fabrics formed during Tethyan rifting may be still preserved within the Alpine and Apenninic slabs; (ii) mantle deformation during Apenninic slab rollback is not compensated by a complete toroidal flow around the northern tip of the retreating slab; (iii) the previously observed continuous trend of anisotropy fast axes near-parallel to the western Alpine arc is confirmed. We observe that this arc-parallel trend of fast axes is located in correspondence to a low velocity anomaly in the European upper mantle, beneath regions of the Western and Ligurian Alps showing the highest uplift rates. We propose that the progressive rollback of the Apenninic slab, in the absence of a counterclockwise toroidal flow at its northern tip, induced a suction effect at the scale of the supraslab mantle. The resulting mantle flow pattern was characterized by an asthenospheric counterflow at the rear of the unbroken Western Alps slab and around its southern tip, and by an asthenospheric upwelling, mirrored by low P wave velocities, that would have favored the topographic uplift of the Alpine belt from the Mont Blanc to the Mediterranean sea.

Surface deformation in volcanic rift zones

Science.gov (United States)

Pollard, D.D.; Delaney, P.T.; Duffield, W.A.; Endo, E.T.; Okamura, A.T.

1983-01-01

The principal conduits for magma transport within rift zones of basaltic volcanoes are steeply dipping dikes, some of which feed fissure eruptions. Elastic displacements accompanying a single dike emplacement elevate the flanks of the rift relative to a central depression. Concomitant normal faulting may transform the depression into a graben thus accentuating the topographic features of the rift. If eruption occurs the characteristic ridge-trough-ridge displacement profile changes to a single ridge, centered at the fissure, and the erupted lava alters the local topography. A well-developed rift zone owes its structure and topography to the integrated effects of many magmatic rifting events. To investigate this process we compute the elastic displacements and stresses in a homogeneous, two-dimensional half-space driven by a pressurized crack that may breach the surface. A derivative graphical method permits one to estimate the three geometric parameters of the dike (height, inclination, and depth-to-center) and the mechanical parameter (driving pressure/rock stiffness) from a smoothly varying displacement profile. Direct comparison of measured and theoretical profiles may be used to estimate these parameters even if inelastic deformation, notably normal faulting, creates discontinuities in the profile. Geological structures (open cracks, normal faults, buckles, and thrust faults) form because of stresses induced by dike emplacement and fissure eruption. Theoretical stress states associated with dilation of a pressurized crack are used to interpret the distribution and orientation of these structures and their role in rift formation. ?? 1983.

Rift systems in the southern North Atlantic: why did some fail and others not?

Science.gov (United States)

Nirrengarten, M.; Manatschal, G.; Tugend, J.; Kusznir, N. J.; Sauter, D.

2017-12-01

Orphan, Rockall, Porcupine, Parentis and Pyrenean Basins are failed rift systems surrounding the southern North Atlantic Ocean. The failure or succeessing of a rift system is intimately linked to the question of what controls lithospheric breakup and what keeps oceanic spreading alive. Extension rates and the thermal structure are usually the main parameters invoked. However, between the rifts that succeeded and those that failed, the relative control and relative importance of these parameters is not clear. Cessation of driving forces, strain hardening or competition between concurrent rifts are hypotheses often used to explain rift failure. In this work, we aim to analyze the influence of far field forces on the abandon of rift systems in the southern North Atlantic domain using plate kinematic modeling. A new reconstruction approach that integrates the spatio-temporal evolution of rifted basins has been developed. The plate modeling is based on the definition, mapping and restoration of rift domains using 3D gravity inversions methods that provide crustal thickness maps. The kinematic description of each rift system enables us to discuss the local rift evolution relative to the far field kinematic framework. The resulting model shows a strong segmentation of the different rift systems during extreme crustal thinning that are crosscut by V-shape propagators linked to the exhumation of mantle and emplacement of first oceanic crust. The northward propagating lithospheric breakup of the southern North Atlantic may be partly triggered and channeled by extreme lithospheric thinning. However, at Aptian-Albian time, the northward propagating lithospheric breakup diverts and is partitioned along a transtensional system resulting in the abandon of the Orphan and Rockall basins. The change in the propagation direction may be related to a local strain weakening along existing/inherited transfer zones and/or, alternatively, to a more global plate reorganization. The

Comparison of hydrothermal activity between the Adriatic and the Red Sea rift margins

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, Philip; Incerpi, Nicolò; Birkle, Peter; Lacsamana, Elizabeth; Manatschal, Gianreto; Agar, Susan; Zhang, Shuo; Borsato, Ron

2017-04-01

Detailed field studies, and access to high-quality seismic reflection and refraction data have led to an improved understanding of the architecture and evolution of magma poor and magma rich margins. Associated with the spatial-temporal evolution of the rift, it is evident that there are evolving, extensive, fluid-rock interactions due to the infiltration of fluids within the sediment, basement and lithospheric mantle. Key questions therefore arise: What are the different fluid-rock reactions that can be typed to different geodynamic stages of the rift evolution? What are their compositions and how do they interact with their environment (basement, sediments, evaporites, hydrosphere, and magmatism)? What are the implications for the evolution of the margin rheology, thermal structure, depositional environments/organic matter maturity, and reservoir quality? The Adriatic paleo-rifted margin is preserved in both SE Switzerland and northern Italy. The field exposures provide a unique opportunity to study the fluid flow history of a hyperextended magma poor extensional margin. Analysis of breccias, cement veins and replacement minerals reveal that the margin records a complex, long-lasting history of dolomitization, calcification and silicification during the Jurassic rifting. The Red Sea by contrast is a young rifted margin. It differs from the paleo-Adriatic margin by several characteristics: volcanism is more evident, and syn-tectonic sediments, including evaporites (halite and anhydrite) are thicker. Several core and fluid samples are available from both onshore and offshore wells, which reveal rift-related hydrothermal alteration. In addition, we find evidence for the presence of an extreme dynamic hydraulic system with infiltration of surface water into sub-salt units during Late Pleistocene. In this study we present results from petrographic and geochemical analysis of basement and sedimentary rocks from Adriatic field-derived samples and core/subsurface fluid

Dynamics of Lithospheric Extension and Residual Topography in Southern Tibet

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, B.; Shahnas, M. H.; Pysklywec, R.; Sengul Uluocak, E.

2017-12-01

Although the north-south (N-S) convergence between India and Eurasia is ongoing, a number of north-south trending rifts (e.g., Tangra Yum Co Rift, Yadong-Gulu Rift and Cona Rift) and normal faulting are observed at the surface of southern Tibet, suggesting an east-west (E-W) extension tectonic regime. The earthquake focal mechanisms also show that deformation of southern Tibet is dominated by E-W extension across these N-S trending rifts. Because the structure of the lithosphere and underlying mantle is poorly understood, the origin of the east-west extension of southern Tibet is still under debate. Gravitational collapse, oblique convergence, and mantle upwelling are among possible responsible mechanisms. We employ a 3D-spherical control volume model of the present-day mantle flow to understand the relationship between topographic features (e.g., rifts and the west-east extension), intermediate-depth earthquakes, and tectonic stresses induced by mantle flow beneath the region. The thermal structure of the mantle and crust is obtained from P and S-wave seismic inversions and heat flow data. Power-law creep with viscous-plastic rheology, describing the behavior of the lithosphere and mantle material is employed. We determine the models which can best reconcile the observed features of southern Tibet including surface heat flow, residual topography with uplift and subsidence, reported GPS rates of the vertical movements, and the earthquake events. The 3D geodynamic modeling of the contemporary mantle flow-lithospheric response quantifies the relative importance of the various proposed mechanism responsible for the E-W extension and deep earthquakes in southern Tibet. The results also have further implications for the magmatic activities and crustal rheology of the region.

The evolution of magma during continental rifting: New constraints from the isotopic and trace element signatures of silicic magmas from Ethiopian volcanoes

Science.gov (United States)

Hutchison, William; Mather, Tamsin A.; Pyle, David M.; Boyce, Adrian J.; Gleeson, Matthew L. M.; Yirgu, Gezahegn; Blundy, Jon D.; Ferguson, David J.; Vye-Brown, Charlotte; Millar, Ian L.; Sims, Kenneth W. W.; Finch, Adrian A.

2018-05-01

Rift Segment (MHRS) of Afar. At Erta Ale only ∼1% of the volume generated due to rift extension is filled by cumulates, supporting previous seismic evidence for a greater role of plate stretching in mature rifts at the onset of sea-floor spreading. We infer that ∼45 Ma of magmatism has left little fusible Pan-African material to be assimilated beneath the magmatic segments and the active segments are predominantly composed of magmatic cumulates with δ18 O indistinguishable from mantle-derived melts. We predict that the δ18 O of silicic magmas should converge to mantle values as the rift continues to evolve. Although current data are limited, a comparison with ∼30 Ma ignimbrites (with δ18 O up to 8.9‰) supports this inference, evidencing greater crustal assimilation during initial stages of rifting and at times of heightened magmatic flux.

Water Content in the SW USA Mantle Lithosphere: FTIR Analysis of Dish Hill and Kilbourne Hole Pyroxenites

Science.gov (United States)

Gibler, Robert; Peslier, Anne H.; Schaffer, Lillian Aurora; Brandon, Alan D.

2014-01-01

Kilbourne Hole (NM, USA) and Dish Hill (CA, USA) mantle xenoliths sample continental mantle in two different tectonic settings. Kilbourne Hole (KH) is located in the Rio Grande rift. Dish Hill (DH) is located in the southern Mojave province, an area potentially affected by subduction of the Farallon plate beneath North America. FTIR analyses were obtained on well characterized pyroxenite, dunite and wehrlite xenoliths, thought to represent crystallized melts at mantle depths. PUM normalized REE patterns of the KH bulk-rocks are slightly LREE enriched and consistent with those of liquids generated by 6% melting of a spinel peridotite source. Pyroxenite pyroxenes have no detectable water but one DH wehrlite, which bulk-rock is LREE enriched, has 4 ppm H2O in orthopyroxene and 2 Ga. The Farallon subduction appears to have enriched in water the southwestern United States lithospheric mantle further east than DH, beneath the Colorado plateau.

Structural interpretation of El Hierro (Canary Islands) rifts system from gravity inversion modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Sainz-Maza, S.; Montesinos, F. G.; Martí, J.; Arnoso, J.; Calvo, M.; Borreguero, A.

2017-08-01

Recent volcanism in El Hierro Island is mostly concentrated along three elongated and narrow zones which converge at the center of the island. These zones with extensive volcanism have been identified as rift zones. The presence of similar structures is common in many volcanic oceanic islands, so understanding their origin, dynamics and structure is important to conduct hazard assessment in such environments. There is still not consensus on the origin of the El Hierro rift zones, having been associated with mantle uplift or interpreted as resulting from gravitational spreading and flank instability. To further understand the internal structure and origin of the El Hierro rift systems, starting from the previous gravity studies, we developed a new 3D gravity inversion model for its shallower layers, gathering a detailed picture of this part of the island, which has permitted a new interpretation about these rifts. Previous models already identified a main central magma accumulation zone and several shallower high density bodies. The new model allows a better resolution of the pathways that connect both levels and the surface. Our results do not point to any correspondence between the upper parts of these pathways and the rift identified at the surface. Non-clear evidence of progression toward deeper parts into the volcanic system is shown, so we interpret them as very shallow structures, probably originated by local extensional stresses derived from gravitational loading and flank instability, which are used to facilitate the lateral transport of magma when it arrives close to the surface.

Silicate Veining Above an Ascending Mantle Plume - Evidence from New Ethiopian Xenolith Localities

Science.gov (United States)

Rooney, T. O.; Furman, T.; Ayalew, D.; Yirgu, G.

2004-12-01

Quaternary basaltic eruptions in the Debre Zeyit (Bishoftu) and Butajira regions of the Main Ethiopian Rift host Al-augite, norite and rare lherzolite xenoliths, xenocrysts and megacrysts. These explosive basaltic eruptions are located 20 km to the west of the main rift axis and are characterized by cinder cones and maars. The host basalt was generated as a small degree partial melt of fertile peridotite between 15 and 25 kb and host abundant Al-augite (Type II) xenoliths derived from pressures up to 10 kb. The central Main Ethiopian Rift lies in a transitional zone between the continental rifting of East Africa and the sea floor spreading associated with the Red Sea. Lithospheric and sub-lithospheric processes that occur during the transition from continental to oceanic magmatism may be investigated using these xenolith-bearing basalts. Neither carbonatitic nor hydrous (amphibole + phlogopite) metasomatism is evident in either the xenoliths or host basalts, suggesting that infiltration of silicate melts that produced Al-augite veining dominates the regional lower crust and lithospheric mantle. These veins are significantly hotter (200 - 300 ° C) than the lherzolite wall rock they intrude suggesting the thermal influence of the Afar plume. Recent geophysical tomography indicates that this veining is pervasive and segmented, supporting the association of these Al-augite veins with the formation of a proto-ridge axis. Al-augite xenoliths and megacrysts have been observed in other continental rift settings such as Durango (Luhr, 2001) and Lake Baikal (Litasov, 2000), indicating Al-augite silicate melt metasomatism is a fundamental process associated with continental rift development.

Long Wavelenth Subsidence of Western Europe during Late Eocene-Oligocene (38-23 Ma): Mantle Dynamic Effect?

Science.gov (United States)

Guillocheau, Francois; Robin, Cécile; Bessin, Paul

2015-04-01

Western Europe (France, southern Britain, southern Belgium, western Germany) is subsiding during Late Eocene to Oligocene (38-23 Ma) as suggested by the growth of numerous small sedimentary basins mainly filled by lacustrine deposits with some brackish to marine deposits. This large-scale subsidence is coeval with the early stage of the so-called Oligocene rifts (in fact Late Bartonian to Rupelian): Lower Rhinegraben, Bresse, Limagnes. The subsiding domain extends from Cornwall to the Rhine Graben including the Armorican Massif, the southern Paris Basin, the northern Aquitaine Basin, the French Central Massif, the Ardennes-Eifel… This subsidence occurred at a period of global sea level fall and then an eustatic component cannot explain (1) the accommodation space creation and (2) the marine floding with a paroxysm during Early Oligocene times (Armorican Massif, ?Ardennes, French Massif central). This marine flooding also indicate that the relief of the Hercynian basement was less elevated and smoother than today. Some of those small "basins" were interpreted as little rifts, but new mapping (e.g. Puy-en-Velay or Forez Plain in the French Massif central) or new geophysical data (e.g. Rennes Basin in the Armorican massif) suggest that no faults control those basins or that they result from post-depositional collapses. This long wavelength subsidence is at the scale of the mantle dynamic. Possible mantle mechanisms and the relationships with the "Oligocene" rifts and the North Sea inversion will be discussed.

Water in Earth's mantle: Hydrogen analysis of mantle olivine, pyroxenes and garnet using the SIMS

Science.gov (United States)

Kurosawa, Masanori; Yurimoto, Hisayoshi; Sueno, Shigeho

1993-01-01

Hydrogen (or water) in the Earth's interior plays a key role in the evolution and dynamics of the planet. However, the abundance and the existence form of the hydrogen have scarcely been clear in practice. Hydrogen in the mantle was incorporated in the interior during the formation of the Earth. The incorporated hydrogen was hardly possible to concentrate locally inside the Earth considering its high mobility and high reactivity. The hydrogen, preferably, could be distributed homogeneously over the mantle and the core by the subsequent physical and chemical processes. Therefore, hydrogen in the mantle could be present in the form of trace hydrogen in nominally anhydrous mantle minerals. The hydrogen and the other trace elements in mantle olivines, orthopyroxenes, clinopyroxenes, and garnets were determined using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for elucidating (1) the exact hydrogen contents, (2) the correlation between the hydrogen and the other trace elements, (3) the dependence of the hydrogen contents on the depth, and (4) the dependence of the whole rock water contents on the depth.

Isotopic characterisation of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle beneath Zealandia, a rifted fragment of Gondwana

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Waight, Tod Earle; Scott, James M.; van der Meer, Quinten Har Adriaan

2013-01-01

The greater New Zealand region, known as Zealandia, represents an amalgamation of crustal fragments accreted to the paleo-Pacific Gondwana margin and which underwent significant thinning during the subsequent split from Australia and Antarctica in the mid-Cretaceous following opening of the Tasma...... Sea and the Southern Ocean. We present Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes and laser ablation trace element data for a comprehensive suite of clinopyroxene separates from spinel peridotite xenoliths (lherzolite to harzburgite) from the sub-continental lithospheric mantle across southern New Zealand...... composition, age or geographical separation. These isotopic compositions indicate that the sub-continental lithospheric mantle under southern New Zealand has a regionally distinct and pervasive FOZO to HIMU – like signature. The isotopic signatures are also similar to those of the alkaline magmas...... that transported the xenoliths and suggest that most of the HIMU signature observed in the volcanics could be derived from a major source component in the sub-continental lithospheric mantle. Trace element abundances in clinopyroxene are highly heterogeneous and vary from LREE-enriched, relatively flat and MORB...

Petrogenesis and tectonic association of rift-related basic Panjal dykes from the northern Indian plate, North-Western Pakistan: evidence of high-Ti basalts analogous to dykes from Tibet

Science.gov (United States)

Sajid, Muhammad; Andersen, Jens; Arif, Mohammad

2017-10-01

Rift related magmatism during Permian time in the northern margin of Indian plate is represented by basic dykes in several Himalayan terranes including north western Pakistan. The field relations, mineralogy and whole rock geochemistry of these basic dykes reveal significant textural, mineralogical and chemical variation between two major types (a) dolerite and (b) amphibolite. Intra-plate tectonic settings for both rock types have been interpreted on the basis of low Zr/Nb ratios (primitive mantle using Dy/Yb, La/Yb, Sm/Yb and La/Sm ratios show that amphibolite formed by smaller degrees (< 5%) of partial melting than the dolerites (< 10%). The trace elements ratios suggest the origination of dolerites from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle with some crustal contamination. This is consistent with a petrogenetic relationship with Panjal trap magmatism, reported from Kashmir and other parts of north western India. The amphibolites, in contrast, show affinity towards Ocean Island basalts (OIB) with a relatively deep asthenospheric mantle source and minimal crustal contribution and are geochemically similar to the High-Ti mafic dykes of southern Qiangtang, Tibet. These similarities combined with Permian tectonic restoration of Gondwana indicate the coeval origin for both dykes from distinct mantle source during continental rifting related to formation of the Neotethys Ocean.

Preferential mantle lithospheric extension under the South China margin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clift, P.; Jian Lin

2001-01-01

Continental rifting in the South China Sea culminated in seafloor spreading at ∼ 30Ma (Late Oligocene). The basin and associated margins form a classic example of break-up in a relatively juvenile arc crust environment. In this study, we documented the timing, distribution and amount of extension in the crust and mantle lithosphere on the South China Margin during this process. Applying a one-dimensional backstripping modeling technique to drilling data from the Pearl River Mouth Basin (PRMB) and Beibu Gulf Basin, we calculated subsidence rates of the wells and examined the timing and amount of extension. Our results show that extension of the crust exceeded that in the mantle lithosphere under the South China Shelf, but that the two varied in phase, suggesting depth-dependent extension rather than a lithospheric-scale detachment. Estimates of total crustal extension derived in this way are similar to those measured by seismic refraction, indicating that isostatic compensation is close to being local. Extension in the Beibu Gulf appears to be more uniform with depth, a difference that we attribute to the different style of strain accommodation during continental break-up compared to intra-continental rifting. Extension in PRMB and South China slope continues for ∼ 5m.y. after the onset of seafloor spreading due to the weakness of the continental lithosphere. The timing of major extension is broadly mid-late Eocene to late Oligocene (∼ 45-25Ma), but is impossible to correlate in detail with poorly dated strike-slip deformation in the Red River Fault Zone. (author)

Rhenium-osmium isotopes in pervasively metasomatized mantle xenoliths from the Bohemian Massif and implications for the reliability of Os model ages

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kochergina, Y. V.; Ackerman, Lukáš; Erban, V.; Matusiak-Malek, M.; Puziewicz, J.; Halodová, P.; Špaček, P.; Trubač, J.; Magna, T.

2016-01-01

Roč. 430, July 15 (2016), s. 90-107 ISSN 0009-2541 Institutional support: RVO:67985831 Keywords : Bohemian Massif * depletion age * Ohře/Eger rift * Os isotopes * peridotite xenolith * Re-Os * sub-continental lithospheric mantle Subject RIV: DB - Geology ; Mineralogy Impact factor: 3.347, year: 2016

A joint inversion for shear velocity and anisotropy: the Woodlark Rift, Papua New Guinea

Science.gov (United States)

Eilon, Zachary; Abers, Geoffrey A.; Gaherty, James B.

2016-08-01

Trade-offs between velocity and anisotropy heterogeneity complicate the interpretation of differential traveltime data and have the potential to bias isotropic tomographic models. By constructing a simple parametrisation to describe an elastic tensor with hexagonal symmetry, we find analytic solutions to the Christoffel equations in terms of fast and slow horizontal velocities that allow us to simultaneously invert differential traveltime data and splitting data from teleseismic S arrivals to recover 3-D velocity and anisotropy structure. This technique provides a constraint on the depth-extent of shallow anisotropy, otherwise absent from interpretations based on SKS splitting alone. This approach is well suited to the young Woodlark Rift, where previous studies have found strong velocity variation and substantial SKS splitting in a continental rift with relatively simple geometry. This study images a low-velocity rift axis with ≤4 per cent spreading-parallel anisotropy at 50-100 km depth that separates regions of pre-existing lithospheric fabric, indicating the synchronous development of extensional crystallographic preferred orientation and lithospheric thinning. A high-velocity slab fragment north of the rift axis is associated with strike-parallel anisotropic fast axes, similar to that seen in the shallow mantle of some subduction zones. In addition to the insights provided by the anisotropy structure, the improvement in fit to the differential traveltime data demonstrates the merit to a joint inversion that accounts for anisotropy.

Highly CO2-supersaturated melts in the Pannonian lithospheric mantle - A transient carbon reservoir?

Science.gov (United States)

Créon, Laura; Rouchon, Virgile; Youssef, Souhail; Rosenberg, Elisabeth; Delpech, Guillaume; Szabó, Csaba; Remusat, Laurent; Mostefaoui, Smail; Asimow, Paul D.; Antoshechkina, Paula M.; Ghiorso, Mark S.; Boller, Elodie; Guyot, François

2017-08-01

Subduction of carbonated crust is widely believed to generate a flux of carbon into the base of the continental lithospheric mantle, which in turn is the likely source of widespread volcanic and non-volcanic CO2 degassing in active tectonic intracontinental settings such as rifts, continental margin arcs and back-arc domains. However, the magnitude of the carbon flux through the lithosphere and the budget of stored carbon held within the lithospheric reservoir are both poorly known. We provide new constraints on the CO2 budget of the lithospheric mantle below the Pannonian Basin (Central Europe) through the study of a suite of xenoliths from the Bakony-Balaton Highland Volcanic Field. Trails of secondary fluid inclusions, silicate melt inclusions, networks of melt veins, and melt pockets with large and abundant vesicles provide numerous lines of evidence that mantle metasomatism affected the lithosphere beneath this region. We obtain a quantitative estimate of the CO2 budget of the mantle below the Pannonian Basin using a combination of innovative analytical and modeling approaches: (1) synchrotron X-ray microtomography, (2) NanoSIMS, Raman spectroscopy and microthermometry, and (3) thermodynamic models (Rhyolite-MELTS). The three-dimensional volumes reconstructed from synchrotron X-ray microtomography allow us to quantify the proportions of all petrographic phases in the samples and to visualize their textural relationships. The concentration of CO2 in glass veins and pockets ranges from 0.27 to 0.96 wt.%, higher than in typical arc magmas (0-0.25 wt.% CO2), whereas the H2O concentration ranges from 0.54 to 4.25 wt.%, on the low end for estimated primitive arc magmas (1.9-6.3 wt.% H2O). Trapping pressures for vesicles were determined by comparing CO2 concentrations in glass to CO2 saturation as a function of pressure in silicate melts, suggesting pressures between 0.69 to 1.78 GPa. These values are generally higher than trapping pressures for fluid inclusions

Re-appraisal of the Magma-rich versus Magma-poor Paradigm at Rifted Margins: consequences for breakup processes

Science.gov (United States)

Tugend, J.; Gillard, M.; Manatschal, G.; Nirrengarten, M.; Harkin, C. J.; Epin, M. E.; Sauter, D.; Autin, J.; Kusznir, N. J.; McDermott, K.

2017-12-01

Rifted margins are often classified based on their magmatic budget only. Magma-rich margins are commonly considered to have excess decompression melting at lithospheric breakup compared with steady state seafloor spreading while magma-poor margins have suppressed melting. New observations derived from high quality geophysical data sets and drill-hole data have revealed the diversity of rifted margin architecture and variable distribution of magmatism. Recent studies suggest, however, that rifted margins have more complex and polyphase tectono-magmatic evolutions than previously assumed and cannot be characterized based on the observed volume of magma alone. We compare the magmatic budget related to lithospheric breakup along two high-resolution long-offset deep reflection seismic profiles across the SE-Indian (magma-poor) and Uruguayan (magma-rich) rifted margins. Resolving the volume of magmatic additions is difficult. Interpretations are non-unique and several of them appear plausible for each case involving variable magmatic volumes and mechanisms to achieve lithospheric breakup. A supposedly 'magma-poor' rifted margin (SE-India) may show a 'magma-rich' lithospheric breakup whereas a 'magma-rich' rifted margin (Uruguay) does not necessarily show excess magmatism at lithospheric breakup compared with steady-state seafloor spreading. This questions the paradigm that rifted margins can be subdivided in either magma-poor or magma-rich margins. The Uruguayan and other magma-rich rifted margins appear characterized by an early onset of decompression melting relative to crustal breakup. For the converse, where the onset of decompression melting is late compared with the timing of crustal breakup, mantle exhumation can occur (e.g. SE-India). Our work highlights the difficulty in determining a magmatic budget at rifted margins based on seismic reflection data alone, showing the limitations of margin classification based solely on magmatic volumes. The timing of

Does the "mantle" helium signature provide useful information about lithospheric architecture of Tibet/Himalaya?

Science.gov (United States)

Klemperer, S. L.; Liu, T.; Hilton, D. R.; Karlstrom, K. E.; Crossey, L. J.; Zhao, P.

2015-12-01

Measurements of 3He/4He > 0.1*Ra (where Ra = 3He/4He in Earth's atmosphere) in geothermal fluids are conventionally taken to represent derivation from a mantle source. 3He/4He values 0.1*Ra may still be argued to result from mantle-derived 3He previously stored in the crust. However, our growing regional database of widely spaced observations of 3He/4He > 0.1*Ra, from the Karakoram Fault in the west to the Sangri-Cona rift and Yalaxiangbo Dome in the east, and from south of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture (YZS) to north of the Banggong-Nujiang suture, makes such special pleading increasingly implausible. The observation of 3He/4He > 0.1*Ra at the YZS and even within the Tethyan Himalaya south of the YZS cannot represent melting of Indian mantle close to the Moho unless existing thermal models are grossly in error. The source of 3He close to the YZS is likely either asthenosphere accessed by faults and shear zones that cut through subducting Indian lithospheric mantle; or incipient melt of Asian lithospheric mantle at the Moho north of the northern edge of underthrust India (the "mantle suture") which must therefore lie close to the YZS. Thus far we have barely tapped the rich potential that helium-isotope data offer for understanding transit of mantle volatiles through some of Earth's thickest (and ductilely flowing) crust.

Broad accommodation of rift-related extension recorded by dyke intrusion in Saudi Arabia

KAUST Repository

Pallister, John S.

2010-09-26

The extensive harrat lava province of Arabia formed during the past 30 million years in response to Red Sea rifting and mantle upwelling. The area was regarded as seismically quiet, but between April and June 2009 a swarm of more than 30,000 earthquakes struck one of the lava fields in the province, Harrat Lunayyir, northwest Saudi Arabia. Concerned that larger damaging earthquakes might occur, the Saudi Arabian government evacuated 40,000 people from the region. Here we use geologic, geodetic and seismic data to show that the earthquake swarm resulted from magmatic dyke intrusion. We document a surface fault rupture that is 8 km long with 91 cm of offset. Surface deformation is best modelled by the shallow intrusion of a north-west trending dyke that is about 10 km long. Seismic waves generated during the earthquakes exhibit overlapping very low- and high-frequency components. We interpret the low frequencies to represent intrusion of magma and the high frequencies to represent fracturing of the crystalline basement rocks. Rather than extension being accommodated entirely by the central Red Sea rift axis, we suggest that the broad deformation observed in Harrat Lunayyir indicates that rift margins can remain as active sites of extension throughout rifting. Our analyses allowed us to forecast the likelihood of a future eruption or large earthquake in the region and informed the decisions made by the Saudi Arabian government to return the evacuees. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Broad accommodation of rift-related extension recorded by dyke intrusion in Saudi Arabia

KAUST Repository

Pallister, John S.; McCausland, Wendy A.; Jonsson, Sigurjon; Lu, Zhong; Zahran, Hani M.; El-Hadidy, Salah Y.; Aburukbah, Abdallah; Stewart, Ian C F; Lundgren, Paul R.; White, Randal A.; Moufti, Mohammed Rashad H

2010-01-01

The extensive harrat lava province of Arabia formed during the past 30 million years in response to Red Sea rifting and mantle upwelling. The area was regarded as seismically quiet, but between April and June 2009 a swarm of more than 30,000 earthquakes struck one of the lava fields in the province, Harrat Lunayyir, northwest Saudi Arabia. Concerned that larger damaging earthquakes might occur, the Saudi Arabian government evacuated 40,000 people from the region. Here we use geologic, geodetic and seismic data to show that the earthquake swarm resulted from magmatic dyke intrusion. We document a surface fault rupture that is 8 km long with 91 cm of offset. Surface deformation is best modelled by the shallow intrusion of a north-west trending dyke that is about 10 km long. Seismic waves generated during the earthquakes exhibit overlapping very low- and high-frequency components. We interpret the low frequencies to represent intrusion of magma and the high frequencies to represent fracturing of the crystalline basement rocks. Rather than extension being accommodated entirely by the central Red Sea rift axis, we suggest that the broad deformation observed in Harrat Lunayyir indicates that rift margins can remain as active sites of extension throughout rifting. Our analyses allowed us to forecast the likelihood of a future eruption or large earthquake in the region and informed the decisions made by the Saudi Arabian government to return the evacuees. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Broad accommodation of rift-related extension recorded by dyke intrusion in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Pallister, J.S.; McCausland, W.A.; Jonsson, Sigurjon; Lu, Z.; Zahran, H.M.; El, Hadidy S.; Aburukbah, A.; Stewart, I.C.F.; Lundgren, P.R.; White, R.A.; Moufti, M.R.H.

2010-01-01

The extensive harrat lava province of Arabia formed during the past 30 million years in response to Red Sea rifting and mantle upwelling. The area was regarded as seismically quiet, but between April and June 2009 a swarm of more than 30,000 earthquakes struck one of the lava fields in the province, Harrat Lunayyir, northwest Saudi Arabia. Concerned that larger damaging earthquakes might occur, the Saudi Arabian government evacuated 40,000 people from the region. Here we use geologic, geodetic and seismic data to show that the earthquake swarm resulted from magmatic dyke intrusion. We document a surface fault rupture that is 8 km long with 91 cm of offset. Surface deformation is best modelled by the shallow intrusion of a north-west trending dyke that is about 10 km long. Seismic waves generated during the earthquakes exhibit overlapping very low- and high-frequency components. We interpret the low frequencies to represent intrusion of magma and the high frequencies to represent fracturing of the crystalline basement rocks. Rather than extension being accommodated entirely by the central Red Sea rift axis, we suggest that the broad deformation observed in Harrat Lunayyir indicates that rift margins can remain as active sites of extension throughout rifting. Our analyses allowed us to forecast the likelihood of a future eruption or large earthquake in the region and informed the decisions made by the Saudi Arabian government to return the evacuees.

Kinematics of the Ethiopian Rift and Absolute motion of Africa and Somalia Plates

Science.gov (United States)

Muluneh, A. A.; Cuffaro, M.; Doglioni, C.

2013-12-01

faster SW motion of Africa with respect to Somalia plate is due to a possibly lower viscosity in the top asthenosphere (Low-Velocity Zone) beneath Africa. These findings have significant implications for the evolution of continental rifting in transtensional settings and provide evidence for the kinematics and tectonics of the Ethiopian rift in the context of the Africa-Somalia plate interaction in the mantle reference frame.

Seismic velocity structure of the crust in NW Namibia: Impact of rifting and mantle plume activity

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, K.; Heit, B.; Muksin, U.; Yuan, X.

2017-12-01

The continental crust in northwestern Namibiamainly was formed during to the Neoproterozoic assembly of Gondwana. The collision of old African and South American cratonic coressuch as the Congo, Kalahari and Rio de la Plata cratons led tothe development of the Pan-African Damara orogen. The fold systemconsists of an intracratonic branch in northern central Namibia (named Damara Belt), and two coast-parallel branches, the Kaoko Belt in northern Namibia and the Gariep Belt in the border region between Namibia and theRepublic of South Africa. During the Early Cretaceous opening of the South Atlantic ocean, the crust in NW Namibia was prominently affected by the Tristan da Cunha mantle plume, as evidenced by the emplacement of the Etendeka continental flood basalts.A local earthquake tomography was carried out in NW Namibia to investigateif and to what degree the deeper continental crust was modified by the magmaticactivity during rifting and the impingement of the Tristan da Cunhamantle plume. We analyzed data from 28 onshore stations of the temporaryWALPASS seismic network. Stations were covering the continental marginaround the landfall of the Walvis Ridge, parts of the Kaoko Belt and Damara Belt,and marginally the southwestern edges of the Congo craton.First arrivals of P and S waves were identified and travel times werepicked manually. 1D inversion was carried out with VELEST to derivestarting models and the initial seismicity distribution, and SIMUL2000was used for the subsequent 3D tomographic inversion. The resultingseismicity distribution mainly follows the structures of the Pan-Africanorogenic belts. The majority of events was localized in the upper crust,but additional seismicity was also found in the deeper crust.An anomaly of increased P velocities is revealed in the deep crust under the Etendekaflood basalt province. Increased P velocities can be explained by mafic and ultra-maficmaterial which intruded in the lower crust. The anomaly appears to be rather

Review of the Cambrian volcanic activity in Morocco: geochemical fingerprints and geotectonic implications for the rifting of West Gondwana

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Pouclet, André; El Hadi, Hassan; Álvaro, J. Javier; Bardintzeff, Jacques-Marie; Benharref, Mohammed; Fekkak, Abdelilah

2018-03-01

Volcanic activities related to the opening of a Cambrian rift in Morocco were widespread from the Fortunian to the Cambrian Epoch 3. Numerous data are available from northwestern volcanic sites, particularly in the western High Atlas, but they are scarce from the southeastern sites. New data are documented here from the volcanic formations exposed in the Jbel Tazoult n'Ouzina of the Tafilalt Province, eastern Anti-Atlas and dated to Cambrian Epoch 2-3. The Cambrian volcanic activities recorded in the High Atlas, Anti-Atlas, and Coastal Meseta are synthesized to refine their stratigraphic setting and to characterize their magmatic affinities and fingerprints. Six volcanic pulses are determined as tholeiitic, transitional, and alkaline suites. The tholeiitic and transitional magmas originated from primitive mantle and E-MORB-type sources with a spinel- and garnet-bearing lherzolite composition. Some of them were modified by assimilation-fractional crystallisation processes during crust-mantle interactions. The alkaline magmas fit with an OIB-type and a garnet-bearing lherzolite source. The palaeogeographic distribution of the magmatic suites was controlled by the lithospheric thinning of the Cambrian Atlas Rift and lithospheric constraints of the Pan-African metacraton and West African craton.

Is the Gop rift oceanic? A reevaluation of the Seychelles-India conjugate margins

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Guan, Huixin; Werner, Philippe; Geoffroy, Laurent

2016-04-01

Recent studies reevaluated the timing and evolution of the breakup process between the Seychelles continental ridge and India, and the relationship between this evolution and mantle melting associated with the Deccan Igneous Province1,2,3. Those studies, mainly based on gravity and seismic refraction surveys, point that the oceanic domain located between the Seychelles and the Laxmi Ridge (here designed as the Carlsberg Basin) is the youngest oceanic domain between India and the Seychelles. To the East of the Laxmi Ridge, the aborted Gop Rift is considered as an older highly magmatic extensional continental system with magmatism, breakup and oceanic spreading being coeval with or even predating the emplacement of the major pulse of the Deccan trapps. This interpretation on the oceanic nature of the Gop Rift conflicts with other extensive surveys based on magnetic and seismic reflection data4 which suggest that the Gop Rift is an extended syn-magmatic continental domain. In our work based (a) on the existing data, (b) on new deep-seismic reflection surveys (already published by Misra5) down to the Moho and underlying mantle and (c) on new concepts on the geometry of volcanic passive margins, we propose a distinct interpretation of the Seychelles-India system. As proposed by former authors6,7, the Indian margin suffered some continental stretching and thinning before the onset of the Deccan traps during the Mesozoic. Thus continental crust thickness cannot be used easily as a proxy of syn-magmatic stretching-thinning processes or even to infer the presence or not of oceanic-type crust based, solely, on crustal thickness. However, some remarkable features appear on some of the deep penetration seismic lines we studied. We illustrate that the whole Seychelles/India system, before the opening of the present-day "Carlsberg Basin" may simply be regarded as a pair of sub-symmetric conjugate volcanic passive margins (VPMs) with inner and outer SDR wedges dipping towards the

Bookshelf faulting and transform motion between rift segments of the Northern Volcanic Zone, Iceland

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Green, R. G.; White, R. S.; Greenfield, T. S.

2013-12-01

Plate spreading is segmented on length scales from 10 - 1,000 kilometres. Where spreading segments are offset, extensional motion has to transfer from one segment to another. In classical plate tectonics, mid-ocean ridge spreading centres are offset by transform faults, but smaller 'non-transform' offsets exist between slightly overlapping spreading centres which accommodate shear by a variety of geometries. In Iceland the mid-Atlantic Ridge is raised above sea level by the Iceland mantle plume, and is divided into a series of segments 20-150 km long. Using microseismicity recorded by a temporary array of 26 three-component seismometers during 2009-2012 we map bookshelf faulting between the offset Askja and Kverkfjöll rift segments in north Iceland. The micro-earthquakes delineate a series of sub-parallel strike-slip faults. Well constrained fault plane solutions show consistent left-lateral motion on fault planes aligned closely with epicentral trends. The shear couple across the transform zone causes left-lateral slip on the series of strike-slip faults sub-parallel to the rift fabric, causing clockwise rotations about a vertical axis of the intervening rigid crustal blocks. This accommodates the overall right-lateral transform motion in the relay zone between the two overlapping volcanic rift segments. The faults probably reactivated crustal weaknesses along the dyke intrusion fabric (parallel to the rift axis) and have since rotated ˜15° clockwise into their present orientation. The reactivation of pre-existing rift-parallel weaknesses is in contrast with mid-ocean ridge transform faults, and is an important illustration of a 'non-transform' offset accommodating shear between overlapping spreading segments.

Un exemple de volcanisme calco-alcalin de type orogénique mis en place en contexte de rifting (Cambrien de l'oued Rhebar, Meseta occidentale, Maroc)

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El Hadi, Hassan; Tahiri, Abdelfatah; Simancas Cabrera, Fernando; González Lodeiro, Francisco; Azor Pérez, Antonio; Jesús Martínez Poyatos, David

2006-03-01

The Middle Cambrian calc-alkaline Oued Rhebar volcanic complex (western Meseta, Morocco) compares with rocks originated in orogenic contexts. The La/Nb ratios are relatively high (5.2), suggesting a lithospheric mantle origin. The La/Ta ratios, higher than 26, and the negative Nb anomaly indicate a lithospheric source contaminated by the continental crust. These rocks were generated in the Mesetian Mid-Cambrian rift and would have inherited their orogenic signature from the partial melting of a previously metasomatized mantle. To cite this article: H. El Hadi et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).

How does continental lithosphere break-apart? A 3D seismic view on the transition from magma-poor rifted margin to magmatic oceanic lithosphere

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Emmanuel, M.; Lescanne, M.; Picazo, S.; Tomasi, S.

2017-12-01

In the last decade, high-quality seismic data and drilling results drastically challenged our ideas about how continents break apart. New models address their observed variability and are presently redefining basics of rifting as well as exploration potential along deepwater rifted margins. Seafloor spreading is even more constrained by decades of scientific exploration along Mid Oceanic Ridges. By contrast, the transition between rifting and drifting remains a debated subject. This lithospheric breakup "event" is geologically recorded along Ocean-Continent Transitions (OCT) at the most distal part of margins before indubitable oceanic crust. Often lying along ultra-deepwater margin domains and buried beneath a thick sedimentary pile, high-quality images of these domains are rare but mandatory to get strong insights on the processes responsible for lithospheric break up and what are the consequences for the overlying basins. We intend to answer these questions by studying a world-class 3D seismic survey in a segment of a rifted margin exposed in the Atlantic. Through these data, we can show in details the OCT architecture between a magma-poor hyper-extended margin (with exhumed mantle) and a classical layered oceanic crust. It is characterized by 1- the development of out-of-sequence detachment systems with a landward-dipping geometry and 2- the increasing magmatic additions oceanwards (intrusives and extrusives). Geometry of these faults suggests that they may be decoupled at a mantle brittle-ductile interface what may be an indicator on thermicity. Furthermore, magmatism increases as deformation migrates to the future first indubitable oceanic crust what controls a progressive magmatic crustal thickening below, above and across a tapering rest of margin. As the magmatic budget increases oceanwards, full-rate divergence is less and less accommodated by faulting. Magmatic-sedimentary architectures of OCT is therefore changing from supra-detachment to magmatic

Textures in spinel peridotite mantle xenoliths using micro-CT scanning: Examples from Canary Islands and France

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Bhanot, K. K.; Downes, H.; Petrone, C. M.; Humphreys-Williams, E.

2017-04-01

Spinel pyroxene-clusters, which are intergrowths of spinel, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene in mantle xenoliths, have been investigated through the use of micro-CT (μ-CT) in this study. Samples have been studied from two different tectonic settings: (1) the northern Massif Central, France, an uplifted and rifted plateau on continental lithosphere and (2) Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, an intraplate volcanic island on old oceanic lithosphere. μ-CT analysis of samples from both locations has revealed a range of spinel textures from small Lanzarote are regions that have experienced significant lithospheric thinning. This process provides a mechanism where the sub-solidus reaction of olivine + garnet = orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + spinel is satisfied by providing a pathway from garnet peridotite to spinel peridotite. We predict that such textures would only occur in the mantle beneath regions that show evidence of thinning of the lithospheric mantle. Metasomatic reactions are seen around spinel-pyroxene clusters in some Lanzarote xenoliths, so metasomatism post-dated cluster formation.

Unraveling African plate structure from elevation, geoid and geology data: implications for the impact of mantle flow and sediment transfers on lithospheric deformation

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Bajolet, Flora; Robert, Alexandra; Chardon, Dominique; Rouby, Delphine

2017-04-01

The aim of our project is to simulate the long-wavelength, flexural isostatic response of the African plate to sediment transfers due to Meso-Cenozoic erosion - deposition processes in order to extract the residual topography driven by mantle dynamics. The first step of our project consists in computing crustal and lithospheric thickness maps of the African plate considering its main geological components (cratons, mobile belts, basins, rifts and passive margins of various ages and strengths). In order to consider these heterogeneities, we compute a 2D distribution of crustal densities and thermal parameters from geological data and use it as an input of our modeling. We combine elevation and geoid anomaly data using a thermal analysis, following the method of Fullea et al. (2007) in order to map crustal and lithospheric thicknesses. In this approach, we assume local isostasy and consider a four-layer model made of crust and lithospheric mantle plus seawater and asthenosphere. In addition, we compare our results with crustal and lithospheric thickness datasets compiled from bibliography and existing global models. The obtained crustal thicknesses range from 28 to 42km, with the thickest crust confined to the northern part of the West African Craton, the Kaapvaal craton, and the Congo cuvette. The crust in the East African Rift appears unrealistically thick (40-45 km) as it is not isotatically compensated, highlighting the dynamic effect of the African superswell. The thinnest crust (28-34km) follows a central East-West trend coinciding with Cretaceous rifts and the Cameroon volcanic line. The lithosphere reaches 220 km beneath the Congo craton, but remains globally thin (ca. 120-180 km) compared to tomographic models and considering the age of most geological provinces. As for the crust, the thinnest lithosphere is located in areas of Cretaceous-Jurassic rifting, suggesting that the lithosphere did not thermally recover from Mesozoic rifting. A new elastic

Motion in the north Iceland volcanic rift zone accommodated by bookshelf faulting

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Green, Robert G.; White, Robert S.; Greenfield, Tim

2014-01-01

Along mid-ocean ridges the extending crust is segmented on length scales of 10-1,000km. Where rift segments are offset from one another, motion between segments is accommodated by transform faults that are oriented orthogonally to the main rift axis. Where segments overlap, non-transform offsets with a variety of geometries accommodate shear motions. Here we use micro-seismic data to analyse the geometries of faults at two overlapping rift segments exposed on land in north Iceland. Between the rift segments, we identify a series of faults that are aligned sub-parallel to the orientation of the main rift. These faults slip through left-lateral strike-slip motion. Yet, movement between the overlapping rift segments is through right-lateral motion. Together, these motions induce a clockwise rotation of the faults and intervening crustal blocks in a motion that is consistent with a bookshelf-faulting mechanism, named after its resemblance to a tilting row of books on a shelf. The faults probably reactivated existing crustal weaknesses, such as dyke intrusions, that were originally oriented parallel to the main rift and have since rotated about 15° clockwise. Reactivation of pre-existing, rift-parallel weaknesses contrasts with typical mid-ocean ridge transform faults and is an important illustration of a non-transform offset accommodating shear motion between overlapping rift segments.

Subsidence history, crustal structure and evolution of the Nogal Rift, Northern Somalia

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Ali, M. Y.; Watts, A. B.

2013-12-01

Seismic reflection profile, gravity anomaly, and biostratigraphic data from deep exploration wells have been used to determine the tectonic subsidence, structure and evolution of the Nogal basin, Northern Somalia, one of a number of ENE-WSW trending early Mesozoic rifts that formed prior to opening of the Gulf of Aden. Backstripping of biostratigraphic data at the Nogal-1 and Kali-1 wells provides new constraints on the age of rifting, and the amount of crustal and mantle extension. The tectonic subsidence and uplift history at the wells can be generally explained as a consequence of two, possibly three, major rifting events. The first event initiated in the Late Jurassic (~156 Ma) and lasted for ~10 Myr. We interpret the rift as a late stage event associated with the break-up of Gondwana and the separation of Africa and Madagascar. The second event initiated in the Late Cretaceous (~80 Ma) and lasted for ~20 Myr. This event probably correlates with a rapid increase in spreading rate on the ridges separating the African and Indian and African and Antarctica plates and a contemporaneous slowing down of Africa's plate motion. The backstripped tectonic subsidence data can be explained by a multi-rift extensional model with a stretching factor, β, in the range 1.17-1.38. The third and most recent event occurred in the Oligocene (~32 Ma) and lasted for ~10 Myr. This rift only developed at the centre of the basin close to Nogal-1 well, and is related to the opening of the Gulf of Aden. The amount of crustal thinning inferred at the Kali-1 well is consistent with the results of Process-Oriented Gravity and Flexure (POGM) modelling, assuming an elastic thickness of ~30 km. The thinning at the Nogal-1 well, however, is greater by ~ 7 km than predicted suggesting that the basin may be locally underplated by magmatic material. Irrespective, POGM suggests the transition between thick crust beneath Northern Somalia to thin crust beneath the Indian Ocean forms a ~500 km wide

The structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath Madagascar

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Andriampenomanana, Fenitra; Nyblade, Andrew A.; Wysession, Michael E.; Durrheim, Raymond J.; Tilmann, Frederik; Julià, Jordi; Pratt, Martin J.; Rambolamanana, Gérard; Aleqabi, Ghassan; Shore, Patrick J.; Rakotondraibe, Tsiriandrimanana

2017-09-01

The lithosphere of Madagascar was initially amalgamated during the Pan-African events in the Neoproterozoic. It has subsequently been reshaped by extensional processes associated with the separation from Africa and India in the Jurassic and Cretaceous, respectively, and been subjected to several magmatic events in the late Cretaceous and the Cenozoic. In this study, the crust and uppermost mantle have been investigated to gain insights into the present-day structure and tectonic evolution of Madagascar. We analysed receiver functions, computed from data recorded on 37 broad-band seismic stations, using the H-κ stacking method and a joint inversion with Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity measurements. The thickness of the Malagasy crust ranges between 18 and 46 km. It is generally thick beneath the spine of mountains in the centre part (up to 46 km thick) and decreases in thickness towards the edges of the island. The shallowest Moho is found beneath the western sedimentary basins (18 km thick), which formed during both the Permo-Triassic Karro rifting in Gondwana and the Jurassic rifting of Madagascar from eastern Africa. The crust below the sedimentary basin thickens towards the north and east, reflecting the progressive development of the basins. In contrast, in the east there was no major rifting episode. Instead, the slight thinning of the crust along the east coast (31-36 km thick) may have been caused by crustal uplift and erosion when Madagascar moved over the Marion hotspot and India broke away from it. The parameters describing the crustal structure of Archean and Proterozoic terranes, including average thickness (40 km versus 35 km), Poisson's ratio (0.25 versus 0.26), average shear-wave velocity (both 3.7 km s-1), and thickness of mafic lower crust (7 km versus 4 km), show weak evidence of secular variation. The uppermost mantle beneath Madagascar is generally characterized by shear-wave velocities typical of stable lithosphere (∼4.5 km s-1). However

Petrogenesis and tectonic association of rift-related basic Panjal dykes from the northern Indian plate, North-Western Pakistan: evidence of high-Ti basalts analogous to dykes from Tibet

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Sajid, Muhammad; Andersen, Jens; Arif, Mohammad

2018-06-01

Rift related magmatism during Permian time in the northern margin of Indian plate is represented by basic dykes in several Himalayan terranes including north western Pakistan. The field relations, mineralogy and whole rock geochemistry of these basic dykes reveal significant textural, mineralogical and chemical variation between two major types (a) dolerite and (b) amphibolite. Intra-plate tectonic settings for both rock types have been interpreted on the basis of low Zr/Nb ratios (evolution of dolerites, which also show depletion in rare earth elements (REEs) and other incompatible elements compared to the amphibolites. The equilibrium partial melting models from primitive mantle using Dy/Yb, La/Yb, Sm/Yb and La/Sm ratios show that amphibolite formed by smaller degrees (< 5%) of partial melting than the dolerites (< 10%). The trace elements ratios suggest the origination of dolerites from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle with some crustal contamination. This is consistent with a petrogenetic relationship with Panjal trap magmatism, reported from Kashmir and other parts of north western India. The amphibolites, in contrast, show affinity towards Ocean Island basalts (OIB) with a relatively deep asthenospheric mantle source and minimal crustal contribution and are geochemically similar to the High-Ti mafic dykes of southern Qiangtang, Tibet. These similarities combined with Permian tectonic restoration of Gondwana indicate the coeval origin for both dykes from distinct mantle source during continental rifting related to formation of the Neotethys Ocean.

Local stresses, dyke arrest and surface deformation in volcanic edificesand rift zones

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L. S. Brenner

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Field studies indicate that nearly all eruptions in volcanic edifices and rift zones are supplied with magma through fractures (dykes that are opened by magmatic overpressure. While (inferred dyke injections are frequent during unrest periods, volcanic eruptions are, in comparison, infrequent, suggesting that most dykes become arrested at certain depths in the crust, in agreement with field studies. The frequency of dyke arrest can be partly explained by the numerical models presented here which indicate that volcanic edifices and rift zones consisting of rocks of contrasting mechanical properties, such as soft pyroclastic layers and stiff lava flows, commonly develop local stress fields that encourage dyke arrest. During unrest, surface deformation studies are routinely used to infer the geometries of arrested dykes, and some models (using homogeneous, isotropic half-spaces infer large grabens to be induced by such dykes. Our results, however, show that the dyke-tip tensile stresses are normally much greater than the induced surface stresses, making it difficult to explain how a dyke can induce surface stresses in excess of the tensile (or shear strength while the same strength is not exceeded at the (arrested dyke tip. Also, arrested dyke tips in eroded or active rift zones are normally not associated with dyke-induced grabens or normal faults, and some dykes arrested within a few metres of the surface do not generate faults or grabens. The numerical models show that abrupt changes in Young's moduli(stiffnesses, layers with relatively high dyke-normal compressive stresses (stress barriers, and weak horizontal contacts may make the dyke-induced surface tensile stresses too small for significant fault or graben formation to occur in rift zones or volcanic edifices. Also, these small surface stresses may have no simple relation to the dyke geometry or the depth to its tip. Thus, for a layered crust with weak contacts, straightforward

A bottom-driven mechanism for distributed faulting: Insights from the Gulf of California Rift

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Persaud, P.; Tan, E.; Choi, E.; Contreras, J.; Lavier, L. L.

2017-12-01

The Gulf of California is a young oblique rift that displays a variation in rifting style along strike. Despite the rapid localization of strain in the Gulf at 6 Ma, the northern rift segment has the characteristics of a wide rift, with broadly distributed extensional strain and small gradients in topography and crustal thinning. Observations of active faulting in the continent-ocean transition of the Northern Gulf show multiple oblique-slip faults distributed in a 200 x 70 km2area developed some time after a westward relocation of the plate boundary at 2 Ma. In contrast, north and south of this broad pull-apart structure, major transform faults accommodate Pacific-North America plate motion. Here we propose that the mechanism for distributed brittle deformation results from the boundary conditions present in the Northern Gulf, where basal shear is distributed between the Cerro Prieto strike-slip fault (southernmost fault of the San Andreas fault system) and the Ballenas Transform fault. We hypothesize that in oblique-extensional settings whether deformation is partitioned in a few dip-slip and strike-slip faults, or in numerous oblique-slip faults may depend on (1) bottom-driven, distributed extension and shear deformation of the lower crust or upper mantle, and (2) the rift obliquity. To test this idea, we explore the effects of bottom-driven shear on the deformation of a brittle elastic-plastic layer with pseudo-three dimensional numerical models that include side forces. Strain localization results when the basal shear is a step-function while oblique-slip on numerous faults dominates when basal shear is distributed. We further investigate how the style of faulting varies with obliquity and demonstrate that the style of faulting observed in the Northern Gulf of California is reproduced in models with an obliquity of 0.7 and distributed basal shear boundary conditions, consistent with the interpreted obliquity and boundary conditions of the study area. Our

Thermoconvective waves in the earth's mantle

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Birger, B. I.

1980-06-01

The thermoconvective instability of the Earth's mantle is analysed. The mantle is modelled as an infinite horizontal layer with a free upper surface, heated from below. The creep in the mantle is supposed to be transient when strains are small. This transient creep is described by Lomnitz's law modified by Jeffreys (1958a). It is shown that disturbances, in the form of thermoconvective waves with a period of 10 8 - 10 9y and wavelength of the order 10 3 km, can propagate through the mantle without attenuation. These waves induce oscillations of the Earth's surface. The pattern of flows differs greatly from that suggested by plate tectonics. An attempt is made to give a new explanation for the linear magnetic anomalies over oceanic ridges.

Evolution of the earliest mantle caused by the magmatism-mantle upwelling feedback: Implications for the Moon and the Earth

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Ogawa, M.

2017-12-01

The two most important agents that cause mantle evolution are magmatism and mantle convection. My earlier 2D numerical models of a coupled magmatism-mantle convection system show that these two agents strongly couple each other, when the Rayleigh number Ra is sufficiently high: magmatism induced by a mantle upwelling flow boosts the upwelling flow itself. The mantle convection enhanced by this positive feedback (the magmatism-mantle upwelling, or MMU, feedback) causes vigorous magmatism and, at the same time, strongly stirs the mantle. I explored how the MMU feedback influences the evolution of the earliest mantle that contains the magma ocean, based on a numerical model where the mantle is hot and its topmost 1/3 is partially molten at the beginning of the calculation: The evolution drastically changes its style, as Ra exceeds the threshold for onset of the MMU feedback, around 107. At Ra 107, however, the mantle remains compositionally more homogeneous in spite of the widespread magmatism, and the deep mantle remains hotter than the shallow mantle, because of the strong convective stirring caused by the feedback. The threshold value suggests that the mantle of a planet larger than Mars evolves in a way substantially different from that in the Moon does. Indeed, in my earlier models, magmatism makes the early mantle compositionally stratified in the Moon, but the effects of strong convective stirring overwhelms that of magmatism to keep the mantle compositionally rather homogeneous in Venus and the Earth. The MMU feedback is likely to be a key to understanding why vestiges of the magma ocean are so scarce in the Earth.

Tomographic and Geodynamic Constraints on Convection-Induced Mixing in Earth's Deep Mantle

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Hafter, D. P.; Forte, A. M.; Bremner, P. M.; Glisovic, P.

2017-12-01

Seismological studies reveal two large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) in the lowermost mantle (e.g., Su et al. 1994; Wang & Wen 2007; He & Wen 2012), which may represent accumulations of subducted slabs at the CMB (Tan & Gurnis 2005; Christensen & Hoffman 1994) or primordial material generated in the early differentiation of Earth (e.g. Li et al. 2014). The longevity or stability of these large-scale heterogeneities in the deep mantle depends on the vigor and spatial distribution of the convective circulation, which is in turn dependent on the distribution of mantle buoyancy and viscosity (e.g. Glisovic & Forte 2015). Here we explore the state of convective mixing in the mantle using the ASPECT convection code (Kronbichler et al. 2012). A series of experiments are conducted to consider the geochemical and dynamical contributions of LLSVPs to deep-mantle upwellings and corresponding plume-sourced volcanism. The principal feature of these experiments is the use of particle tracers to track geochemical changes in the LLSVPs and mantle plumes in addition to identifying those parts of the mantle that may remain unmixed. We employ 3-D mantle density anomalies derived from joint inversions of seismic, geodynamic and mineral physics constraints and geodynamically-constrained viscosity distributions (Glisovic et al. 2015) to ensure that the predicted flow fields yield a good match to key geophysical constraints (e.g. heat flow, global gravity anomalies and plate velocities).

Seismic anisotropy and compositionally induced velocity anomalies in the lithosphere above mantle plumes: a petrological and microstructural study of mantle xenoliths from French Polynesia

Science.gov (United States)

Tommasi, Andréa; Godard, Marguerite; Coromina, Guilhem; Dautria, Jean-Marie; Barsczus, Hans

2004-11-01

In addition to thermal erosion, plume/lithosphere interaction may induce significant changes in the lithosphere chemical composition. To constrain the extent of this process in an oceanic environment and its consequences on the lithosphere seismic properties, we investigated the relationship between petrological processes and microstructure in mantle xenoliths from different hotspots tracks in South Pacific Superswell region: the Austral-Cook, Society, and Marquesas islands in French Polynesia. Olivine forsterite contents in the studied spinel peridotites vary continuously from Fo91 to Fo83. Dunites and wehrlites display the lowest forsterite contents. Their microstructure and high Ni contents preclude a cumulate origin, suggesting that these rocks result from melt/rock reactions involving olivine precipitation and pyroxene dissolution. In addition, lherzolites and wehrlites display evidence of late crystallization of clinopyroxene, which may result from a near-solidus melt-freezing reaction. These data suggest that the lithosphere above a mantle plume undergoes a complex sequence of magmatic processes that significantly change its composition. These compositional changes, particularly iron enrichment in olivine, result in lower P- and S-waves velocities. Relative to normal lithospheric mantle, compositionally induced seismic anomalies may attain -2.2% for S-waves and -1% for P-waves. Smaller negative anomalies for P-waves are due to a higher sensitivity to modal composition. Conversely, crystal-preferred orientations (CPO) and seismic anisotropy are little affected by these processes. Lherzolites and harzburgites, independent from composition, show high-temperature porphyroclastic microstructures and strong olivine CPO. Dunites and wehrlites display annealing microstructures to which is associated a progressive dispersion of the olivine CPO. Very weak, almost random olivine CPO is nevertheless rare, suggesting that CPO destruction is restricted to domains of

Effects of mantle rheologies on viscous heating induced by glacial isostatic adjustment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huang, Ping Ping; Wu, Patrick; van der Wal, W.

2018-01-01

It has been argued that viscous dissipation from mantle flow in response to surface loading during glacial cycles can result in short-term heating and thus trigger transient volcanism or changes in mantle properties, which may in turn affect mantle dynamics. Furthermore, heating near the Earth's

Deformation and seismic anisotropy of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle in NE Spain: EBSD data on xenoliths from the Catalan Volcanic Zone

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Fernández-Roig, Mercè; Galán, Gumer; Mariani, Elisabetta

2017-02-01

Mantle xenoliths in Neogene-Quaternary basaltic rocks related to the European Cenozoic Rift System serve to assess the evolution of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath the Catalan Volcanic Zone in NE Spain. Crystallographic preferred orientations, major element composition of minerals, and temperature and pressure estimates have been used to this end. The mantle consists of spinel lherzolites, harzburgites and subordinate websterites. Protogranular microstructures are found in all peridotites and websterites, but lherzolites also display finer-grained porphyroclastic and equigranular microstructures. The dominant olivine deformation fabric is [010] fiber, but subordinate orthorhombic and [100]-fiber types are also present, especially in porphyroclastic and equigranular lherzolites. The fabric strength (J index = 10.12-1.91), equilibrium temperature and pressure are higher in xenoliths with [010]-fiber fabric and decrease in those with orthorhombic and [100]-fiber type. Incoherence between olivine and pyroxene deformation fabric is mostly found in porphyroclastic and equigranular lherzolites. Seismic anisotropy, estimated from the crystal preferred orientations, also decreases (AVp = 10.2-2.60%; AVs max = 7.95-2.19%) in porphyroclastic and equigranular lherzolites. The olivine [010]-fiber fabric points to deformation by simple shear or transpression which is likely to have occured during the development of late-Hercynian strike-slip shear zones, and to subsequent annealing during late Hercynian decompression, Permian and Cretaceous rifting. Also, it cannot be excluded that the percolation of mafic magmas during these extensional events provoked the refertilization of the lithospheric mantle. However, no clear relationship has been observed between fabric strength and mineral mode and composition. Later transtensional deformation during late Alpine orogenesis, at higher stress and decreasing temperature and pressure, transformed the earlier fabric into

Analysis of the pre-rift/rifte transition interval (Serraria and Barra de Itiuba formations) from the Sergipe-Alagoas basin; Analise da secao de transicao pre-rifte/rifte (formacoes Serraria e Barra de Itiuba) da Bacia Sergipe-Alagoas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barreiro, C.B.; Mizusaki, A.M.P. [Rio Grande do Sul Univ., Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil)]. E-mail: camilita@terra.com.br; ana.misuzaki@ufrgs.br; Garcia, A.J.V. [Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), Sao Leopoldo, RS (Brazil)]. E-mail: garcia@euler.unisinos.br

2003-07-01

The pre-rift/rift transition is represented by the Serraria and Barra de Itiuba formations. This interval was analyzed through qualitative and quantitative descriptions of cores, electric log analysis and studies of outcropping sections. The integration of surface and subsurface data allowed the stratigraphic characterization of sandstone bodies in the pre-rift/rift. These sandstones bodies were deposited by fluvial braided, lacustrine and deltaic systems (delta plain, delta front and pro delta). The sedimentary deposits characterized in the Serraria Formation are of channel, flooding of the fluvial system and eolic. The upper interval of this formation is characterized by to coarse medium-grained sandstones identified as the Caioba Sandstone. The Barra de Itiuba Formation contains lake, pro delta, frontal bar, distributary mouth, crevasse and distributary channel deposits. The sandstone units were specifically characterized in terms of their potential reservoir quality, and they were characterized the reservoirs R1 (good to medium quality) and Caioba (good quality) from the pre-rift phase, and reservoirs R2 (medium quality) and R3 (medium to good quality) from the rift phase. The reservoirs from pre-rift phase phase show the better reservoirs quality potential of the pre-rift/rift transition in the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin. (author)

Traveltime dispersion in an isotropic elastic mantle: strong lower-mantle signal in differential-frequency residuals

Science.gov (United States)

Schuberth, Bernhard S. A.; Zaroli, Christophe; Nolet, Guust

2015-12-01

We study wavefield effects of direct P- and S-waves in elastic and isotropic 3-D seismic structures derived from the temperature field of a high-resolution mantle circulation model. More specifically, we quantify the dispersion of traveltime residuals caused by diffraction in structures with dynamically constrained length scales and magnitudes of the lateral variations in seismic velocities and density. 3-D global wave propagation is simulated using a spectral element method. Intrinsic attenuation (i.e. dissipation of seismic energy) is deliberately neglected, so that any variation of traveltimes with frequency can be attributed to structural effects. Traveltime residuals are measured at 15, 22.5, 34 and 51 s dominant periods by cross-correlation of 3-D and 1-D synthetic waveforms. Additional simulations are performed for a model in which 3-D structure is removed in the upper 800 km to isolate the dispersion signal of the lower mantle. We find that the structural length scales inherent to a vigorously convecting mantle give rise to significant diffraction-induced body-wave traveltime dispersion. For both P- and S-waves, the difference between long-period and short-period residuals for a given source-receiver pair can reach up to several seconds for the period bands considered here. In general, these `differential-frequency' residuals tend to increase in magnitude with increasing short-period delay. Furthermore, the long-period signal typically is smaller in magnitude than the short-period one; that is, wave-front healing is efficient independent of the sign of the residuals. Unlike the single-frequency residuals, the differential-frequency residuals are surprisingly similar between the `lower-mantle' and the `whole-mantle' model for corresponding source-receiver pairs. The similarity is more pronounced in case of S-waves and varies between different combinations of period bands. The traveltime delay acquired in the upper mantle seems to cancel in these differential

Asymmetric rifting, breakup and magmatism across conjugate margin pairs: insights from Newfoundland to Ireland

Science.gov (United States)

Peace, Alexander L.; Welford, J. Kim; Foulger, Gillian R.; McCaffrey, Ken J. W.

2017-04-01

Continental extension, subsequent rifting and eventual breakup result in the development of passive margins with transitional crust between extended continental crust and newly created oceanic crust. Globally, passive margins are typically classified as either magma-rich or magma-poor. Despite this simple classification, magma-poor margins like the West Orphan Basin, offshore Newfoundland, do exhibit some evidence of localized magmatism, as magmatism to some extent invariably accompanies all continental breakup. For example, on the Newfoundland margin, a small volcanic province has been interpreted near the termination of the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone, whereas on the conjugate Irish margin within the Rockall Basin, magmatism appears to be more widespread and has been documented both in the north and in the south. The broader region over which volcanism has been identified on the Irish margin is suggestive of magmatic asymmetry across this conjugate margin pair and this may have direct implications for the mechanisms governing the nature of rifting and breakup. Possible causes of the magmatic asymmetry include asymmetric rifting (simple shear), post-breakup thermal anomalies in the mantle, or pre-existing compositional zones in the crust that predispose one of the margins to more melting than its conjugate. A greater understanding of the mechanisms leading to conjugate margin asymmetry will enhance our fundamental understanding of rifting processes and will also reduce hydrocarbon exploration risk by better characterizing the structural and thermal evolution of hydrocarbon bearing basins on magma-poor margins where evidence of localized magmatism exists. Here, the latest results of a conjugate margin study of the Newfoundland-Ireland pair utilizing seismic interpretation integrated with other geological and geophysical datasets are presented. Our analysis has begun to reveal the nature and timing of rift-related magmatism and the degree to which magmatic asymmetry

The major tectonic boundaries of the Northern Red Sea rift, Egypt derived from geophysical data analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Salah; Pamukçu, Oya; Brimich, Ladislav

2017-09-01

In the present study, we have attempted to map the plate boundary between Arabia and Africa at the Northern Red Sea rift region including the Suez rift, Gulf of Aqaba-Dead Sea transform and southeastern Mediterranean region by using gravity data analysis. In the boundary analysis method which was used; low-pass filtered gravity anomalies of the Northern Red Sea rift region were computed. Different crustal types and thicknesses, sediment thicknesses and different heat flow anomalies were evaluated. According to the results, there are six subzones (crustal blocks) separated from each other by tectonic plate boundaries and/or lineaments. It seems that these tectonic boundaries reveal complex structural lineaments, which are mostly influenced by a predominant set of NNW-SSE to NW-SE trending lineaments bordering the Red Sea and Suez rift regions. On the other side, the E-W and N-S to NNE-SSW trended lineaments bordering the South-eastern Mediterranean, Northern Sinai and Aqaba-Dead Sea transform regions, respectively. The analysis of the low pass filtered Bouguer anomaly maps reveals that the positive regional anomaly over both the Red Sea rift and South-eastern Mediterranean basin subzones are considered to be caused by the high density of the oceanic crust and/or the anomalous upper mantle structures beneath these regions whereas, the broad medium anomalies along the western half of Central Sinai with the Suez rift and the Eastern Desert subzones are attributed to low-density sediments of the Suez rift and/or the thick upper continental crustal thickness below these zones. There are observable negative anomalies over the Northern Arabia subzone, particularly in the areas covered by Cenozoic volcanics. These negative anomalies may be attributed to both the low densities of the surface volcanics and/or to a very thick upper continental crust. On the contrary, the negative anomaly which belongs to the Gulf of Aqaba-Dead Sea transform zone is due to crustal thickening

Spin Transition in the Lower Mantle: Deep Learning and Pattern Recognition of Superplumes from the Mid-mantle and Mid-mantle Slab Stagnation

Science.gov (United States)

Yuen, D. A.; Shahnas, M. H.; De Hoop, M. V.; Pysklywec, R.

2016-12-01

The broad, slow seismic anomalies under Africa and Pacific cannot be explained without ambiguity. There is no well-established theory to explain the fast structures prevalent globally in seismic tomographic images that are commonly accepted to be the remnants of fossil slabs at different depths in the mantle. The spin transition from high spin to low spin in iron in ferropericlase and perovskite, two major constituents of the lower mantle can significantly impact their physical properties. We employ high resolution 2D-axisymmetric and 3D-spherical control volume models to reconcile the influence of the spin transition-induced anomalies in density, thermal expansivity, and bulk modulus in ferropericlase and perovskite on mantle dynamics. The model results reveal that the spin transition effects increase the mixing in the lower regions of mantle. Depending on the changes of bulk modulus associated with the spin transition, these effects may also cause both stagnation of slabs and rising plumes at mid-mantle depths ( 1600 km). The stagnation may be followed by downward or upward penetration of cold or hot mantle material, respectively, through an avalanche process. The size of these mid-mantle plumes reaches 1500 km across with a radial velocity reaching 20 cm/yr near the seismic transition zone and plume heads exceeding 2500 km across. We will employ a deep-learning algorithm to formulate this challenge as a classification problem where modelling/computation aids in the learning stage for detecting the particular patterns.The parameters based on which the convection models are developed are poorly constrained. There are uncertainties in initial conditions, heterogeneities and boundary conditions in the simulations, which are nonlinear. Thus it is difficult to reconstruct the past configuration over long time scales. In order to extract information and better understand the parameters in mantle convection, we employ deep learning algorithm to search for different

Birch's Mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, D. L.

2002-12-01

Francis Birch's 1952 paper started the sciences of mineral physics and physics of the Earth's interior. Birch stressed the importance of pressure, compressive strain and volume in mantle physics. Although this may seem to be an obvious lesson many modern paradoxes in the internal constitution of the Earth and mantle dynamics can be traced to a lack of appreciation for the role of compression. The effect of pressure on thermal properties such as expansivity can gravitational stratify the Earth irreversibly during accretion and can keep it chemically stratified. The widespread use of the Boussinesq approximation in mantle geodynamics is the antithesis of Birchian physics. Birch pointed out that eclogite was likely to be an important component of the upper mantle. Plate tectonic recycling and the bouyancy of oceanic crust at midmantle depths gives credence to this suggestion. Although peridotite dominates the upper mantle, variations in eclogite-content may be responsible for melting- or fertility-spots. Birch called attention to the Repetti Discontinuity near 900 km depth as an important geodynamic boundary. This may be the chemical interface between the upper and lower mantles. Recent work in geodynamics and seismology has confirmed the importance of this region of the mantle as a possible barrier. Birch regarded the transition region (TR ; 400 to 1000 km ) as the key to many problems in Earth sciences. The TR contains two major discontinuities ( near 410 and 650 km ) and their depths are a good mantle thermometer which is now being exploited to suggest that much of plate tectonics is confined to the upper mantle ( in Birch's terminology, the mantle above 1000 km depth ). The lower mantle is homogeneous and different from the upper mantle. Density and seismic velocity are very insensitive to temperature there, consistent with tomography. A final key to the operation of the mantle is Birch's suggestion that radioactivities were stripped out of the deeper parts of

Large-scale compositional heterogeneity in the Earth's mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Ballmer, M.

2017-12-01

Seismic imaging of subducted Farallon and Tethys lithosphere in the lower mantle has been taken as evidence for whole-mantle convection, and efficient mantle mixing. However, cosmochemical constraints point to a lower-mantle composition that has a lower Mg/Si compared to upper-mantle pyrolite. Moreover, geochemical signatures of magmatic rocks indicate the long-term persistence of primordial reservoirs somewhere in the mantle. In this presentation, I establish geodynamic mechanisms for sustaining large-scale (primordial) heterogeneity in the Earth's mantle using numerical models. Mantle flow is controlled by rock density and viscosity. Variations in intrinsic rock density, such as due to heterogeneity in basalt or iron content, can induce layering or partial layering in the mantle. Layering can be sustained in the presence of persistent whole mantle convection due to active "unmixing" of heterogeneity in low-viscosity domains, e.g. in the transition zone or near the core-mantle boundary [1]. On the other hand, lateral variations in intrinsic rock viscosity, such as due to heterogeneity in Mg/Si, can strongly affect the mixing timescales of the mantle. In the extreme case, intrinsically strong rocks may remain unmixed through the age of the Earth, and persist as large-scale domains in the mid-mantle due to focusing of deformation along weak conveyor belts [2]. That large-scale lateral heterogeneity and/or layering can persist in the presence of whole-mantle convection can explain the stagnation of some slabs, as well as the deflection of some plumes, in the mid-mantle. These findings indeed motivate new seismic studies for rigorous testing of model predictions. [1] Ballmer, M. D., N. C. Schmerr, T. Nakagawa, and J. Ritsema (2015), Science Advances, doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500815. [2] Ballmer, M. D., C. Houser, J. W. Hernlund, R. Wentzcovitch, and K. Hirose (2017), Nature Geoscience, doi:10.1038/ngeo2898.

Young rift kinematics in the Tadjoura rift, western Gulf of Aden, Republic of Djibouti

Science.gov (United States)

Daoud, Mohamed A.; Le Gall, Bernard; Maury, René C.; Rolet, JoëL.; Huchon, Philippe; Guillou, Hervé

2011-02-01

The Tadjoura rift forms the westernmost edge of the westerly propagating Sheba ridge, between Arabia and Somalia, as it enters into the Afar depression. From structural and remote sensing data sets, the Tadjoura rift is interpreted as an asymmetrical south facing half-graben, about 40 km wide, dominated by a large boundary fault zone to the north. It is partially filled up by the 1-3 Myr old Gulf Basalts which onlapped the older Somali Basalts along its shallower southern flexural margin. The major and trace element analysis of 78 young onshore lavas allows us to distinguish and map four distinct basaltic types, namely the Gulf, Somali, Goumarre, and Hayyabley Basalts. These results, together with radiometric age data, lead us to propose a revised volcano-stratigraphic sketch of the two exposed Tadjoura rift margins and to discriminate and date several distinct fault networks of this oblique rift. Morphological and statistical analyses of onshore extensional fault populations show marked changes in structural styles along-strike, in a direction parallel to the rift axis. These major fault disturbances are assigned to the arrest of axial fault tip propagation against preexisting discontinuities in the NS-oriented Arta transverse zone. According to our model, the sinistral jump of rifting into the Asal-Ghoubbet rift segment results from structural inheritance, in contrast with the en échelon or transform mechanism of propagation that prevailed along the entire length of the Gulf of Aden extensional system.

Mantle Convection beneath the Aegir Ridge, a Shadow in the Iceland Hotspot

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, S. M.; Ito, G.; Breivik, A. J.; Hanan, B. B.; Mjelde, R.; Sayit, K.; Vogt, P. R.

2012-12-01

The Iceland Hotspot has produced extensive volcanism spanning much of the ocean basin between Greenland and Norway, forming one of the world's largest igneous provinces. However, an apparent igneous "shadow" in hotspot activity is located at the fossil Aegir Ridge, which formed anomalously thin crust, despite this ridge being near the Iceland hotspot when it was active. The Aegir Ridge accommodated seafloor spreading northeast of present-day Iceland from the time of continental breakup at ~55 Ma until ~25 Ma, at which point spreading shifted west to the Kolbeinsey Ridge. To address the cause of the anomalously thin crust produced by the Aegir Ridge, we use three-dimensional numerical models to simulate the interaction between a mantle plume beneath the Iceland hotspot, rifting continental lithosphere, and the time-evolving North Atlantic ridge system. Two end-member hypotheses were investigated: (1) Material emanating from the Iceland mantle plume was blocked from reaching the Aegir Ridge by the thick lithosphere of the Jan Mayen Microcontinent as the Kolbeinsey Ridge began rifting it from Greenland at ~30 Ma, just east of the plume center; (2) Plume material was not blocked and did reach the Aegir Ridge, but had already experienced partial melting closer to the hotspot. This material was then unable to produce melt volumes at the Aegir Ridge comparable to those of pristine mantle. To test these hypotheses, we vary the volume flux and viscosity of the plume, and identify which conditions do and do not lead to the Aegir Ridge forming anomalously thin crust. Results show that the combination of plume material being drawn into the lithospheric channels beneath the Reykjanes Ridge and Kolbeinsey Ridge after their respective openings, and the impedance of plume flow by the Jan Mayen Microcontinent (hypothesis 1), can deprive the Aegir Ridge of plume influence. This leads to low crustal thicknesses that are comparable to those observed. We have yet to produce a model

Planation surfaces as a record of medium to large wavelength deformation: the example of the Lake Albert Rift (Uganda) on the East African Dome

Science.gov (United States)

Brendan, Simon; François, Guillocheau; Cécile, Robin; Jean, Braun; Olivier, Dauteuil; Massimo, Dall'Asta

2016-04-01

African relief is characterized by planation surfaces, some of them of continental scale. These surfaces are slightly deformed according to different wavelengths (x10 km; x100 km, x1000 km) which record both mantle dynamics (very long wavelength, x 1000 km) and lithosphere deformation (long wavelength deformation, x 100 km). Different types of these planation surfaces are recognized: - Etchplains capped by iron-duricrust which correspond to erosional nearly flat weathered surfaces resulting from the growth of laterites under warm and humid conditions. - Pediments which define mechanical erosional surfaces with concave or rectilinear profiles delimited by upslope scarps connected upstream with the upper landforms. We here focused on the Lake Albert Rift at the northern termination of the western branch of the East African Rift System of which the two branches are surimposed on the East-African Dome. Different wavelengths of deformation were characterized based on the 3D mapping of stepped planation surfaces: (1) very long wavelength deformations resulting from the uplift of the East African Dome; (2) long wavelength deformations resulting from the opening of the eastern branch and (3) medium wavelength deformations represented by the uplift of rift shoulders like the Rwenzori Mountains. The paleo-landscape reconstruction of Uganda shows the existence of four generations of landforms dated according to their geometrical relationships with volcanic rocks. A four stepped evolution of the Ugandan landforms is proposed: • 70 - 22 Ma: generation of two weathered planation surfaces (etchplain Uw and Iw). The upper one (Uw) records a very humid period culminating at time of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (70-45 Ma). It corresponds to the African Surface. A first uplift of the East African Dome generates a second lower planation surface (Iw) connected to the Atlantic Ocean base level; • 17-2.7 Ma: planation of large pediplains connected to the local base level induced

Compressional reactivation of hyperextended domains on a rifted margin: a requirement for a reappraisal of traditional restoration procedures?

Science.gov (United States)

Cadenas Martínez, P.; Fernandez Viejo, G.; Pulgar, J. A.

2017-12-01

The North Iberian margin is an inverted hyperextended rifted margin that preserves the initial stages of compressional reactivation. Rift inheritance conditioned in a determinant way the contractional reactivation. The underthrusting of the hyperextended distal domains beneath the platform and the formation of an accretionary wedge at the toe of the slope focused most of the compression. The underthrusting gave place to the formation of a crustal root and the uplifting of the Cantabrian Mountains onshore. Meanwhile, the main rift basins within the continental platform were slightly inverted. Plate kinematic reconstructions and palinspatic restorations have provided different shortening values. Thereby, the amount of shortening linked with the Cenozoic compression is still unclear and a matter of debate on this area.In this work, we present a full cross-section at the central part of the North Iberian margin developed from the restoration of a high quality depth migrated seismic profile running from the continental platform to the Biscay abyssal plain. A shortening calculation gives an estimate of about 1 km within the Asturian Basin, in the continental platform, while in the accretionary wedge at the bottom of the slope, shortening values ranges between 12 km and 15 km. The limited values estimated within the Asturian Basin support the mild inversion observed within this basin, which preserves most of the extensional imprint. Within the abyssal plain, shortening values differ from previous estimations and cannot account for a high amount of compression in the upper crust. Deformation of the hyperextended crust and the exhumed mantle domains inherited from the rifting processes would have accommodated most of the compression. Restoration of these domains seems to be the key to decipher the structure and the tectonic evolution of the reactivated rifted margin but cannot be solved accurately using traditional restoration methods. This leads to a reappraisal of the

Stochastic velocity inversion of seismic reflection/refraction traveltime data for rift structure of the southwest Barents Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clark, Stephen A.; Faleide, Jan Inge; Hauser, Juerg

2013-01-01

reflection profiles. We utilize layer-based raytracing in a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) inversion to determine a probabilistic velocity model constraining the sedimentary rocks, crystalline crust, and uppermost mantle in a complex tectonic regime. The profile images a wide range of crustal types and ages...... with the amount of overlap derived from published plate reconstructions. Local β factors approach 3, where Bjørnøya Basin reaches a depth of more than 13 km. Volcanics, carbonates, salt, diagenesis and metamorphism make deep sedimentary basin fill difficult to distinguish from original, pre-rift crystalline crust...

Geodynamics of the East African Rift System ∼30 Ma ago: A stress field model

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Ge; Hou, Guiting

2018-06-01

The East African Rift System (EARS) is thought to be an intra-continental ridge that meets the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the Ethiopian Afar as the failed arm of the Afar triple junction. The geodynamics of EARS is still unclear even though several models have been proposed. One model proposes that the EARS developed in a local tensile stress field derived from far-field loads because of the pushing of oceanic ridges. Alternatively, some scientists suggest that the formation of the EARS can be explained by upwelling mantle plumes beneath the lithospheric weak zone (e.g., the Pan-African suture zone). In our study, a shell model is established to consider the Earth's spherical curvature, the lithospheric heterogeneity of the African continent, and the coupling between the mantle plumes and the mid-ocean ridge. The results are calculated via the finite element method using ANSYS software and fit the geological evidence well. To discuss the effects of the different rock mechanical parameters and the boundary conditions, four comparative models are established with different parameters or boundary conditions. Model I ignores the heterogeneity of the African continent, Model II ignores mid-ocean spreading, Model III ignores the upwelling mantle plumes, and Model IV ignores both the heterogeneity of the African continent and the upwelling mantle plumes. Compared to these models is the original model that shows the best-fit results; this model indicates that the coupling of the upwelling mantle plumes and the mid-ocean ridge spreading causes the initial lithospheric breakup in Afar and East Africa. The extension direction and the separation of the EARS around the Tanzanian craton are attributed to the heterogeneity of the East African basement.

Rheological properties of the lower crust and upper mantle beneath Baja California: a microstructural study of xenoliths from San Quintin

Science.gov (United States)

Van der Werf, Thomas F.; Chatzaras, Vasileios; Tikoff, Basil; Drury, Martyn R.

2016-04-01

Baja California is an active transtensional rift zone, which links the San Andreas Fault with the East Pacific Rise. The erupted basalts of the Holocene San Quintin volcanic field contain xenoliths, which sample the lower crust and upper mantle beneath Baja California. The aim of this research is to gain insight in the rheology of the lower crust and the upper mantle by investigating the xenolith microstructure. Microstructural observations have been used to determine the dominant deformation mechanisms. Differential stresses were estimated from recrystallized grain size piezometry of plagioclase and clinopyroxene for the lower crust and olivine for the upper mantle. The degree of deformation can be inferred from macroscopic foliations and the deformation microstructures. Preliminary results show that both the lower crust and the upper mantle have been affected by multiple stages of deformation and recrystallization. In addition the dominant deformation mechanism in both the lower crust and the upper mantle is dislocation creep based on the existence of strong crystallographic preferred orientations. The differential stress estimates for the lower crust are 10-29 MPa using plagioclase piezometry and 12-35 MPa using clinopyroxene piezometry. For the upper mantle, differential stress estimates are 10-20 MPa. These results indicate that the strength of the lower crust and the upper mantle are very similar. Our data do not fit with the general models of lithospheric strength and may have important implications for the rheological structure of the lithosphere in transtensional plate margins and for geodynamic models of the region.

The crust and mantle beneath the Siberian provinces: a preliminary model based on new receiver function analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Soliman, Mohammad Youssof Ahmad; Artemieva, Irina; Thybo, Hans

2012-01-01

The new receiver function (RF) study complements the existing seismic data on the crustal and upper mantle structure at the margins of the Siberian craton and the West Siberian Basin. So far, RF studies of Siberia have been largely restricted to the Baikal rift zone (Gao et al., 2004; Liu and Gao......, 2006; Anan'in et al., 2009). However, available seismic data allow to apply the RF approach to other tectonic structures of the region. We calculate the RF using the LQT method (Vinnik, 1977; Kind et al. 1995) in the version by Yuan et al. (1997). This method involves rotating the earth...... the deconvolved signals using the appropriate moveout corrections which account for the dependence of Ps arrivals on P wave slowness. The results of RF analysis of the crustal and mantle structure are interpreted in terms of tectonic and geodynamic evolution of different provinces of Siberia that range from...

Decarbonation in an intracratonic setting: Insight from petrological-thermomechanical modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Christopher M.; Gorczyk, Weronika

2017-08-01

Cratons form the stable core roots of the continental crust. Despite long-term stability, cratons have failed in the past. Cratonic destruction (e.g., North Atlantic Craton) due to chemical rejuvenation at the base of the lithosphere remains poorly constrained numerically. We use 2-D petrological-thermomechanical models to assess cratonic rifting characteristics and mantle CO2 degassing in the presence of a carbonated subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). We test two tectonothermal SCLM compositions: Archon (depleted) and Tecton (fertilized) using 2 CO2 wt % in the bulk composition to represent a metasomatized SCLM. We parameterize cratonic breakup via extensional duration (7-12 Ma; full breakup), tectonothermal age, TMoho (300-600°C), and crustal rheology. The two compositions with metasomatized SCLMs share similar rifting features and decarbonation trends during initial extension. However, we show long-term (>67 Ma) stability differences due to lithospheric density contrasts between SCLM compositions. The Tecton model shows convective removal and thinning of the metasomatized SCLM during failed rifting. The Archon composition remained stable, highlighting the primary role for SCLM density even when metasomatized at its base. In the short-term, three failed rifting characteristics emerge: failed rifting without decarbonation, failed rifting with decarbonation, and semifailed rifting with dry asthenospheric melting and decarbonation. Decarbonation trends were greatest in the failed rifts, reaching peak fluxes of 94 × 104 kg m-3. Increased TMoho did not alter the effects of rifting or decarbonation. Lastly, we show mantle regions where decarbonation, mantle melting in the presence of carbonate, and preservation of carbonated mantle occur during rifting.

Contrasted continental rifting via plume-craton interaction : Applications to Central East African Rift

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koptev, Alexander; Burov, Evgueni; Calais, Eric; Leroy, Sylvie; Gerya, Taras; Guillou-Frottier, Laurent; Cloetingh, Sierd

The East African Rift system (EARS) provides a unique system with the juxtaposition of two contrasting yet simultaneously formed rift branches, the eastern, magma-rich, and the western, magma-poor, on either sides of the old thick Tanzanian craton embedded in a younger lithosphere. Data on the

Long-term, deep-mantle support of the Ethiopia-Yemen Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Sembroni, Andrea; Faccenna, Claudio; Becker, Thorsten W.; Molin, Paola; Abebe, Bekele

2016-04-01

Ethiopia is a key site to investigate the interactions between mantle dynamics and surface processes because of the presence of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), Cenozoic continental flood basalt volcanism, and plateau uplift. The role of mantle plumes in causing Ethiopia's flood basalts and tectonics has been commonly accepted. However, the location and number of plumes and their impact on surface uplift are still uncertain. Here, we present new constraints on the geological and topographic evolution of the Ethiopian Plateau (NW Ethiopia) prior to and after the emplacement of the large flood basalts (40-20 Ma). Using geological information and topographic reconstructions, we show that the large topographic dome that we see today is a long-term feature, already present prior the emplacement of the flood basalts. We also infer that large-scale doming operated even after the emplacement of the flood basalts. Using a comparison with the present-day topographic setting we show that an important component of the topography has been and is presently represented by a residual, non-isostatic, dynamic contribution. We conclude that the growth of the Ethiopian Plateau is a long-term, probably still active, dynamically supported process. Our arguments provide constraints on the processes leading to the formation of one of the largest igneous plateaus on Earth.

Partial delamination of continental mantle lithosphere, uplift-related crust mantle decoupling, volcanism and basin formation: a new model for the Pliocene Quaternary evolution of the southern East-Carpathians, Romania

Science.gov (United States)

Chalot-Prat, F.; Girbacea, R.

2000-11-01

A geodynamic model is proposed for the Mid-Miocene to Quaternary evolution of the southern East-Carpathians in order to explain the relationships between shallow and deep geological phenomena that occurred synchronously during late-collision tectonics. In this area, an active volcanic zone cross-cuts since 2 My the suture between the overriding Tisza-Dacia and subducting European continental plates. Mafic calc-alkaline and alkaline magmas (south Harghita and Persani volcanoes) erupted contemporaneously. These magmas were supplied by partial melting of the mantle lithosphere of the subducting, and not of the overriding, plate. In an effort to decipher this geodynamically a-typical setting of magma generation, the spatial and temporal distribution of shallow and deep phenomena was successively examined in order to establish the degree of their interdependence. Our model indicates that intra-mantle delamination of the subducting European plate is the principal cause of a succession of events. It caused upwelling of the hot asthenosphere below a thinned continental lithosphere of the Carpathians, inducing the uplift of the lithosphere and its internal decoupling at the Moho level by isostatic and mostly thermal effects. During this uplift, the crust deformed flexurally whilst the mantle deformed in a ductile way. This triggered decompressional partial melting of the uppermost mantle lithosphere. Flexural deformation of the crust induced its fracturing, allowing for the rapid ascent of magmas to the surface, as well as reactivation of an older detachment horizon at the base of the Carpathian nappe stack above which the Brasov, Ciuc and Gheorghieni hinterland basins formed by extension and gravity spreading. The rapid subsidence of the Focsani foreland basin is controlled by the load exerted on the lithosphere by the delaminated mantle slab that is still attached to it. In this model, crust-mantle decoupling, magma genesis and volcanism, local near-surface hinterland

Upper mantle dynamics of Bangladesh by splitting analysis of core-mantle refracted SKS, PKS, and SKKS phases

Science.gov (United States)

Tiwari, Ashwani Kant; Bhushan, Kirti; Eken, Tuna; Singh, Arun

2018-06-01

New shear wave splitting measurements are obtained from the Bengal Basin using core-mantle refracted SKS, PKS, and SKKS phases. The splitting parameters, namely time delays (δ t) and fast polarization directions (ϕ), were estimated through analysis of 54 high-quality waveforms (⩾ 2.5 signal to noise ratio) from 30 earthquakes with magnitude ⩾ 5.5 recorded at ten seismic stations deployed over Bangladesh. No evidence of splitting was found, which indicates azimuthal isotropy beneath the region. These null measurements can be explained by either vertically dipping anisotropic fast axes or by the presence of multiple horizontal anisotropic layers with different fast polarization directions, where the combined effect results in a null characterization. The anisotropic fabric preserved from rifting episodes of Antarctica and India, subduction-related dynamics of the Indo-Burmese convergence zone, and northward movement of the Indian plate creating shear at the base of the lithosphere can explain the observed null measurements. The combined effect of all these most likely results in a strong vertical anisotropic heterogeneity, creating the observed null results.

Seismic images of the transition zone: is Hawaiian volcanism produced by a secondary plume from the top of the lower mantle?

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Q.; van der Hilst, R. D.; Shim, S.; De Hoop, M. V.

2011-12-01

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. Most tomographic models reveal anomalously low wavespeeds beneath Hawaii, but the depth extent of this structure is not well known. S or P data used in traveltime inversions are associated with steep rays to distant sources, which degrades depth resolution, and surface wave dispersion does not have sufficient sensitivity at the depths of interest. To investigate pertinent thermal anomalies we mapped depth variations of upper mantle discontinuities using precursors of the surface-reflected SS wave. Instead of stacking the data over geographical bins, which leads to averaging of topography and hence loss of spatial resolution, we used a generalized Radon transform (GRT) to detect and map localized elasticity contrasts in the transition zone (Cao et al., PEPI, 2010). We apply the GRT to produce 3D image volumes beneath a large area of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and the Hawaii-Emperor seamount chain (Cao et al., Science, 2011). The 3D image volumes reveal laterally continuous interfaces near 410 and 660 km depths, that is, the traditional boundaries of the transition zone, but also suggest (perhaps intermittent) scatter horizons near 300-350, 520-550, and 800-1000 km depth. The upper mantle appears generally hot beneath Hawaii, but the most conspicuous topographic (and probably thermal) anomalies are found west of Hawaii. The GRT images reveal a 800 km wide uplift of the 660 discontinuity just west of Hawaii, but there is no evidence for a corresponding localized depression of the 410 discontinuity. This expression of the 410 and 660 km topographies is consistent with some existed geodynamical modeling results, in which a deep-rooted mantle plume impinging on the transition zone, creating a broad pond of hot material underneath endothermic phase change at 660 km depth, and with secondary plumes

Geochemical nature of sub-ridge mantle and opening dynamics of the South China Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guo-Liang; Luo, Qing; Zhao, Jian; Jackson, Matthew G.; Guo, Li-Shuang; Zhong, Li-Feng

2018-05-01

The Indian-type mantle (i.e., above the north hemisphere reference line on the plot of 208Pb/204Pb vs. 206Pb/204Pb) has been considered as a "Southern Hemisphere" geochemical signature, whose origin remains enigmatic. The South China Sea is an extensional basin formed after rifting of the Euro-Asia continent in the Northern Hemisphere, however, the geochemical nature of the igneous crust remains unexplored. For the first time, IODP Expedition 349 has recovered seafloor basalts covered by the thick sediments in the Southwest sub-basin (Sites U1433 and U1434) and the East sub-basin (Site U1431). The Southwest sub-basin consists of enriched (E)-MORB type basalts, and the East sub-basin consists of both normal (N)-MORB-type and E-MORB-type basalts based on trace element compositions. The basalts of the two sub-basins are Indian-type MORBs based on Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope compositions, and the Southwest sub-basin basalts show isotopic compositions (i.e., 206Pb/204Pb of 17.59-17.89) distinctly different from the East sub-basin (i.e., 206Pb/204Pb of 18.38-18.57), suggesting a sub-basin scale mantle compositional heterogeneity and different histories of mantle compositional evolution. Two different enriched mantle end-members (EM1 and EM2) are responsible for the genesis of the Indian-type mantle in the South China Sea. We have modeled the influences of Hainan mantle plume and lower continental crust based on Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope compositions. The results indicate that the influence of Hainan plume can explain the elevated 206Pb/204Pb of the East sub-basin basalts, and the recycling of lower continental crust can explain the low 206Pb/204Pb of the Southwest sub-basin basalts. Based on the strong geochemical imprints of Hainan plume in the ridge magmatism, we propose that the Hainan plume might have promoted the opening of the South China Sea, during which the Hainan plume contributed enriched component to the sub-ridge mantle and caused thermal erosion and return of lower

Timing of the volcanism of the southern Kivu province: Implications for the evolution of the western branch of the East African rift system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasteels, P.

1989-01-01

New K-Ar datings of a large rock sampling from the South Kivu volcanic province (Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi) are reported. No ages older than 10 Ma have been obtained. This result contrasts with older assumptions and puts severe constraints on the relations between volcanism and rift evolution. From 10 to 7.5 Ma tholeiitic volcanism predominates corresponding to an episode of fissural eruptions; from 7.5 to 5 Ma alkali basalts and their differentiates are mainly erupted in localized rifts. A culmination of activity occurs between 6.0 and 5.5 Ma ago. Pleistocene alkalic volcanism is restricted to localized areas. The transition from tholeiites to alkali-basaltic volcanism dated around 7.5 Ma would correspond to a major rifting phase which corresponds with the initiation of Lake Kivu Basin formation. The distribution of tholeiitic rocks in the central part of the rift, and predominantly alkalic rocks along the western active border fault, strengthens the idea that the former are associated with tension, the latter with vertical, possibly also strike-slip movements. Volcanism in the Western Rift is restricted to areas where tension occurs in a zone which is located between two zones of strike-slip. In the South Kivu area normal faults intersect strike-slip faults and this seems to have determined the location of volcanic activity. Magma formation is considered to be related with shear heating combined with adiabatic decompression in ascending diapirs. This implies heating at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary as a result of extension. Generation of tholeiitic or alkalic magmas is connected with the variable ascent velocity of mantle diapirs or with variable shear heating along the shear zone. Changes in both magma composition and intensity of volcanic activity with time are considered to be related to major phases of rift evolution. (orig.)

Total meltwater volume since the Last Glacial Maximum and viscosity structure of Earth's mantle inferred from relative sea level changes at Barbados and Bonaparte Gulf and GIA-induced J˙2

Science.gov (United States)

Nakada, Masao; Okuno, Jun'ichi; Yokoyama, Yusuke

2016-02-01

Inference of globally averaged eustatic sea level (ESL) rise since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) highly depends on the interpretation of relative sea level (RSL) observations at Barbados and Bonaparte Gulf, Australia, which are sensitive to the viscosity structure of Earth's mantle. Here we examine the RSL changes at the LGM for Barbados and Bonaparte Gulf ({{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bar}}} and {{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bon}}}), differential RSL for both sites (Δ {{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bar}},{{Bon}}}) and rate of change of degree-two harmonics of Earth's geopotential due to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) process (GIA-induced J˙2) to infer the ESL component and viscosity structure of Earth's mantle. Differential RSL, Δ {{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bar}},{{Bon}}} and GIA-induced J˙2 are dominantly sensitive to the lower-mantle viscosity, and nearly insensitive to the upper-mantle rheological structure and GIA ice models with an ESL component of about (120-130) m. The comparison between the predicted and observationally derived Δ {{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bar}},{{Bon}}} indicates the lower-mantle viscosity higher than ˜2 × 1022 Pa s, and the observationally derived GIA-induced J˙2 of -(6.0-6.5) × 10-11 yr-1 indicates two permissible solutions for the lower mantle, ˜1022 and (5-10) × 1022 Pa s. That is, the effective lower-mantle viscosity inferred from these two observational constraints is (5-10) × 1022 Pa s. The LGM RSL changes at both sites, {{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bar}}} and {{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bon}}}, are also sensitive to the ESL component and upper-mantle viscosity as well as the lower-mantle viscosity. The permissible upper-mantle viscosity increases with decreasing ESL component due to the sensitivity of the LGM sea level at Bonaparte Gulf ({{RSL}}_{{L}}^{{{Bon}}}) to the upper-mantle viscosity, and inferred upper-mantle viscosity for adopted lithospheric thicknesses of 65 and 100 km is (1-3) × 1020 Pa s for ESL˜130 m and (4-10) × 1020 Pa s for ESL˜125 m. The former solution of (1-3) × 1020

Rift propagation at craton margin.: Distribution of faulting and volcanism in the North Tanzanian Divergence (East Africa) during Neogene times

Science.gov (United States)

Le Gall, B.; Nonnotte, P.; Rolet, J.; Benoit, M.; Guillou, H.; Mousseau-Nonnotte, M.; Albaric, J.; Deverchère, J.

2008-02-01

A revised kinematic model is proposed for the Neogene tectono-magmatic development of the North Tanzanian Divergence where the axial valley in S Kenya splits southwards into a wide diverging pattern of block faulting in association with the disappearance of volcanism. Propagation of rifting along the S Kenya proto-rift during the last 8 Ma is first assumed to have operated by linkage of discrete magmatic cells as far S as the Ngorongoro-Kilimanjaro transverse volcanic belt that follows the margin of cratonic blocks in N Tanzania. Strain is believed to have nucleated throughout the thermally-weakened lithosphere in the transverse volcanic belt that might have later linked the S Kenya and N Tanzania rift segments with marked structural changes along-strike. The North Tanzanian Divergence is now regarded as a two-armed rift pattern involving: (1) a wide domain of tilted fault blocks to the W (Mbulu) that encompasses the Eyasi and Manyara fault systems, in direct continuation with the Natron northern trough. The reactivation of basement fabrics in the cold and intact Precambrian lithosphere in the Mbulu domain resulted in an oblique rift pattern that contrasts with the orthogonal extension that prevailed in the Magadi-Natron trough above a more attenuated lithosphere. (2) To the E, the Pangani horst-like range is thought to be a younger (< 1 Ma) structure that formed in response to the relocation of extension S of the Kilimanjaro magmatic center. A significant contrast in the mechanical behaviour of the stretched lithosphere in the North Tanzanian diverging rift is assumed to have occurred on both sides of the Masai cratonic block with a mid-crustal decoupling level to the W where asymmetrical fault-basin patterns are dominant (Magadi-Natron and Mbulu), whereas a component of dynamical uplift is suspected to have caused the topographic elevation of the Pangani range in relation with possible far-travelled mantle melts produced at depth further N.

Controls of inherited lithospheric heterogeneity on rift linkage: Numerical and analog models of interaction between the Kenyan and Ethiopian rifts across the Turkana depression

Science.gov (United States)

Brune, Sascha; Corti, Giacomo; Ranalli, Giorgio

2017-09-01

Inherited rheological structures in the lithosphere are expected to have large impact on the architecture of continental rifts. The Turkana depression in the East African Rift connects the Main Ethiopian Rift to the north with the Kenya rift in the south. This region is characterized by a NW-SE trending band of thinned crust inherited from a Mesozoic rifting event, which is cutting the present-day N-S rift trend at high angle. In striking contrast to the narrow rifts in Ethiopia and Kenya, extension in the Turkana region is accommodated in subparallel deformation domains that are laterally distributed over several hundred kilometers. We present both analog experiments and numerical models that reproduce the along-axis transition from narrow rifting in Ethiopia and Kenya to a distributed deformation within the Turkana depression. Similarly to natural observations, our models show that the Ethiopian and Kenyan rifts bend away from each other within the Turkana region, thus forming a right-lateral step over and avoiding a direct link to form a continuous N-S depression. The models reveal five potential types of rift linkage across the preexisting basin: three types where rifts bend away from the inherited structure connecting via a (1) wide or (2) narrow rift or by (3) forming a rotating microplate, (4) a type where rifts bend towards it, and (5) straight rift linkage. The fact that linkage type 1 is realized in the Turkana region provides new insights on the rheological configuration of the Mesozoic rift system at the onset of the recent rift episode.

Syn-rift unconformities punctuating the lower-middle Cambrian transition in the Atlas Rift, Morocco

Science.gov (United States)

Álvaro, J. Javier; Ezzouhairi, Hassan; Clausen, Sébastien; Ribeiro, M. Luisa; Solá, Rita

2015-04-01

The Cambrian Tamdroust and Bab n'Ali Volcanic Complexes represent two magmatic episodes developed in the latest Ediacaran-Cambrian Atlas Rift of Morocco. Their rifting pulses were accompanied by accumulation of volcanosedimentary edifices (dominated by effusive lava flows in the former and explosive acidic aprons in the latter) associated with active tilting and uplift. Sealing of their peneplaned horst-and-graben palaeotopographies led to the onset of distinct onlapping geometries and angular discordances capping eroded basements ranging from the Ediacaran Ouarzazate Supergroup to the Cambrian Asrir Formation. Previous interpretations of these discordances as pull-apart or compressive events are revised here and reinterpreted in an extensional (rifting) context associated with active volcanism. The record of erosive unconformities, stratigraphic gaps, condensed beds and onlapping patterns across the traditional "lower-middle Cambrian" (or Cambrian Series 2-3) transition of the Atlas Rift must be taken into consideration for global chronostratigraphic correlation based on their trilobite content.

Experimental investigation of flow-induced fabrics in rocks at upper-mantle pressures: Application to understanding mantle dynamics and seismic anisotropy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kohlstedt, David L. [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

2016-04-26

The goal of this collaborative research effort between W.B. Durham at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and D.L. Kohlstedt and S. Mei at the University of Minnesota (UMN) was to exploit a newly developed technology for high-pressure, high-temperature deformation experimentation, namely, the deformation DIA (D-DIA) to determine the deformation behavior of a number of important upper mantle rock types including olivine, garnet, enstatite, and periclase. Experiments were carried out under both hydrous and anhydrous conditions and at both lithospheric and asthenospheric stress and temperature conditions. The result was a group of flow laws for Earth’s upper mantle that quantitatively describe the viscosity of mantle rocks from shallow depths (the lithosphere) to great depths (the asthenosphere). These flow laws are fundamental for modeling the geodynamic behavior and heat transport from depth to Earth’s surface.

Experimental investigation of flow-induced fabrics in rocks at upper-mantle pressures. Application to understanding mantle dynamics and seismic anisotropy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Durham, William B. [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

2016-05-02

The goal of this collaborative research effort between W.B. Durham at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and D.L. Kohlstedt and S. Mei at the University of Minnesota (UMN) was to exploit a newly developed technology for high-pressure, high-temperature deformation experimentation, namely, the deformation DIA (D-DIA), to determine the deformation behavior of a number of important upper mantle rock types including olivine, garnet, enstatite, and periclase. Experiments were carried out under both hydrous and anhydrous conditions and at both lithospheric and asthenospheric stress and temperature conditions. The result was a group of flow laws for Earth’s upper mantle that quantitatively describe the viscosity of mantle rocks from shallow depths (the lithosphere) to great depths (the asthenosphere). These flow laws are fundamental for modeling the geodynamic behavior and heat transport from depth to Earth’s surface.-

ODP Leg 210 Drills the Newfoundland Margin in the Newfoundland-Iberia Non-Volcanic Rift

Science.gov (United States)

Tucholke, B. E.; Sibuet, J.

2003-12-01

The final leg of the Ocean Drilling Project (Leg 210, July-September 2003) was devoted to studying the history of rifting and post-rift sedimentation in the Newfoundland-Iberia rift. For the first time, drilling was conducted in the Newfoundland Basin along a transect conjugate to previous drill sites on the Iberia margin (Legs 149 and 173) to obtain data on a complete `non-volcanic' rift system. The prime site during this leg (Site 1276) was drilled in the transition zone between known continental crust and known oceanic crust at chrons M3 and younger. Extensive geophysical work and deep-sea drilling have shown that this transition-zone crust on the conjugate Iberia margin is exhumed continental mantle that is strongly serpentinized in its upper part. Transition-zone crust on the Newfoundland side, however, is typically a kilometer or more shallower and has much smoother topography, and seismic refraction data suggest that the crust may be thin (about 4 km) oceanic crust. A major goal of Site 1276 was to investigate these differences by sampling basement and a strong, basinwide reflection (U) overlying basement. Site 1276 was cored from 800 to 1737 m below seafloor with excellent recovery (avg. 85%), bottoming in two alkaline diabase sills >10 m thick that are estimated to be 100-200 meters above basement. The sills have sedimentary contacts that show extensive hydrothermal metamorphism. Associated sediment structural features indicate that the sills were intruded at shallow levels within highly porous sediments. The upper sill likely is at the level of the U reflection, which correlates with lower Albian - uppermost Aptian(?) fine- to coarse-grained gravity-flow deposits. Overlying lower Albian to lower Oligocene sediments record paleoceanographic conditions similar to those on the Iberia margin and in the main North Atlantic basin, including deposition of `black shales'; however, they show an extensive component of gravity-flow deposits throughout.

NW Africa post-rift tectonics: fieldwork constraints from an "unfitting" anticline in west Morocco

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Blanco, David; Gouiza, Mohamed

2015-04-01

The evolution of the Moroccan Atlantic rifted margin is marked by a period of abnormal and excessive early post-rift subsidence during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous affecting the proximal coastal basins, the continental shelf and the distal deep basins, which acted coevally to km-scale uplift and erosion of large domains to the east. The tectonics of the uplift event are still unclear, as it took place 30 to 50 Myr after lithospheric breakup between Morocco and Nova Scotia and prior to the Atlas/Alpine contraction, which gave rise to the Atlas and the Rif mountain belts. The Essaouira-Haha basin, located on the coastal plain of the Atlantic rifted margin of Morocco, and bounded by two uplifted Paleozoic basement highs (i.e. the Massif Ancien of Marrakech, to the east, and the Jebilet, to the northeast), is an ideal location to investigate the tectonic processes that might have triggered these vertical movements. Although most of the deformation observed in the basin is classically attributed to Upper Cretaceous halokinesis and Neogene Atlas contraction, recent works have shown the existence of contractional structures. We carry out a structural analysis of the Jbel Amsittene Anticline, located in the middle of the Essaouira-Haha basin to investigate the tectonics of its formation and its relationship with the above-mentioned exhumation. We show structural field data along several cross-sections transecting the anticline, and characterize a salt-cored fault propagation fold verging north, with a Triassic salt acting as a detachment plane. Regional kinematic indicators and structures show overall NNW-SSE to NNE-SSW shortening and active tectonics during the postrift phase, as indicated by syn-tectonic wedges seen for the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous period. These facts discard the "salt-drives-tectonics" theory to let "tectonic-drives-salt" one to rise, and point to factors other than small-cell mantle convection acting during the evolution of the Moroccan

Extension style in the Orphan Basin during the Mesozoic North Atlantic rifting

Science.gov (United States)

Gouiza, Mohamed; Hall, Jeremy

2013-04-01

model uses depth-dependent extension of a 20 km thick crust characterized by a strong upper crust and a weak lower crust. Both models raise secondary issues that are discussed around the order of rifting events and the original crustal thickness.

Pb evolution in the Martian mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Bellucci, J. J.; Nemchin, A. A.; Whitehouse, M. J.; Snape, J. F.; Bland, P.; Benedix, G. K.; Roszjar, J.

2018-03-01

The initial Pb compositions of one enriched shergottite, one intermediate shergottite, two depleted shergottites, and Nakhla have been measured by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). These values, in addition to data from previous studies using an identical analytical method performed on three enriched shergottites, ALH 84001, and Chassigny, are used to construct a unified and internally consistent model for the differentiation history of the Martian mantle and crystallization ages for Martian meteorites. The differentiation history of the shergottites and Nakhla/Chassigny are fundamentally different, which is in agreement with short-lived radiogenic isotope systematics. The initial Pb compositions of Nakhla/Chassigny are best explained by the late addition of a Pb-enriched component with a primitive, non-radiogenic composition. In contrast, the Pb isotopic compositions of the shergottite group indicate a relatively simple evolutionary history of the Martian mantle that can be modeled based on recent results from the Sm-Nd system. The shergottites have been linked to a single mantle differentiation event at 4504 Ma. Thus, the shergottite Pb isotopic model here reflects a two-stage history 1) pre-silicate differentiation (4504 Ma) and 2) post-silicate differentiation to the age of eruption (as determined by concordant radiogenic isochron ages). The μ-values (238U/204Pb) obtained for these two different stages of Pb growth are μ1 of 1.8 and a range of μ2 from 1.4-4.7, respectively. The μ1-value of 1.8 is in broad agreement with enstatite and ordinary chondrites and that proposed for proto Earth, suggesting this is the initial μ-value for inner Solar System bodies. When plotted against other source radiogenic isotopic variables (Sri, γ187Os, ε143Nd, and ε176Hf), the second stage mantle evolution range in observed mantle μ-values display excellent linear correlations (r2 > 0.85) and represent a spectrum of Martian mantle mixing-end members (depleted

Continental breakup of the Central Atlantic and the initiation of the southern Central Atlantic Magmatic Province: revisiting the role of a mantle plume

Science.gov (United States)

Rohrman, M.

2017-12-01

Central Atlantic breakup is strongly associated with magmatism of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), although the exact mechanism, as well as the temporal and spatial relations, have so far been poorly constrained. Here, I propose a mantle plume origin for the 200 Ma southern Central Atlantic Province (CAMP), based on an original plume conduit location off southeastern Florida, linking Early Jurassic rift systems: One rift arm is defined by the Takutu rift in present-day Guyana and Brazil, extending all the way past the Demerara Rise. This rift is linking up with a second arm from the Bahamas basin to the Blake Plateau basin. Finally, there is the third, failed rift between the Demerara Rise and the Guinea Plateau. This rift system post-dates earlier Triassic rift systems along the US eastcoast and in the subsurface of Arkansas, Texas, the Gulf of Mexico and northern South America. Chronostratigraphic analysis of outcrop, wells and seismic data near the proposed conduit, suggest initial Rhaetian uplift, followed by dike/sill intrusions feeding flood basalts and the initiation of igneous centers at the triple point. The latter resulted in various subsequent uplift and subsidence events, as a result of volcanic construction and erosion. The load of the volcanic edifice generated a point of weakness, allowing favorable plate stresses to generate rift systems, propagating away from the rift junction and eventually break up Pangea. The breakup is marked by the magmatic breakup (un)conformity on seismic data, separating hotspot/plume sourced Seaward Dipping reflectors (SDRs) within the continental rift system, from early ocean spreading sourced SDRs. As ocean spreading continued, the volcanic construction evolved into a hotspot track, now recognized as the Bahamas island trail. Time progression of this hotspot track resembles the present-day Iceland hotspot track, as suggested by plate reconstructions (Figure 1). Based on melting depth estimates from Sm

Deepening, and repairing, the metabolic rift.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Mindi; McMichael, Philip

2010-01-01

This paper critically assesses the metabolic rift as a social, ecological, and historical concept describing the disruption of natural cycles and processes and ruptures in material human-nature relations under capitalism. As a social concept, the metabolic rift presumes that metabolism is understood in relation to the labour process. This conception, however, privileges the organisation of labour to the exclusion of the practice of labour, which we argue challenges its utility for analysing contemporary socio-environmental crises. As an ecological concept, the metabolic rift is based on outmoded understandings of (agro) ecosystems and inadequately describes relations and interactions between labour and ecological processes. Historically, the metabolic rift is integral to debates about the definitions and relations of capitalism, industrialism, and modernity as historical concepts. At the same time, it gives rise to an epistemic rift, insofar as the separation of the natural and social worlds comes to be expressed in social thought and critical theory, which have one-sidedly focused on the social. We argue that a reunification of the social and the ecological, in historical practice and in historical thought, is the key to repairing the metabolic rift, both conceptually and practically. The food sovereignty movement in this respect is exemplary.

A reconnaissance view of tungsten reservoirs in some crustal and mantle rocks: Implications for interpreting W isotopic compositions and crust-mantle W cycling

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingao; Pearson, D. Graham; Chacko, Thomas; Luo, Yan

2018-02-01

High-precision measurements of W isotopic ratios have enabled increased exploration of early Earth processes. However, when applying W isotopic data to understand the geological processes, it is critical to recognize the potential mobility of W and hence evaluate whether measured W contents and isotopic compositions reflect the primary petrogenetic processes or instead are influenced by the effects of secondary inputs/mobility. Furthermore, if we are to better understand how W is partitioned between different minerals during melting and metasomatic processes it is important to document the likely sinks for W during these processes. In addition, an understanding of the main hosts for W in the crust and mantle is critically important to constrain how W is cycled and stored in the crust-mantle geochemical cycle. As a first step to investigate these issues, we have carried out in situ concentration measurements of W and other HFSEs in mineral phases within a broad spectrum of crustal and mantle rocks, along with whole-rock concentration measurements. Mass balance shows that for tonalitic gneiss and amphibolite, the major rock-forming minerals can adequately account for the bulk W budget, and for the pristine ultramafic rocks, olivine and orthopyroxene are the major controlling phases for W whereas for metasomatized ultramafic rocks, significant W is hosted in Ti-bearing trace phases (e.g., rutile, lindsleyite) along grain boundaries or is inferred to reside in cryptic W-bearing trace phases. Formation or decomposition of these phases during secondary processes could cause fractionation of W from other HFSEs, and also dramatically modify bulk W concentrations in rocks. For rocks that experienced subsequent W enrichment/alteration, their W isotopic compositions may not necessarily represent their mantle sources, but could reflect later inputs. The relatively small suite of rocks analyzed here serves as a reconnaissance study but allows some preliminary speculations on

Generation of continental rifts, basins, and swells by lithosphere instabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Fourel, Loïc.; Milelli, Laura; Jaupart, Claude; Limare, Angela

2013-06-01

Continents may be affected simultaneously by rifting, uplift, volcanic activity, and basin formation in several different locations, suggesting a common driving mechanism that is intrinsic to continents. We describe a new type of convective instability at the base of the lithosphere that leads to a remarkable spatial pattern at the scale of an entire continent. We carried out fluid mechanics laboratory experiments on buoyant blocks of finite size that became unstable due to cooling from above. Dynamical behavior depends on three dimensionless numbers, a Rayleigh number for the unstable block, a buoyancy number that scales the intrinsic density contrast to the thermal one, and the aspect ratio of the block. Within the block, instability develops in two different ways in an outer annulus and in an interior region. In the outer annulus, upwellings and downwellings take the form of periodically spaced radial spokes. The interior region hosts the more familiar convective pattern of polygonal cells. In geological conditions, such instabilities should manifest themselves as linear rifts striking at a right angle to the continent-ocean boundary and an array of domal uplifts, volcanic swells, and basins in the continental interior. Simple scaling laws for the dimensions and spacings of the convective structures are derived. For the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, these dimensions take values in the 500-1000 km range, close to geological examples. The large intrinsic buoyancy of Archean lithospheric roots prevents this type of instability, which explains why the widespread volcanic activity that currently affects Western Africa is confined to post-Archean domains.

The Transition from Volcanic to Rift Dominated Crustal Breakup - From the Vøring Plateau to the Lofoten Margin, Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Breivik, A. J.; Faleide, J. I.; Mjelde, R.; Flueh, E.; Murai, Y.

2017-12-01

The Vøring Plateau was part of the Northeast Atlantic igneous province (NAIP) during early Cenozoic crustal breakup. Crustal breakup at the Vøring Plateau occurred marginal to the deep Cretaceous basins on the shelf, with less extension of the crust. Intrusive magmatism and oceanic crust up to three times normal thickness caused a period of sub-aerial magmatism around breakup time. The transition to the Lofoten Margin is rapid to a deep-water plain. Still, there is some excess magmatism north of this transition, where early oceanic crustal thickness is reduced to half of that of the Vøring Plateau 150 km away. Our estimates of the earliest seafloor spreading rates using new ship-track magnetic profiles on different margin segments offer a clue to what caused this rapid transition. While crustal breakup occurred within the magnetic polarity C24r in other parts of the NAIP, there is a delayed breakup for the Lofoten/Vesterålen margin. Modeling of the earliest seafloor spreading with geomagnetic reversals, indicate a breakup within C24n.3n (anomaly 24b), approximately 1 m.y. later. Both old wide-angle seismic models (from Ocean Bottom Seismometers) off southern Lofoten and a newly published profile farther north show a strongly extended outer margin. Applying early seafloor half-spreading rates ( 30 mm/y) from other NAIP margin segments for 1 m.y. can account for 30 km extra extension, giving a factor of three crustal thinning, and gives a high strain rate of 3.2 ·10-14. Crustal breakup at the magma-poor Iberian Margin occurred at a low strain rate of 4.4·10-15, allowing the ascending mantle to cool, favoring tectonic extension over magmatism. Similar strain rates are found within the main Ethiopian Rift, but there is much magmatism and crustal separation is dominated by dike injection. Mantle tomography models show an exceptionally low seismic velocity below the area interpreted as an unusually hot upper mantle, which will favor magmatism. The transition from

Oceanic provenance of lithospheric mantle beneath Lower Silesia (SW Poland) and the two kinds of its "Fe-metasomatism"

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Puziewicz, Jacek; Matusiak-Małek, Magdalena; Ntaflos, Theodoros; Kukuła, Anna; Ćwiek, Mateusz

2016-04-01

Our recent studies (Puziewicz et al. 2015, IJES 104:1913-1924, and references therein) show that the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath Lower Silesia (SW Poland) and neighbouring part of Upper Lusatia (SE Germany) is dominated by harzburgites. Part of them contain small amounts of clinopyroxene which, despite its primary textural appearance, is a late addition to the protoliths which are residues after extensive (up to 30 %) partial melting. This clinopyroxene was added to the harzburgites in Cenozoic times by alkaline basaltic melts migrating upwards from their asthenospheric sources during rifting in the Variscan foreland of the Alpine-Carpathian chain. The pre-rifting history of the SCLM beneath the region is thus recorded in the olivine and orthopyroxene. The forsterite content in olivine divides the Lower Silesian harzburgites into two groups: A (olivine Fo 90.5 - 92.0), and B (olivine Fo 84.0 - 90.0; for data see Puziewicz et al. 2015, op. cit.). The Al content in orthopyroxene is low and similar in both A and part of B harzburgites, called B1 in the following. The orthopyroxene occurring in the B1 harzburgites contains typically 0.05 - 0.10 atoms of Al per formula unit (corresponding to 0.5 - 2.5 wt. % Al2O3), although slightly lower (down to 0.02 a pfu) and slightly higher (up to 0.13 a pfu) Al contents occur in subordinate number of samples. The Al content in the B1 orthopyroxene is not correlated with forsterite content in coexisting olivine. The B2 harzburgites occur only in one site (Księginki). They contain orthopyroxene which Al content exhibits negative correlation with forsterite content in coexisting olivine. The most Al -rich orthopyroxene (0.24 atoms of Al pfu, corresponding to ca. 5.7 wt % Al2O3) coexists with olivine Fo 86.5 in Księginki. The low contents of Al in orthopyroxene is specific for the Lower Silesian/Upper Lusatian domain of European lithospheric mantle. The Al-poor mantle domain below Lower Silesia and upper

Magma-maintained rift segmentation at continental rupture in the 2005 Afar dyking episode.

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Wright, Tim J; Ebinger, Cindy; Biggs, Juliet; Ayele, Atalay; Yirgu, Gezahegn; Keir, Derek; Stork, Anna

2006-07-20

Seafloor spreading centres show a regular along-axis segmentation thought to be produced by a segmented magma supply in the passively upwelling mantle. On the other hand, continental rifts are segmented by large offset normal faults, and many lack magmatism. It is unclear how, when and where the ubiquitous segmented melt zones are emplaced during the continental rupture process. Between 14 September and 4 October 2005, 163 earthquakes (magnitudes greater than 3.9) and a volcanic eruption occurred within the approximately 60-km-long Dabbahu magmatic segment of the Afar rift, a nascent seafloor spreading centre in stretched continental lithosphere. Here we present a three-dimensional deformation field for the Dabbahu rifting episode derived from satellite radar data, which shows that the entire segment ruptured, making it the largest to have occurred on land in the era of satellite geodesy. Simple elastic modelling shows that the magmatic segment opened by up to 8 m, yet seismic rupture can account for only 8 per cent of the observed deformation. Magma was injected along a dyke between depths of 2 and 9 km, corresponding to a total intrusion volume of approximately 2.5 km3. Much of the magma appears to have originated from shallow chambers beneath Dabbahu and Gabho volcanoes at the northern end of the segment, where an explosive fissural eruption occurred on 26 September 2005. Although comparable in magnitude to the ten year (1975-84) Krafla events in Iceland, seismic data suggest that most of the Dabbahu dyke intrusion occurred in less than a week. Thus, magma intrusion via dyking, rather than segmented normal faulting, maintains and probably initiated the along-axis segmentation along this sector of the Nubia-Arabia plate boundary.

The role of small-scale convection on the formation of volcanic passive margins

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van Hunen, Jeroen; Phethean, Jordan

2014-05-01

Volcanic passive margins (VPMs) are areas of continental rifting where the amount of newly formed igneous crust is larger than normal, in some areas up to 30 km. In comparison, magma-poor margins have initial oceanic crustal thicknesses of less than 7 km (Simon et al., 2009; Franke, 2012). The mechanism for the formation of these different types of margins is debated, and proposed mechanisms include: 1) variation in rifting speed (van Wijk et al., 2001), variation in rifting history (Armitage et al., 2010), enhanced melting from mantle plumes (e.g. White and McKenzie, 1989), and enhanced movement of mantle material through the melting zone by sublithospheric small-scale convection (SSC) driven by lithospheric detachments (Simon et al., 2009). Understanding the mechanism is important to constrain the petroleum potential of VPM. In this study, we use a numerical modelling approach to further elaborate the effect of SSC on the rate of crust production during continental rifting. Conceptually, SSC results in patterns of upwelling (and downwelling) mantle material with a typical horizontal wavelength of a 100 to a few 100 km (van Hunen et al., 2005). If occurring shallowly enough, such upwellings lead to decompression melting (Raddick et al., 2002). Subsequent mantle depletion has multiple effects on buoyancy (from both latent heat consumption and compositional changes), which, in turn, can affect mantle dynamics under the MOR, and can potentially enhance SSC and melting further. We use two- and three-dimensional Cartesian flow models to examine the mantle dynamics associated with continental rifting, using a linear viscous rheology (in addition to a semi-brittle stress limiter to localize rifting) in which melting (parameterized using (Katz et al., 2003)) leads to mantle depletion and crust accumulation at the surface. The newly formed crust is advected away with the diverging plates. A parameter sensitivity study of the effects of mantle viscosity, spreading rate

Secondary overprinting of S-Se-Te signatures in the Earth's mantle: Implications for the Late Veneer

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Koenig, S.; Luguet, A.; Lorand, J.; Pearson, D.

2013-12-01

Sulphur, Selenium and Tellurium are both chalcophile and highly siderophile elements (HSE) with near-chondritic ratios and absolute abundances in the terrestrial mantle that exceed those predicted by core-mantle differentiation[1]. These 'excess' HSE abundances have been attributed to addition of ca. 0.5% of chondrite-like material that hit the Earth in its accretionary stage between 4 to 3.8 billion years ago after core-mantle differentiation (Late Veneer[2]). Therefore, like other HSE, S, Se and Te are considered potential tracers for the composition of the Late Veneer, provided that their bulk silicate Earth abundances are properly constrained. In contrast to ca. 250 ppm S, Se and Te are ultra-trace elements in the terrestrial mantle. Like all HSE, they are furthermore controlled by base metal sulphides (BMS) and micrometric platinum group minerals (PGMs)[3]. This strong control exerted by the host mineralogy and petrology on the S-Se-Te systematics at both the micro-scale and the whole-rock scale makes detailed mineralogical and petrological studies of BMS and PGM a pre-requisite to fully understand and accurately interpret the whole-rock signatures. Here we combine in-situ sulphide data and detailed mineralogical observations with whole-rock S-Se-Te-HSE signatures of both lherzolites and harburgites from different geodynamic settings. We demonstrate that the near-chondritic Se and Te signature of 'fertile' mantle rocks (Se/Te ≈9×5) is not a primitive signature of the Earth's mantle, but rather reflects strong enrichment in metasomatic HSE host phases, which erased previous pristine signatures. Consequently, current attempts to identify a potential Late Veneer composition are seriously flawed because, neither refertilisation/metasomatism nor true melt depletion (e.g. harzburgitic residues) have been taken into account for the Primitive Upper Mantle composition estimate[4]. Our combined whole rock and in-situ sulphide data indicate a refertilisation trend

Geochemical and isotopic characteristics and magma sources of the early Cretaceous trachybasalts of the Goby-Altai rift zone: an example of grabens in the Arts-Bogdo range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samojlov, V.S.; Yarmolyuk, V.V.; Kovalenko, V.I.; Ivanov, V.G.; Pakhol'chenko, Yu.A.

1998-01-01

Geochemical and isotopic-geochemical characteristics of the basalts of Early Cretaceous (Hoby-Altai rift zone; Arts-Bogdo region, Mongolia). Atomic absorption spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, photometry, mass spectroscopy and other methods were used. Mantle nature of the basalt geochemical specificity is shown as well as their initial melts. Data on the rubidium-strontium isotopic composition of Neocomian basalts are the following ones: 87 Sr/ 86 Sr 87 Sr/ 86 Sr > 0.707 and Rb/Sr > 0.06 [ru

Besshi-type mineral systems in the Palaeoproterozoic Bryah Rift-Basin, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australia: Implications for tectonic setting and geodynamic evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franco Pirajno

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this contribution we use VMS mineral systems in the Bryah rift-basin to constrain the tectonic setting of the widespread mafic and ultramafic magmatism that characterises the rift-basin in question. Two distinct, but temporally closely associated, lithostratigraphic sequences, Narracoota and Karalundi Formations, are discussed. The Karalundi Formation is the main host of VMS mineral systems in the region. The Karalundi Formation consists of turbiditic and immature clastic sediments, which are locally intercalated with basaltic hyaloclastites, dolerites and banded jaspilites. We propose that the basaltic hyaloclastites, dolerites and clastics and jaspilites rocks, form a distinct unit of the Karalundi Formation, named Noonyereena Member. The VMS mineral systems occur near the north-east trending Jenkin Fault and comprise the giant and world-class DeGrussa and the Red Bore deposits. The nature of these deposits and their intimate association with terrigenous clastic rocks and dominantly marine mafic volcanic and subvolcanic rocks, as well as the common development of peperitic margins, are considered indicative of a Besshi-type environment, similar to that of present-day Gulf of California. Our Re-Os age data from a primary pyrite yielded a mean model age of 2012 ± 48 Ma, which coincides (within error with recent published Re-Os data (Hawke et al., 2015 and confirms the timing of the proposed geodynamic evolution. We propose a geodynamic model that attempts to explain the presence of the Narracoota and Karalundi Formations as the result of mantle plume activity, which began with early uplift of continental crust with intraplate volcanism, followed by early stages of rifting with the deposition of the Karalundi Formation (and Noonyereena Member, which led to the formation of Besshi-type VMS deposits. With on-going mantle plume activity and early stages of continental separation, an oceanic plateau was formed and is now represented by mafic

The 2016 Case for Mantle Plumes and a Plume-Fed Asthenosphere (Augustus Love Medal Lecture)

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Jason P.

2016-04-01

discrepancies between idealized plume/hotspot models and geochronological observations will also be briefly discussed. A further consequence of the existence of strong deep mantle plumes is that hot plume material should preferentially pond at the base of the lithosphere, draining towards and concentrating beneath the regions where the lithosphere is thinnest, and asthenosphere is being actively consumed to make new tectonic plates - mid-ocean ridges. This plume-fed asthenosphere hypothesis makes predictions for the structure of asthenosphere flow and anisotropy, patterns of continental edge-volcanism linked to lateral plume drainage at continental margins, patterns of cratonic uplift and subsidence linked to passage from hotter plume-influenced to cooler non-plume-influenced regions of the upper mantle, and variable non-volcanic versus volcanic modes of continental extension linked to rifting above '~1425K cool normal mantle' versus 'warm plume-fed asthenosphere' regions of upper mantle. These will be briefly discussed. My take-home message is that "Mantle Plumes are almost certainly real". You can safely bet they will be part of any successful paradigm for the structure of mantle convection. While more risky, I would also recommend betting on the potential reality of the paradigm of a plume-fed asthenosphere. This is still a largely unexplored subfield of mantle convection. Current observations remain very imperfect, but seem more consistent with a plume-fed asthenosphere than with alternatives, and computational and geochemical advances are making good, falsifiable tests increasingly feasible. Make one!

Large Topographic Rises on Venus: Implications for Mantle Upwelling

Science.gov (United States)

Stofan, Ellen R.; Smrekar, Suzanne E.; Bindschandler, Duane L.; Senske, David A.

1995-01-01

Topographic rises on Venus have been identified that are interpreted to be the surface manifestation of mantle upwellings. These features are classified into groups based on their dominant morphology. Atla and Beta Regiones are classified as rift-dominated, Dione, western Eistla, Bell, and Imdr Regiones as volcano-dominated, and Themis, eastern Eistla, and central Eistla Regiones as corona-dominated. At several topographic rises, geologic indicators were identified that may provide evidence of uplifted topography (e.g., volcanic flow features trending upslope). We assessed the minimum contribution of volcanic construction to the topography of each rise, which in general represents less than 5% of the volume of the rise, similar to the volumes of edifices at terrestrial hotspot swells. The total melt volume at each rise is approximated to be 10(exp 4) - 10(exp 6) cu km. The variations in morphology, topography, and gravity signatures at topographic rises are not interpreted to indicate variations in stage of evolution of a mantle upwelling. Instead, the morphologic variations between the three classes of topographic rises are interpreted to indicate the varying influences of lithospheric structure, plume characteristics, and regional tectonic environment. Within each class, variations in topography, gravity, and amount of volcanism may be indicative of differing stages of evolution. The similarity between swell and volcanic volumes for terrestrial and Venusian hotspots implies comparable time-integrated plume strengths for individual upwellings on the two planets.

Origin of three-armed rifts in volcanic islands: the case of El Hierro (Canary Islands)

Science.gov (United States)

Galindo Jiménez, Inés; Becerril Carretero, Laura; Martí Molist, Joan; Gudmundsson, Agust

2015-04-01

Rifts zones in volcanic oceanic islands are common structures that have been explained through several theories/models. However, despite all these models it is as yet unclear whether it is the intense intrusive activity or the sector collapses that actually control the structural evolution and geometry of oceanic-island rift zones. Here we provide a new hypothesis to explain the origin and characteristics of the feeding system of oceanic-island rift zones based on the analysis of more than 1700 surface, subsurface (water galleries), and submarine structural data from El Hierro (Canary Islands). El Hierro's geological structure is primarily controlled by a three-armed rift-zone, the arms striking NE, WSW and S. Between the rift axes there are three valleys formed during huge landslides: El Golfo, El Julan, and Las Playas. Our results show: (1) a predominant NE-SW strike of structural elements, which coincides with the main regional trend of the Canary Archipelago as a whole; (2) a clear radial strike distribution of structural elements for the whole volcanic edifice (including submarine flanks) with respect to the centre of the island; (3) that the rift zones are mainly subaerial structures and do not propagate through the submarine edifice; (4) that it is only in the NE rift that structures have a general strike similar to that of the rift as a whole, and; (5) that in the W and S rifts there is not clear main direction, showing the structural elements in the W rift a fan distribution coinciding with the general radial pattern in the island as a whole. Based on these data, we suggest that the radial-striking structures reflect comparatively uniform stress fields that operated during the constructive episodes, mainly conditioned by the combination of overburden pressure, gravitational spreading, and magma-induced stresses. By contrast, in the shallower parts of the edifice, that is, the NE-SW, N-S and WNW-ESE-striking structures, reflect local stress fields related

Is the Okavango Delta the terminus of the East African Rift System? Towards a new geodynamic model: Geodetic study and geophysical review

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Pastier, Anne-Morwenn; Dauteuil, Olivier; Murray-Hudson, Michael; Moreau, Frédérique; Walpersdorf, Andrea; Makati, Kaelo

2017-08-01

The Okavango Graben (OG) has been considered as the terminus of the southwestern branch of the East African Rift System (EARS) since the 1970s based on fault morphology and early seismic and geophysical data. Thus it has been assumed to be an incipient rifting zone, analogous to the early stage of mature rifts in the EARS. Recent geodetic data and geophysical studies in the area bring new insights into the local crust and lithosphere, mantle activity and fault activity. In this study, we computed the velocities for three permanent GPS stations surrounding the graben and undertook a review of the new geophysical data available for the area. The northern and southern blocks of the graben show an exclusively low strike-slip displacement rate of about 1mm/year, revealing the transtensional nature of this basin. The seismic record of central and southern Africa was found to be instrumentally biased for the events recorded before 2004 and the OG may not represent the most seismically active area in Botswana anymore. Moreover, no significant lithosphere and crustal thinning is found in the tectonic structure nor any strong negative Bouguer anomaly and surface heat flux. Thus the OG does not match the classical model for a rifting zone. We propose a new geodynamic model for the deformation observed west of the EARS based on accommodation of far-field deformation due to the differential extension rates of the EARS and the displacement of the Kalahari craton relative to the Nubian plate.

Reconciling the shadow of a subduction signature with rift geochemistry and tectonic environment in Eastern Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

LeMasurier, Wesley E.; Choi, Sung Hi; Hart, Stanley R.; Mukasa, Sam; Rogers, Nick

2016-09-01

Basalt-trachyte volcanoes in the Marie Byrd Land (MBL) Cenozoic province lie along the Amundsen Sea coast on the north flank of the West Antarctic rift. Basalts here are characterized by OIB-like geochemistry, restricted ranges of 87Sr/86Sr (0.702535-0.703284) and 143Nd/144Nd (0.512839-0.513008) and a wide range of 206Pb/204Pb (19.357-20.934). Basalts at three MBL volcanoes display two anomalies compared with the above and with all other basalts in West Antarctica. They include 143Nd/144Nd (0.512778-0.512789) values at Mt. Takahe and Mt. Siple that are 2σ lower than other West Antarctic basalts, and Ba/Nb, Ba/La, and Ba/Th values at Mt. Murphy and Mt. Takahe that are 3-8 times higher than normal OIB. Isotope and trace element data do not support crustal and lithospheric mantle contamination, or the presence of residual mantle amphibole or phlogopite as explanations of these anomalies. The apparent coincidence of these anomalies with the site of a pre-Cenozoic convergence zone along the Gondwanaland margin suggests a subduction influence. Major episodes of subduction and granitic plutonism took place in MBL during the Devonian, Permian, and Late Cretaceous. Relicts in the source region, of components from these subducted slabs, provide a credible explanation for the uncoupling of Ba from other large ion lithophile elements (LILE), for its erratic distribution, and for the anomalously low 143Nd/144Nd at Mt. Takahe. The last episode of subduction ended 85 Ma, and was followed by continental break-up, rifting and lithospheric attenuation that produced the West Antarctic rift as we know it today. Thus, the enigmatic geochemical signatures in these three volcanoes seem to have been preserved roughly 61-85 m.y. after subduction ended. New calculations of source melting depth and a new determination of lithospheric thickness suggest that the source of the anomalies resides in a fossil mélange diapir that rose from the Cretaceous subducting slab, became attached to the

Evidence for cross rift structural controls on deformation and seismicity at a continental rift caldera

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Lloyd, Ryan; Biggs, Juliet; Wilks, Matthew; Nowacki, Andy; Kendall, J.-Michael; Ayele, Atalay; Lewi, Elias; Eysteinsson, Hjálmar

2018-04-01

In continental rifts structural heterogeneities, such as pre-existing faults and foliations, are thought to influence shallow crustal processes, particularly the formation of rift faults, magma reservoirs and surface volcanism. We focus on the Corbetti caldera, in the southern central Main Ethiopian Rift. We measure the surface deformation between 22nd June 2007 and 25th March 2009 using ALOS and ENVISAT SAR interferograms and observe a semi-circular pattern of deformation bounded by a sharp linear feature cross-cutting the caldera, coincident with the caldera long axis. The signal reverses in sign but is not seasonal: from June to December 2007 the region south of this structure moves upwards 3 cm relative to the north, while from December 2007 until November 2008 it subsides by 2 cm. Comparison of data taken from two different satellite look directions show that the displacement is primarily vertical. We discuss potential mechanisms and conclude that this deformation is associated with pressure changes within a shallow (statistically consistent with this fault structure, indicating that the fault has also controlled the migration of magma from a reservoir to the surface over tens of thousands of years. Spatial patterns of seismicity are consistent with a cross-rift structure that extents outside the caldera and to a depth of ∼30 km, and patterns of seismic anisotropy suggests stress partitioning occurs across the structure. We discuss the possible nature of this structure, and conclude that it is most likely associated with the Goba-Bonga lineament, which cross-cuts and pre-dates the current rift. Our observations show that pre-rift structures play an important role in magma transport and shallow hydrothermal processes, and therefore they should not be neglected when discussing these processes.

Lithospheric rheological heterogeneity across an intraplate rift basin (Linfen Basin, North China) constrained from magnetotelluric data: Implications for seismicity and rift evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yaotian; Jin, Sheng; Wei, Wenbo; Ye, Gaofeng; Jing, Jian'en; Zhang, Letian; Dong, Hao; Xie, Chengliang; Liang, Hongda

2017-10-01

We take the Linfen Basin, which is the most active segment of the Cenozoic intraplate Shanxi Rift, as an example, showing how to use magnetotelluric data to constrain lithospheric rheological heterogeneities of intraplate tectonic zones. Electrical resistivity models, combined with previous rheological numerical simulation, show a good correlation between resistivity and rheological strength, indicating the mechanisms of enhanced conductivity could also be reasons of reduced viscosity. The crust beneath the Linfen Basin shows overall stratified features in both electrical resistivity and rheology. The uppermost crustal conductive layer is dominated by friction sliding-type brittle fracturing. The high-resistivity mid-crust is inferred to be high-viscosity metamorphic basement being intersected by deep fault. The plastic lower crust show significantly high-conductivity feature. Seismicity appears to be controlled by crustal rheological heterogeneity. Micro-earthquakes mainly distribute at the brittle-ductile transition zones as indicated by high- to low-resistivity interfaces or the high pore pressure fault zones while the epicenters of two giant destructive historical earthquakes occur within the high-resistivity and therefore high-strength blocks near the inferred rheological interfaces. The lithosphere-scale lateral rheological heterogeneity along the profile can also be illustrated. The crust and upper mantle beneath the Ordos Block, Lüliang Mountains and Taihang Mountains are of high rheological strength as indicated by large-scale high-resistivity zones while a significant high-conductivity, lithosphere-scale weak zone exists beneath the eastern margin of the Linfen Basin. According to previous geodynamic modeling works, we suggest that this kind of lateral rheological heterogeneity may play an essential role for providing driving force for the formation and evolution of the Shanxi Rift, regional lithospheric deformation and earthquake activities under the

An inverted continental Moho and serpentinization of the forearc mantle.

Science.gov (United States)

Bostock, M G; Hyndman, R D; Rondenay, S; Peacock, S M

2002-05-30

Volatiles that are transported by subducting lithospheric plates to depths greater than 100 km are thought to induce partial melting in the overlying mantle wedge, resulting in arc magmatism and the addition of significant quantities of material to the overlying lithosphere. Asthenospheric flow and upwelling within the wedge produce increased lithospheric temperatures in this back-arc region, but the forearc mantle (in the corner of the wedge) is thought to be significantly cooler. Here we explore the structure of the mantle wedge in the southern Cascadia subduction zone using scattered teleseismic waves recorded on a dense portable array of broadband seismometers. We find very low shear-wave velocities in the cold forearc mantle indicated by the exceptional occurrence of an 'inverted' continental Moho, which reverts to normal polarity seaward of the Cascade arc. This observation provides compelling evidence for a highly hydrated and serpentinized forearc region, consistent with thermal and petrological models of the forearc mantle wedge. This serpentinized material is thought to have low strength and may therefore control the down-dip rupture limit of great thrust earthquakes, as well as the nature of large-scale flow in the mantle wedge.

Receiver function and magnetotelluric analysis to understand the first stage of a continental lithospheric break-up : case of the North Tanzanian Rift

Science.gov (United States)

Plasman, M.; Tiberi, C.; Tarits, P.; Hautot, S.; Gautier, S.; Ebinger, C. J.; Mulibo, G. D.; Khalfan, M.

2015-12-01

First stage of continental break-up, though intensively studied, is yet poorly understood. This is partly because actual rifting areas are either too mature (more than 10 My) or not easily accessible (thick sediment cover or under water). The North Tanzania part of the East African Rift is the place of a lithosphere's early break-up (less than 5My) in response to a combination of regional pulling forces and mantle upwelling. Deformation there results from complex interactions between magmatic intrusions, faulting, asthenospheric dynamics and far field stresses. CoLiBrEA (ANR) and CRAFTI (NSF) are two multidisciplinary projects which collaboratively focus on this area to understand the interactions between faults and magma, the role of inherited structures and rheological heterogeneities of the lithosphere. For that purpose, we deployed 38 broadband seismic stations in the Natron and Ngorongoro areas from January 2013 to December 2014 and carried out a 120 km East-West magnetotelluric (MT) profile to image the crustal and mantle structures. The 3D resistivity model, obtained from the inversion of the MT data along the profile, shows an highly heterogeneous crust with three-dimensional structures over a more homogeneous upper mantle. The first inversion result from the receiver function (RF) by the Zhu and Kanamori's inversion method show a thick crust (~35 km) with important variations (maximum 15km) especially in the Ngorongoro area, and an average Vp/Vs ratio of 1.75. We then completed this study by combining the MT data and the RF at the 11 sites of the EW profile. For each site, we built a 1D velocity model (Vs and VpVs) obtained by combining the Sambridge forward solution with a non linear descent research algorithm and constrained by the resistivity structure. The inversion shows an heterogeneous crust obviously dominated by the Moho interface at different depths, with low velocity layers mainly corresponding to low resistivity features.

Geochemical characteristics of Antarctic magmatism connected with Karoo-Maud and Kerguelen mantle plumes

Science.gov (United States)

Sushchevskaya, Nadezhda; Krymsky, Robert; Belyatsky, Boris; Antonov, Anton; Migdisova, Natalya

2013-04-01

Emplacement (130-115 m.y. ago) of dikes and sills of alkaline-ultrabasic composition within Jetty oasis (East Antarctica) is suggested as a later appearance of plume magmatism within the East-Antarctic Shield [Andronikov et al., 1993, 2001; Laiba et al., 1987]. This region is located opposite Kerguelen Islands and possibly could be properly connected with activity of the Kerguelen-plume [Foley et al., 2001, 2006]. Jurassic-Cretaceous dykes, stocks and sills of alkaline-ultrabasic rocks, relatively close to kimberlite-type, are exposed within Jetty oasis and on the southern shore of the Raddock Lake. This alkaline-ultrabasic magmatism has appeared to be connected with the main Mesozoic stage of the evolution of the Lambert and Amery glaciers riftogenic structure [Kurinin et al., 1980, 1988]. The alkaline-ultrabasic dikes and sills within Jetty oasis cut the rocks of the Beaver complex, Permo-Triassic terrigeneous successions of the Amery complex, and late Paleozoic low-alkaline basic dikes as well. Dashed chain of 6 stock bodies spread out on 15 km along the eastern shore of the Beaver Lake, marked their allocation with submeridianal zone of the deep cracks, boarded of the eastern side of the Beaver Lake trough. At the same time, new data upon Quaternary magmatism of the mountain Gaussberg has confirmed the unique features of ultra-potassium alkaline magmatism (up to 14-17% K2O) formed under exclusively continental conditions [Murphy et al., 2002]. Volcanic cone is located at the continuation of Gaussberg rift zone which is possibly a part of Lambert fracture zone. Its formation is connected with the early stages of Gondwana development, perhaps, reactivated in different Precambrian events and according to numerous data is a single rift zone which is traced Indian inland (Indrani graben, [Golynsky, 2011]). The time of lamproitic magmas eruption is estimated at 56000±5000 yeas ago [Tingey et al., 1983]. Earlier it had been shown the Mesozoic (about 170 Ma) basaltic

An Isotopic Perspective into the Magmatic Evolution and Architecture of the Rift Zones of Kīlauea Volcano

Science.gov (United States)

Pietruszka, A. J.; Marske, J. P.; Garcia, M. O.; Heaton, D. E.; Rhodes, M. M.

2016-12-01

We present Pb, Sr, and Nd isotope ratios for Kīlauea's historical rift zone lavas (n=50) to examine the magmatic evolution and architecture of the volcano's East Rift Zone (ERZ) and Southwest Rift Zone (SWRZ). Our results show that Kīlauea's historical eruptive period was preceded by the delivery of a major batch of magma from the summit reservoir to the ERZ. The timing of this intrusion, most likely in the late 17th century, was probably related to the 300-yr period of explosive eruptions that followed the formation of the modern caldera (Swanson et al., 2012; JVGR). This rift-stored magma was a component in lavas from lower ERZ (LERZ) eruptions in 1790(?), 1840, 1955, and 1960. The only other components in these LERZ lavas are related to summit lavas erupted (1) after the 1924 collapse of Halemáumáu and (2) during episodes of high fountaining at Kīlauea Iki in 1959. Thus, the intrusion of magma from the summit reservoir into the LERZ is a rare occurrence that is tied to major volcanological events. Intrusions from the summit reservoir in the 1960s likely flushed most older, stored magma from the upper ERZ (UERZ) and middle ERZ (MERZ), leaving large pockets of 1960s-era magma to serve as a dominant component in many subsequent rift lavas. An increase in the duration of pre-eruptive magma storage from the UERZ ( 0-7 yr) to the MERZ ( 0-19 yr) to the LERZ (up to 335 yr) is likely controlled by a decrease in the rate of magma supply to the more distal portions of the ERZ. Lavas from several UERZ eruptions in the 1960s and 1970s have a component of mantle-derived magma that bypassed the summit reservoir. There is no evidence for a summit bypass into the MERZ, LERZ, or the volcanically active portion of the SWRZ. These results support a recent model for Kīlauea's plumbing system (Poland et al., 2014; USGS Prof. Pap. 1801): the ERZ is connected to the deeper "South Caldera" magma body and the volcanic SWRZ is connected to the shallower Halemáumáu magma body.

The origin of Mauna Loa's Nīnole Hills: Evidence of rift zone reorganization

Science.gov (United States)

Zurek, Jeffrey; Williams-Jones, Glyn; Trusdell, Frank A.; Martin, Simon

2015-01-01

In order to identify the origin of Mauna Loa volcano's Nīnole Hills, Bouguer gravity was used to delineate density contrasts within the edifice. Our survey identified two residual anomalies beneath the Southwest Rift Zone (SWRZ) and the Nīnole Hills. The Nīnole Hills anomaly is elongated, striking northeast, and in inversions both anomalies merge at approximately −7 km above sea level. The positive anomaly, modeled as a rock volume of ~1200 km3 beneath the Nīnole Hills, is associated with old eruptive vents. Based on the geologic and geophysical data, we propose that the gravity anomaly under the Nīnole Hills records an early SWRZ orientation, now abandoned due to geologically rapid rift-zone reorganization. Catastrophic submarine landslides from Mauna Loa's western flank are the most likely cause for the concurrent abandonment of the Nīnole Hills section of the SWRZ. Rift zone reorganization induced by mass wasting is likely more common than currently recognized.

Syn-rift unconformities punctuating the lower-middle Cambrian transition in the Atlas Rift, Morocco

OpenAIRE

Álvaro, J. Javier; Ezzouhairi, Hassan; Clausen, Sébastien; Ribeiro, Maria Luísa; Solá, Ana Rita

2015-01-01

The Cambrian Tamdroust and Bab n’Ali Volcanic Complexes represent two magmatic episodes developed in the latest Ediacaran–Cambrian Atlas Rift of Morocco. Their rifting pulses were accompanied by accumulation of volcanosedimentary edifices (dominated by effusive lava flows in the former and explosive acidic aprons in the latter) associated with active tilting and uplift. Sealing of their peneplaned horst-and-graben palaeotopographies led to the onset of distinct onlapping geometrie...

Subduction initiation, recycling of Alboran lower crust, and intracrustal emplacement of subcontinental lithospheric mantle in the Westernmost Mediterranean

Science.gov (United States)

Varas-Reus, María Isabel; Garrido, Carlos J.; Bosch, Delphine; Marchesi, Claudio; Hidas, Károly; Booth-Rea, Guillermo; Acosta-Vigil, Antonio

2015-04-01

Unraveling the tectonic settings and processes involved in the annihilation of subcontinental mantle lithosphere is of paramount importance for our understanding of the endurance of continents through Earth history. Unlike ophiolites -- their oceanic mantle lithosphere counterparts -- the mechanisms of emplacement of the subcontinental mantle lithosphere in orogens is still poorly known. The emplacement of subcontinental lithospheric mantle peridotites is often attributed to extension in rifted passive margins or continental backarc basins, accretionary processes in subduction zones, or some combination of these processes. One of the most prominent features of the westernmost Mediterranean Alpine orogenic arcs is the presence of the largest outcrops worldwide of diamond facies, subcontinental mantle peridotite massifs; unveiling the mechanisms of emplacement of these massifs may provide important clues on processes involved in the destruction of continents. The western Mediterranean underwent a complex Alpine evolution of subduction initiation, slab fragmentation, and rollback within a context of slow convergence of Africa and Europe In the westernmost Mediterranean, the alpine orogeny ends in the Gibraltar tight arc, which is bounded by the Betic, Rif and Tell belts that surround the Alboran and Algero-Balearic basins. The internal units of these belts are mostly constituted of an allochthonous lithospheric domain that collided and overthrusted Mesozoic and Tertiary sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic-Paleogene, South Iberian and Maghrebian rifted continental paleomargins. Subcontinental lithospheric peridotite massifs are intercalated between polymetamorphic internal units of the Betic (Ronda, Ojen and Carratraca massifs), Rif (Beni Bousera), and Tell belts. In the Betic chain, the internal zones of the allochthonous Alboran domain include, from bottom to top, polymetamorphic rock of the Alpujarride and Malaguide complexes. The Ronda peridotite massif -- the

Continental basalts record the crust-mantle interaction in oceanic subduction channel: A geochemical case study from eastern China

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Zheng; Zheng, Yong-Fei

2017-09-01

Continental basalts, erupted in either flood or rift mode, usually show oceanic island basalts (OIB)-like geochemical compositions. Although their depletion in Sr-Nd isotope compositions is normally ascribed to contributions from the asthenospheric mantle, their enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and light rare earth elements (LREE) is generally associated with variable enrichments in the Sr-Nd isotope compositions. This indicates significant contributions from crustal components such as igneous oceanic crust, lower continental crust and seafloor sediment. Nevertheless, these crustal components were not incorporated into the mantle sources of continental basalts in the form of solidus rocks. Instead they were processed into metasomatic agents through low-degree partial melting in order to have the geochemical fractionation of the largest extent to achieve the enrichment of LILE and LREE in the metasomatic agents. Therefore, the mantle sources of continental basalts were generated by metasomatic reaction of the depleted mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) mantle with hydrous felsic melts. Nevertheless, mass balance considerations indicate differential contributions from the mantle and crustal components to the basalts. While the depleted MORB mantle predominates the budget of major elements, the crustal components predominate the budget of melt-mobile incompatible trace elements and their pertinent radiogenic isotopes. These considerations are verified by model calculations that are composed of four steps in an ancient oceanic subduction channel: (1) dehydration of the subducting crustal rocks at subarc depths, (2) anataxis of the dehydrated rocks at postarc depths, (3) metasomatic reaction of the depleted MORB mantle peridotite with the felsic melts to generate ultramafic metasomatites in the lower part of the mantle wedge, and (4) partial melting of the metasomatites for basaltic magmatism. The composition of metasomatites is quantitatively dictated by

Dykes and structures of the NE rift of Tenerife, Canary Islands: a record of stabilisation and destabilisation of ocean island rift zones

Science.gov (United States)

Delcamp, A.; Troll, V. R.; van Wyk de Vries, B.; Carracedo, J. C.; Petronis, M. S.; Pérez-Torrado, F. J.; Deegan, F. M.

2012-07-01

Many oceanic island rift zones are associated with lateral sector collapses, and several models have been proposed to explain this link. The North-East Rift Zone (NERZ) of Tenerife Island, Spain offers an opportunity to explore this relationship, as three successive collapses are located on both sides of the rift. We have carried out a systematic and detailed mapping campaign on the rift zone, including analysis of about 400 dykes. We recorded dyke morphology, thickness, composition, internal textural features and orientation to provide a catalogue of the characteristics of rift zone dykes. Dykes were intruded along the rift, but also radiate from several nodes along the rift and form en échelon sets along the walls of collapse scars. A striking characteristic of the dykes along the collapse scars is that they dip away from rift or embayment axes and are oblique to the collapse walls. This dyke pattern is consistent with the lateral spreading of the sectors long before the collapse events. The slump sides would create the necessary strike-slip movement to promote en échelon dyke patterns. The spreading flank would probably involve a basal decollement. Lateral flank spreading could have been generated by the intense intrusive activity along the rift but sectorial spreading in turn focused intrusive activity and allowed the development of deep intra-volcanic intrusive complexes. With continued magma supply, spreading caused temporary stabilisation of the rift by reducing slopes and relaxing stress. However, as magmatic intrusion persisted, a critical point was reached, beyond which further intrusion led to large-scale flank failure and sector collapse. During the early stages of growth, the rift could have been influenced by regional stress/strain fields and by pre-existing oceanic structures, but its later and mature development probably depended largely on the local volcanic and magmatic stress/strain fields that are effectively controlled by the rift zone growth

Tectonics and stratigraphy of the East Brazil Rift system: an overview

Science.gov (United States)

Hung Kiang Chang; Kowsmann, Renato Oscar; Figueiredo, Antonio Manuel Ferreira; Bender, AndréAdriano

1992-10-01

The East Brazilian Rift system (Ebris) constitutes the northern segment of the South Atlantic rift system which developed during the Mesozoic breakup of South America and Africa. Following crustal separation in the Late Aptian, it evolved into a passive continental margin. Along the continental margin six basins are recognized, while three onshore basins form part of an aborted rift. Three continental syn-rift stratigraphic sequences are recognized, spanning Jurassic to Barremian times. The Jurassic (Syn-rift I) and Neocomian (Syn-rift II) phases were most active in the interior rift basins. During the Barremian (Syn-rift III), rift subsidence rates were twice as large as during the Neocomian (Syn-rift II), both in the interior rift and in the marginal rift segments, indicating that rift axis did not migrate from the interior to the marginal setting. Rift magmatism was centered on the southern EBRIS and peaked between 130 and 120 Ma during syn-rift phase II. Rift phase III was followed by a transitional marine, evaporitic megasequence of Aptian age, which directly overlies the rift unconformity and a marine drift megasequence which spans Albian to Recent times. During the Late Cretaceous, sedimentation rates responded to first-order eustatic sea-level fluctuations. Tertiary accelerated sedimentation rates can be related to local clastic supply which filled in spaces inherited from previous starved conditions. Between 60 and 40 Ma, post-rift magmatism, centered on the Abrolhos and Royal Charlotte banks, is probably related to development of a hot spot associated with the Vitória-Trindade Seamount Chain. Although crossing three distinct Precambrian tectono-thermal provinces, ranging from Archean through Late Proterozoic, rift structures follow a general NE trend, subparallel to the principal basement fabric. A NW-SE oriented stress field appears to be compatible with both Neocomian and Barremian phases of crustal extension. Profiles transverse to the rift axis

Carboniferous rifted arcs leading to an archipelago of multiple arcs in the Beishan-Tianshan orogenic collages (NW China)

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Zhonghua; Xiao, Wenjiao; Windley, Brian F.; Zhang, Ji'en; Zhang, Zhiyong; Song, Dongfang

2017-10-01

The Beishan and East Tianshan Orogenic Collages in the southernmost Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) record the final stages of evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. These collages and their constituent arcs have an important significance for resolving current controversies regarding their tectonic setting and age, consequent accretionary history of the southern CAOB, and the closure time of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. In this paper, we present our work on the southern Mazongshan arc and the northern Hongyanjing Basin in the Beishan Orogenic Collage (BOC), and our comparison with the Bogda arc and associated basins in the East Tianshan Orogenic Collage. Field relationships indicate that the Pochengshan fault defines the boundary between the arc and basin in the BOC. Volcanic rocks including basalts and rhyolites in the Mazongshan arc have bimodal calc-alkaline characteristics, an enrichment in large ion lithophile elements such as Rb, Ba, and Pb and depletion in high field-strength elements (e.g., Nb and Ta), which were probably developed in a subduction-related tectonic setting. We suggest that these bimodal calc-alkaline volcanic rocks formed in rifted arcs instead of post-orogenic rifts with mantle plume inputs. By making detailed geochemical comparisons between the Mazongshan arc and the Bogda arc to the west, we further propose that they are similar and both formed in arc rifts, and helped generate a Carboniferous archipelago of multiple arcs in the southern Paleo-Asian Ocean. These data and ideas enable us to postulate a new model for the tectonic evolution of the southern CAOB.

The 1.1-Ga Midcontinent Rift System, central North America: sedimentology of two deep boreholes, Lake Superior region

Science.gov (United States)

Ojakangas, Richard W.; Dickas, Albert B.

2002-03-01

The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of central North America is a 1.1-Ga, 2500-km long structural feature that has been interpreted as a triple-junction rift developed over a mantle plume. As much as 20 km of subaerial lava flows, mainly flood basalts, are overlain by as much as 10 km of sedimentary rocks that are mostly continental fluvial red beds. This rock sequence, known as the Keweenawan Supergroup, has been penetrated by a few deep boreholes in the search for petroleum. In this paper, two deep boreholes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are described in detail for the first time. Both the Amoco Production #1-29R test, herein referred to as the St. Amour well, and the nearby Hickey Creek well drilled by Cleveland Cliffs Mining Services, were 100% cored. The former is 7238 ft (2410 m) deep and the latter is 5345 ft (1780 m) deep. The entirety of the stratigraphic succession of the Hickey Creek core correlates very well with the upper portion of the St. Amour core, as determined by core description and point-counting of 43 thin sections selected out of 100 studied thin sections. Two Lower Paleozoic units and two Keweenawan red bed units—the Jacobsville Sandstone and the underlying Freda Sandstone—are described. The Jacobsville is largely a feldspatholithic sandstone and the Freda is largely a lithofeldspathic sandstone. Below the Freda, the remaining footage of the St. Amour core consists of a thick quartzose sandstone unit that overlies a heterogenous unit of intercalated red bed units of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, and shale; black shale; individual basalt flows; and a basal ignimbritic rhyolite. This lower portion of the St. Amour core presents an enigma, as it correlates very poorly with other key boreholes located to the west and southwest. While a black shale sequence is similar to the petroleum-bearing Nonesuch Formation farther west, there is no conglomerate unit to correlate with the Copper Harbor Conglomerate. Other key boreholes are

Plumes do not Exist: Plate Circulation is Confined to Upper Mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, W. B.

2002-12-01

Plumes from deep mantle are widely conjectured to define an absolute reference frame, inaugurate rifting, drive plates, and profoundly modify oceans and continents. Mantle properties and composition are assumed to be whatever enables plumes. Nevertheless, purported critical evidence for plume speculation is false, and all data are better interpreted without plumes. Plume fantasies are made ever more complex and ad hoc to evade contradictory data, and have no predictive value because plumes do not exist. All plume conjecture derives from Hawaii and the guess that the Emperor-Hawaii inflection records a 60-degree change in Pacific plate direction at 45 Ma. Paleomagnetic latitudes and smooth Pacific spreading patterns disprove any such change. Rationales for other fixed plumes collapse when tested, and hypotheses of jumping, splitting, and gyrating plumes are specious. Thermal and physical properties of Hawaiian lithosphere falsify plume predictions. Purported tomographic support elsewhere represents artifacts and misleading presentations. Asthenosphere is everywhere near solidus temperature, so melt needs a tensional setting for egress but not local heat. Gradational and inconsistent contrasts between MORB and OIB are as required by depth-varying melt generation and behavior in contrasted settings and do not indicate systematically unlike sources. MORB melts rise, with minimal reaction, through hot asthenosphere, whereas OIB melts react with cool lithosphere, and lose mass, by crystallizing refractories and retaining and assimilating fusibles. The unfractionated lower mantle of plume conjecture is contrary to cosmologic and thermodynamic data, for mantle below 660 km is more refractory than that above. Subduction, due to density inversion by top-down cooling that forms oceanic lithosphere, drives plate tectonics and upper-mantle circulation. It organizes plate motions and lithosphere stress, which controls plate boundaries and volcanic chains. Hinge rollback is the

Seismic structure of the European upper mantle based on adjoint tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hejun; Bozdağ, Ebru; Tromp, Jeroen

2015-04-01

We use adjoint tomography to iteratively determine seismic models of the crust and upper mantle beneath the European continent and the North Atlantic Ocean. Three-component seismograms from 190 earthquakes recorded by 745 seismographic stations are employed in the inversion. Crustal model EPcrust combined with mantle model S362ANI comprise the 3-D starting model, EU00. Before the structural inversion, earthquake source parameters, for example, centroid moment tensors and locations, are reinverted based on global 3-D Green's functions and Fréchet derivatives. This study consists of three stages. In stage one, frequency-dependent phase differences between observed and simulated seismograms are used to constrain radially anisotropic wave speed variations. In stage two, frequency-dependent phase and amplitude measurements are combined to simultaneously constrain elastic wave speeds and anelastic attenuation. In these two stages, long-period surface waves and short-period body waves are combined to simultaneously constrain shallow and deep structures. In stage three, frequency-dependent phase and amplitude anomalies of three-component surface waves are used to simultaneously constrain radial and azimuthal anisotropy. After this three-stage inversion, we obtain a new seismic model of the European curst and upper mantle, named EU60. Improvements in misfits and histograms in both phase and amplitude help us to validate this three-stage inversion strategy. Long-wavelength elastic wave speed variations in model EU60 compare favourably with previous body- and surface wave tomographic models. Some hitherto unidentified features, such as the Adria microplate, naturally emerge from the smooth starting model. Subducting slabs, slab detachments, ancient suture zones, continental rifts and backarc basins are well resolved in model EU60. We find an anticorrelation between shear wave speed and anelastic attenuation at depths agreement with previous global attenuation studies

Early mantle differentiation: constraint from 146Sm-142Nd systematics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caro, G.

2005-07-01

We present new ultra-high precision 142 Nd/ 144 Nd measurements of early Archaean rocks using the new generation thermal ionization mass spectrometer TRITON. Repeated measurements of the Ames Nd standard demonstrate that the 142 Nd/ 144 Nd ratio can be determined with external precision of 2 ppm (2s), allowing confident resolution of anomalies as small as 5 ppm. A major analytical improvement lies in the elimination of the double normalization procedure required to correct our former measurements from a secondary mass fractionation effect. Our new results indicate that metasediments, meta-basalts and orthogneisses from the 3.6 - 3.8 Ga West Greenland craton display positive 142 Nd anomalies ranging from 8 to 15 ppm. Using a simple two-stage model with initial e 143 Nd value of 1.9 ± 0.6 e-units, coupled 147 Sm- 143 Nd and 146 Sm- 142 Nd chronometry constrains mantle differentiation to 50 to 200 Ma after formation of the solar system. This chronological constraint is consistent with differentiation of the Earth's mantle during the late stage of crystallization of a magma ocean. We have developed a two-box model describing 142 Nd and 143 Nd isotopic evolution of depleted mantle during the subsequent evolution of the crust-mantle system. Our results indicate that early terrestrial proto-crust had a lifetime of ca. 500 Ma in order to produce the observed Nd isotope signature of Archaean rocks. In the context of this two box mantle-crust system, we model the evolution of isotopic and chemical heterogeneity of depleted mantle as a function of the mantle stirring time. Using the dispersion of 142 Nd/ 144 Nd and 143 Nd/ 144 Nd ratios observed in early Archaean rocks, we constrain the stirring time of early Earth's mantle to 100 - 150 Ma, a factor of 5 to 10 shorter than stirring time inferred from modern oceanic basalts. (author)

Seismic Discontinuities within the Crust and Mantle Beneath Indonesia as Inferred from P Receiver Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Woelbern, I.; Rumpker, G.

2015-12-01

Indonesia is situated at the southern margin of SE Asia, which comprises an assemblage of Gondwana-derived continental terranes, suture zones and volcanic arcs. The formation of SE Asia is believed to have started in Early Devonian. Its complex history involves the opening and closure of three distinct Tethys oceans, each accompanied by the rifting of continental fragments. We apply the receiver function technique to data of the temporary MERAMEX network operated in Central Java from May to October 2004 by the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam. The network consisted of 112 mobile stations with a spacing of about 10 km covering the full width of the island between the southern and northern coast lines. The tectonic history is reflected in a complex crustal structure of Central Java exhibiting strong topography of the Moho discontinuity related to different tectonic units. A discontinuity of negative impedance contrast is observed throughout the mid-crust interpreted as the top of a low-velocity layer which shows no depth correlation with the Moho interface. Converted phases generated at greater depth beneath Indonesia indicate the existence of multiple seismic discontinuities within the upper mantle and even below. The strongest signal originates from the base of the mantle transition zone, i.e. the 660 km discontinuity. The phase related to the 410 km discontinuity is less pronounced, but clearly identifiable as well. The derived thickness of the mantle-transition zone is in good agreement with the IASP91 velocity model. Additional phases are observed at roughly 33 s and 90 s relative to the P onset, corresponding to about 300 km and 920 km, respectively. A signal of reversed polarity indicates the top of a low velocity layer at about 370 km depth overlying the mantle transition zone.

Chronology and volcanology of the 1949 multi-vent rift-zone eruption on La Palma (Canary Islands)

Science.gov (United States)

Klügel, A.; Schmincke, H.-U.; White, J. D. L.; Hoernle, K. A.

1999-12-01

The compositionally zoned San Juan eruption on La Palma emanated from three eruptive centers located along a north-south-trending rift zone in the south of the island. Seismic precursors began weakly in 1936 and became strong in March 1949, with their foci progressing from the north of the rift zone towards its south. This suggests that magma ascended beneath the old Taburiente shield volcano and moved southward along the rift. The eruption began on June 24, 1949, with phreatomagmatic activity at Duraznero crater on the ridgetop (ca. 1880 m above sea level), where five vents erupted tephritic lava along a 400-m-long fissure. On June 8, the Duraznero vents shut down abruptly, and the activity shifted to an off-rift fissure at Llano del Banco, located at ca. 550 m lower elevation and 3 km to the northwest. This eruptive center issued initially tephritic aa and later basanitic pahoehoe lava at high rates, producing a lava flow that entered the sea. Two days after basanite began to erupt at Llano del Banco, Hoyo Negro crater (ca. 1880 m asl), located 700 m north of Duraznero along the rift, opened on July 12 and produced ash and bombs of basanitic to phonotephritic composition in violent phreatomagmatic explosions ( White and Schmincke, 1999). Llano del Banco and Hoyo Negro were simultaneously active for 11 days and showed a co-variance of their eruption rates indicating a shallow hydraulic connection. On July 30, after 3 days of quiescence at all vents, Duraznero and Hoyo Negro became active again during a final eruptive phase. Duraznero issued basanitic lava at high rates for 12 h and produced a lava flow that descended towards the east coast. The lava contains ca. 1 vol.% crustal and mantle xenoliths consisting of 40% tholeiitic gabbros from the oceanic crust, 35% alkaline gabbros, and 20% ultramafic cumulates. The occurrence of xenoliths almost exclusively in the final lava is consistent with their origin by wall-rock collapse at depth near the end of the eruption

Transient deformation in the Asal-Ghoubbet Rift (Djibouti) since the 1978 diking event: Is deformation controlled by magma supply rates?

Science.gov (United States)

Smittarello, D.; Grandin, R.; de Chabalier, J. B.; Doubre, C.; Deprez, A.; Masson, F.; Socquet, A.; Ibrahim Ahmed, S.

2016-12-01

Within the Afar Depression, the Asal-Ghoubbet Rift (AG Rift)in Djibouti lies in the subaerial continuation of the Aden ridge system. This segment constitutes a natural laboratory to study rifting processes and mechanisms involved in continental breakup and oceanic spreading. In November 1978, an exceptional rifting event occurred in the AG Rift. Regularly upgraded and improved geodetic technology has been used to monitor this event and the postdiking deformation. In light of recent results obtained for the Manda Hararo-Dabbahu rifting event (2005-2010), we propose that the horizontal and vertical geodetic data can be modeled with a double source, involving a dike-like inflation component aligned along the rift axis and a spherical pressure source located at midsegment below the Fieale caldera. By revisiting the codiking data, we propose that the reservoir below Fieale could have fed, at least partially, the 1978 injection and the contemporaneous Ardoukoba eruption and potentially induced local subsidence due to magma draining out of the central reservoir. As an alternative to previously proposed viscoelastic relaxation models, we reinterpret postdiking observations using a purely elastic rheology. We determine the relative contribution of a midsegment reservoir inflation and a dike-like opening component, together with their respective time evolutions. Our results suggest that interactions between steadily accumulating tectonic strain and temporal variations in melt supply to the shallow magma plumbing system below the AG Rift may entirely explain the geodetic observations and that viscoelastic deformation processes played a minor role in the 30 years following the 1978 rifting event.

Lithospheric discontinuities beneath the U.S. Midcontinent - signatures of Proterozoic terrane accretion and failed rifting

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chen; Gilbert, Hersh; Fischer, Karen M.; Andronicos, Christopher L.; Pavlis, Gary L.; Hamburger, Michael W.; Marshak, Stephen; Larson, Timothy; Yang, Xiaotao

2018-01-01

region of mechanically and chemically rejuvenated mantle that was likely emplaced during late Precambrian/early Cambrian rifting. These observations suggest that the lithospheric structure beneath the Reelfoot Rift may be an example of a global phenomenon in which MLDs act as weak zones that facilitate the removal of cratonic lithosphere that lies beneath.

Density Anomalies in the Mantle and the Gravitational Core-Mantle Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Kuang, Weijia; Liu, Lanbo

2003-01-01

Seismic studies suggest that the bulk of the mantle is heterogeneous, with density variations in depth as well as in horizontal directions (latitude and longitude). This density variation produces a three- dimensional gravity field throughout the Earth. On the other hand, the core density also varies in both time and space, due to convective core flow. Consequently, the fluid outer core and the solid mantle interact gravitationally due to the mass anomalies in both regions. This gravitational core-mantle interaction could play a significant role in exchange of angular momentum between the core and the mantle, and thus the change in Earth's rotation on time scales of decades and longer. Aiming at estimating the significance of the gravitational core-mantle interaction on Earth's rotation variation, we introduce in our MoSST core dynamics model a heterogeneous mantle, with a density distribution derived from seismic results. In this model, the core convection is driven by the buoyancy forces. And the density variation is determined dynamically with the convection. Numerical simulation is carried out with different parameter values, intending to extrapolate numerical results for geophysical implications.

Uranium in mantle processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortini, M.

1984-01-01

(1) Metasomatism is an effective process in the mantle. It controls the distribution of U, Th and Pb in the mantle before the onset of magma formation. (2) Radioactive disequilibria demonstrate that magma formation is an open-system very fast process in which Ra, U and Th are extracted in large amounts from a mantle source that is geochemically distinct from the mantle fraction from which the melt is formed. (3) Because the enrichment of U, Th and Ra in the magma is so fast, the concept of mineral-melt partition coefficient is not valid for these elements during magma formation. (4) Metasomatism seems to generally produce an increase in μ and a decrease in K of the metasomatized mantle region. (5) Magma formation at oceanic ridges and islands seems to generally produce a decrease in K, in its mantle source region. (6) The major source of U, Th, Ra and Pb in a magma probably is the metasomatic mantle component. Instead, the major source of Sr and Nd in a magma is the non-metasomatic, more 'refractory' mantle component. (7) This proposed model is testable. It predicts isotopic disequilibrium of Pb between coexisting minerals and whole rocks, and a correlation of Pb with Th isotopes. (author)

Contrasting basin architecture and rifting style of the Vøring Basin, offshore mid-Norway and the Faroe-Shetland Basin, offshore United Kingdom

Science.gov (United States)

Schöpfer, Kateřina; Hinsch, Ralph

2017-04-01

The Vøring and the Faroe-Shetland basins are offshore deep sedimentary basins which are situated on the outer continental margin of the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Both basins are underlain by thinned continental crust whose structure is still debated. In particular the nature of the lower continental crust and the origin of high velocity bodies located at the base of the lower crust are a subject of discussion in recent literature. Regional interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic reflection data, combined with well data, suggest that both basins share several common features: (i) Pre-Cretaceous faults that are distributed across the entire basin width. (ii) Geometries of pre-Jurassic strata reflecting at least two extensional phases. (iii) Three common rift phases, Late Jurassic, Campanian-Maastrichtian and Palaeocene. (iv) Large pre-Cretaceous fault blocks that are buried by several kilometres of Cretaceous and Cenozoic strata. (iii). (v) Latest Cretaceous/Palaeocene inversion. (vi) Occurrence of partial mantle serpentinization during Early Cretaceous times, as proposed by other studies, seems improbable. The detailed analysis of the data, however, revealed significant differences between the two basins: (i) The Faroe-Shetland Basin was a fault-controlled basin during the Late Jurassic but also the Late Cretaceous extensional phase. In contrast, the Vøring Basin is dominated by the late Jurassic rifting and subsequent thermal subsidence. It exhibits only minor Late Cretaceous faults that are localised above intra-basinal and marginal highs. In addition, the Cretaceous strata in the Vøring Basin are folded. (ii) In the Vøring Basin, the locus of Late Cretaceous rifting shifted westwards, affecting mainly the western basin margin, whereas in the Faroe-Shetland Basin Late Cretaceous rifting was localised in the same area as the Late Jurassic phase, hence masking the original Jurassic geometries. (iii) Devono-Carboniferous and Aptian/Albian to Cenomanian rift phases

Fault kinematics and tectonic stress in the seismically active Manyara Dodoma Rift segment in Central Tanzania Implications for the East African Rift

Science.gov (United States)

Macheyeki, Athanas S.; Delvaux, Damien; De Batist, Marc; Mruma, Abdulkarim

2008-07-01

The Eastern Branch of the East African Rift System is well known in Ethiopia (Main Ethiopian Rift) and Kenya (Kenya or Gregory Rift) and is usually considered to fade away southwards in the North Tanzanian Divergence, where it splits into the Eyasi, Manyara and Pangani segments. Further towards the south, rift structures are more weakly expressed and this area has not attracted much attention since the mapping and exploratory works of the 1950s. In November 4, 2002, an earthquake of magnitude Mb = 5.5 struck Dodoma, the capital city of Tanzania. Analysis of modern digital relief, seismological and geological data reveals that ongoing tectonic deformation is presently affecting a broad N-S trending belt, extending southward from the North Tanzanian Divergence to the region of Dodoma, forming the proposed "Manyara-Dodoma Rift segment". North of Arusha-Ngorongoro line, the rift is confined to a narrow belt (Natron graben in Tanzania) and south of it, it broadens into a wide deformation zone which includes both the Eyasi and Manyara grabens. The two-stage rifting model proposed for Kenya and North Tanzania also applies to the Manyara-Dodoma Rift segment. In a first stage, large, well-expressed topographic and volcanogenic structures were initiated in the Natron, Eyasi and Manyara grabens during the Late Miocene to Pliocene. From the Middle Pleistocene onwards, deformations related to the second rifting stage propagated southwards to the Dodoma region. These young structures have still limited morphological expressions compared to the structures formed during the first stage. However, they appear to be tectonically active as shown by the high concentration of moderate earthquakes into earthquake swarms, the distribution of He-bearing thermal springs, the morphological freshness of the fault scarps, and the presence of open surface fractures. Fault kinematic and paleostress analysis of geological fault data in basement rocks along the active fault lines show that recent

Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2013 East African Rift

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Gavin P.; Jones, Eric S.; Stadler, Timothy J.; Barnhart, William D.; McNamara, Daniel E.; Benz, Harley M.; Furlong, Kevin P.; Villaseñor, Antonio; Hayes, Gavin P.; Jones, Eric S.; Stadler, Timothy J.; Barnhart, William D.; McNamara, Daniel E.; Benz, Harley M.; Furlong, Kevin P.; Villaseñor, Antonio

2014-01-01

The East African Rift system (EARS) is a 3,000-km-long Cenozoic age continental rift extending from the Afar triple junction, between the horn of Africa and the Middle East, to western Mozambique. Sectors of active extension occur from the Indian Ocean, west to Botswana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the only rift system in the world that is active on a continent-wide scale, providing geologists with a view of how continental rifts develop over time into oceanic spreading centers like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

118-115 Ma magmatism in the Tethyan Himalaya igneous province: Constraints on Early Cretaceous rifting of the northern margin of Greater India

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Sheng-Sheng; Fan, Wei-Ming; Shi, Ren-Deng; Liu, Xiao-Han; Zhou, Xue-Jun

2018-06-01

Understanding the dynamics of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) is critical to deciphering processes associated with rupturing continental lithosphere. Microcontinental calving, the rifting of microcontinents from mature continental rifted margins, is particularly poorly understood. Here we present new insights into these processes from geochronological and geochemical analyses of igneous rocks from the Tethyan Himalaya. Early Cretaceous mafic dikes are widely exposed in the eastern and western Tethyan Himalaya, but no such rocks have been reported from the central Tethyan Himalaya. Here we present an analysis of petrological, geochronological, geochemical, and Sr-Nd-Hf-Os isotopic data for bimodal magmatic rocks from the center-east Tethyan Himalaya. Zircon U-Pb dating yields six weighted-mean concordant 206Pb/238U ages of 118 ± 1.2 to 115 ± 1.3 Ma. Mafic rocks display MORB-like compositions with flat to depleted LREE trends, and positive εNd(t) (+2.76 to +5.39) and εHf(t) (+8.0 to +11.9) values. The negative Nb anomalies and relatively high 187Os/188Os ratios (0.15-0.19) of these rocks are related to variable degrees (up to 10%) of crustal contamination. Geochemical characteristics indicate that mafic rocks were generated by variable degrees (2-20%) of partial melting of spinel lherzolites in shallow depleted mantle. Felsic rocks are enriched in Th and LREE, with negative Nb anomalies and decoupling of Nd (εNd(t) = -13.39 to -12.78) and Hf (εHf(t) = -4.8 to -2.0), suggesting that they were derived mainly from garnet-bearing lower continental crust. The geochemical characteristics of the bimodal magmatic associations are comparable to those of associations that form in a continental rift setting. Results indicate that Early Cretaceous magmatism occurred across the whole Tethyan Himalaya, named here as the "Tethyan Himalaya igneous province". Separation of the Tethyan Himalaya from the Indian craton may have occurred during ongoing Early Cretaceous extension

Toward an Integrated Model for the Composition, Structure, and Physical Properties of the Crust in Icelandic Rift Zones

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, D. F.; Panero, W. R.; Barton, M.

2009-05-01

The rift zones that extend across Iceland roughly southwest to northeast are the only portion of the mid-Atlantic Ridge that is exposed above sea level. This reflects anomalously high melt productivity in the mantle leading to anomalously thick oceanic crust. There are 30 active volcanic centers in the rift zones. Petrologic studies of the 30 volcanic centers in the active rift zones show that, magmas pond at a mid-crustal level as well as at the base of the crust prior to eruption. The depth of magma chambers at the base of the crust provides an estimate of crustal thickness of (20 ± 2.5 km) in these zones. Melts erupting to the surface directly from chambers at the base of the crust provide one constraint on the composition of the crust because any compositional variations within the crust must be the result of differentiation of these melts. However, the glass compositions indicate that relatively evolved magmas erupted from the deep chambers, suggesting that crystallization of compositionally more primitive magmas also occurred at the base of the crust. Knowledge of crustal thickness, the temperature of melts at the base of the crust, and the compositions of these melts allows development of comprehensive models of the composition, structure and properties of crust within the rift zones. We have developed two end member models: one with variation of mineralogy with depth in the crust due to metamorphism, and one with variation of crustal composition with depth due to fractionation processes. We have also considered models that are plausible combinations of these two end member models. We have calculated well constrained geothermal gradients and used these to predict variations in density, seismic velocity, and bulk modulus with depth. These models which include petrologic and geochemical data are consistent with published geophysical data, therefore provide important constraints on interpretation of geophysical data. In particular, results of this work provide

Upper mantle fluids evolution, diamond formation, and mantle metasomatism

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, F.; Sverjensky, D. A.

2017-12-01

During mantle metasomatism, fluid-rock interactions in the mantle modify wall-rock compositions. Previous studies usually either investigated mineral compositions in xenoliths and xenocrysts brought up by magmas, or examined fluid compositions preserved in fluid inclusions in diamonds. However, a key study of Panda diamonds analysed both mineral and fluid inclusions in the diamonds [1] which we used to develop a quantitative characterization of mantle metasomatic processes. In the present study, we used an extended Deep Earth Water model [2] to simulate fluid-rock interactions at upper mantle conditions, and examine the fluids and mineral assemblages together simultaneously. Three types of end-member fluids in the Panda diamond fluid inclusions include saline, rich in Na+K+Cl; silicic, rich in Si+Al; and carbonatitic, rich in Ca+Mg+Fe [1, 3]. We used the carbonatitic end-member to represent fluid from a subducting slab reacting with an excess of peridotite + some saline fluid in the host environment. During simultaneous fluid mixing and reaction with the host rock, the logfO2 increased by about 1.6 units, and the pH increased by 0.7 units. The final minerals were olivine, garnet and diamond. The Mg# of olivine decreased from 0.92 to 0.85. Garnet precipitated at an early stage, and its Mg# also decreased with reaction progress, in agreement with the solid inclusions in the Panda diamonds. Phlogopite precipitated as an intermediate mineral and then disappeared. The aqueous Ca, Mg, Fe, Si and Al concentrations all increased, while Na, K, and Cl concentrations decreased during the reaction, consistent with trends in the fluid inclusion compositions. Our study demonstrates that fluids coming from subducting slabs could trigger mantle metasomatism, influence the compositions of sub-lithospherc cratonic mantle, precipitate diamonds, and change the oxygen fugacity and pH of the upper mantle fluids. [1] Tomlinson et al. EPSL (2006); [2] Sverjensky, DA et al., GCA (2014

A Systematic Scoping Study of the Socio-Economic Impact of Rift Valley Fever

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peyre, M.; Chevalier, V.; Abdo-Salem, S.; Velthuis, A.; Antoine-Moussiaux, N.; Thiry, E.; Roger, F.

2015-01-01

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a severe mosquito-borne disease affecting humans and domestic ruminants. RVF virus has been reported in most African countries, as well as in the Arabic Peninsula. This paper reviews the different types of socio-economic impact induced by RVF disease and the attempts to

Geochemical insights into the lithology of mantle sources for Cenozoic alkali basalts in West Qinling, China

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Li-Qun; Zheng, Fei; Zhao, Zi-Fu; Zheng, Yong-Fei

2018-03-01

Although alkali basalts are common in oceanic islands and continental rifts, the lithology of their mantle sources is still controversial. While the peridotite is usually viewed as a common source lithology, there are increasing studies suggesting significant contributions from ultramafic metasomatites such as carbonated peridotite, pyroxenite and hornblendite to the origin of alkali basalts. The present study indicates that carbonated peridotite plus hornblendite would have served as the mantle sources of Cenozoic alkali basalts from the West Qinling orogen in China. The target basalts show low SiO2 contents of 36.9 to 40.8 wt% and highly variable Na2O + K2O contents from 0.86 to 4.77 wt%, but high CaO contents of 12.5 to 16.3 wt% and CaO/Al2O3 ratios of 1.42 to 2.19. They are highly enriched in the majority of incompatible trace elements, but depleted in Rb, K, Pb, Zr, Hf, and Ti. Furthermore, they exhibit high (La/Yb)N, Zr/Hf, Ce/Pb and Nb/Ta ratios, but low Ti/Eu and Hf/Sm ratios. Generally, with increasing (La/Yb)N and CaO/Al2O3 ratios, their Ti/Eu and Hf/Sm ratios decrease whereas their Zr/Hf, Ce/Pb and Nb/Ta ratios increase. These major and trace element features are similar to those of carbonatites and hornblendite-derived melts to some extent, but significantly different from those of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). This suggests that the alkali basalts would be originated from metasomatic mantle sources. A comparison of the major-trace elements in the alkali basalts with those of some representative mantle-derived melts indicates that the source lithology of alkali basalts is a kind of ultramafic metasomatites that are composed of carbonated peridotite and hornblendite. Such metasomatites would be generated by reaction of the depleted MORB mantle peridotite with hydrous, carbonate-bearing felsic melts derived from partial melting of the subducted Paleotethyan oceanic crust. Therefore, the melt-peridotite reaction at the slab-mantle interface in the

Seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle beneath the MAGIC array, mid-Atlantic Appalachians: Constraints from SKS splitting and quasi-Love wave propagation

Science.gov (United States)

Aragon, J. C.; Long, M. D.; Benoit, M. H.; Servali, A.

2016-12-01

North America's eastern passive continental margin has been modified by several cycles of supercontinent assembly. Its complex surface geology and distinct topography provide evidence of these events, while also raising questions about the extent of deformation in the continental crust, lithosphere, and mantle during past episodes of rifting and mountain building. The Mid-Atlantic Geophysical Integrative Collaboration (MAGIC) is an EarthScope and GeoPRISMS-funded project that involves a collaborative effort among seismologists, geodynamicists, and geomorphologists. One component of the project is a broadband seismic array consisting of 28 instruments in a linear path from coastal Virginia to western Ohio, which operated between October 2013 and October 2016. A key science question addressed by the MAGIC project is the geometry of past lithospheric deformation and present-day mantle flow beneath the Appalachians, which can be probed using observations of seismic anisotropy Here we present observations of SKS splitting and quasi-Love wave arrivals from stations of the MAGIC array, which together constrain seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle. SKS splitting along the array reveals distinct regions of upper mantle anisotropy, with stations in and to the west of the range exhibiting fast directions parallel to the strike of the mountains. In contrast, weak splitting and null SKS arrivals dominate eastern stations in the coastal plain. Documented Love-to-Rayleigh wave scattering for surface waves originating the magnitude 8.3 Illapel, Chile earthquakes in September 2015 provides complementary constraints on anisotropy. These quasi-Love wave arrivals suggest a pronounced change in upper mantle anisotropy at the eastern edge of present-day Appalachian topography. Together, these observations increase our understanding of the extent of lithospheric deformation beneath North America associated with Appalachian orogenesis, as well as the pattern of present-day mantle flow

Bending-related faulting and mantle serpentinization at the Middle America trench.

Science.gov (United States)

Ranero, C R; Morgan, J Phipps; McIntosh, K; Reichert, C

2003-09-25

The dehydration of subducting oceanic crust and upper mantle has been inferred both to promote the partial melting leading to arc magmatism and to induce intraslab intermediate-depth earthquakes, at depths of 50-300 km. Yet there is still no consensus about how slab hydration occurs or where and how much chemically bound water is stored within the crust and mantle of the incoming plate. Here we document that bending-related faulting of the incoming plate at the Middle America trench creates a pervasive tectonic fabric that cuts across the crust, penetrating deep into the mantle. Faulting is active across the entire ocean trench slope, promoting hydration of the cold crust and upper mantle surrounding these deep active faults. The along-strike length and depth of penetration of these faults are also similar to the dimensions of the rupture area of intermediate-depth earthquakes.

Combining hydrologic and groundwater modelling to characterize a regional aquifer system within a rift setting (Gidabo River Basin, Main Ethiopian Rift)

Science.gov (United States)

Birk, Steffen; Mechal, Abraham; Wagner, Thomas; Dietzel, Martin; Leis, Albrecht; Winkler, Gerfried; Mogessie, Aberra

2016-04-01

The development of groundwater resources within the Ethiopian Rift is complicated by the strong physiographic contrasts between the rift floor and the highland and by the manifold hydrogeological setting composed of volcanic rocks of different type and age that are intersected by numerous faults. Hydrogeochemical and isotope data from various regions within the Ethiopian Rift suggest that the aquifers within the semi-arid rift floor receive a significant contribution of groundwater flow from the humid highland. For example, the major ion composition of groundwater samples from Gidabo River Basin (3302 km²) in the southern part of the Main Ethiopian Rift reveals a mixing trend from the highland toward the rift floor; moreover, the stable isotopes of water, deuterium and O-18, of the rift-floor samples indicate a component recharged in the highland. This work aims to assess if the hydrological and hydrogeological data available for Gidabo River Basin is consistent with these findings and to characterize the regional aquifer system within the rift setting. For this purpose, a two-step approach is employed: First, the semi-distributed hydrological model SWAT is used to obtain an estimate of the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge within the watershed; second, the numerical groundwater flow model MODFLOW is employed to infer aquifer properties and groundwater flow components. The hydrological model was calibrated and validated using discharge data from three stream gauging stations within the watershed (Mechal et al., Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 2015, doi:10.1016/j.ejrh.2015.09.001). The resulting recharge distribution exhibits a strong decrease from the highland, where the mean annual recharge amounts to several hundred millimetres, to the rift floor, where annual recharge largely is around 100 mm and below. Using this recharge distribution as input, a two-dimensional steady-state groundwater flow model was calibrated to hydraulic

Diverse Eruptions at Approximately 2,200 Years B.P. on the Great Rift, Idaho: Inferences for Magma Dynamics Along Volcanic Rift Zones

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, S. S.; Nawotniak, S. E. Kobs; Borg, C.; Mallonee, H. C.; Purcell, S.; Neish, C.; Garry, W. B.; Haberle, C. W.; Lim, D. S. S.; Heldmann, J. L.

2016-01-01

Compositionally and morphologically diverse lava flows erupted on the Great Rift of Idaho approximately 2.2 ka (kilo-annum, 1000 years ago) during a volcanic "flare-up" of activity following an approximately 2 ky (kiloyear, 1000 years) hiatus in eruptions. Volcanism at Craters of the Moon (COTM), Wapi and Kings Bowl lava fields around this time included primitive and evolved compositions, separated over 75 kilometers along the approximately 85 kilometers-long rift, with striking variability in lava flow emplacement mechanisms and surface morphologies. Although the temporal associations may be coincidental, the system provides a planetary analog to better understand magma dynamics along rift systems, including that associated with lunar floor-fractured craters. This study aims to help bridge the knowledge gap between ancient rift volcanism evident on the Moon and other terrestrial planets, and active rift volcanism, e.g., at Hawai'i and Iceland.

Stress and slip partitioning during oblique rifting: comparison between data from the Main Ethiopian Rift and laboratory experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Corti, G.; Philippon, M.; Sani, F.; Keir, D.

2012-04-01

Oblique rifting in the central and northern Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) has resulted in a complex structural pattern characterized by two differently oriented fault systems: a set of NE-SW-trending boundary faults and a system of roughly NNE-SSW-oriented fault swarms affecting the rift floor (Wonji faults). Boundary faults formed oblique to the regional extension vector, likely as a result of the oblique reactivation of a pre-existing deep-seated rheological anisotropy, whereas internal Wonji faults developed sub-orthogonal to the stretching direction. Previous works have successfully reconciled this rift architecture and fault distribution with the long-term plate kinematics; however, at a more local scale, fault-slip and earthquake data reveal significant variations in the orientation the minimum principal stress and related fault-slip direction across the rift valley. Whereas fault measurements indicate a roughly N95°E extension on the axial Wonji faults, a N105°E to N110°E directed minimum principal stress is observed along boundary faults. Both fault-slip data and analysis of seismicity indicate a roughly pure dip-slip motion on the boundary faults, despite their orientation (oblique to the regional extension vector) should result in an oblique displacement. To shed light on the process driving the variability of data derived from fault-slip (and seismicity) analysis we present crustal-scale analogue models of oblique rifting, deformed in a large-capacity centrifuge by using materials and boundary conditions described in several previous modeling works. As in these previous works, the experiments show the diachronous activation of two fault systems, boundary and internal, whose pattern strikingly resemble that observed in previous lithospheric-scale modeling, as well as that described in the MER. Internal faults arrange in two different, en-echelon segments connected by a transfer zone where strike-slip displacement dominates. Whereas internal faults develop

Intraplate mafic magmatism: New insights from Africa and N. America

Science.gov (United States)

Ebinger, C. J.; van der Lee, S.; Tepp, G.; Pierre, S.

2017-12-01

Plate tectonic concepts consider that continental interiors are stable, with magmatism and strain localized to plate boundaries. We re-evaluate the role of pre-existing and evolving lithospheric heterogeneities in light of perspectives afforded by surface to mantle results from active and ancient rift zones in Africa and N. America. Our process-oriented approach addresses the localization of strain and magmatism and stability of continental plate interiors. In both Africa and N. America, geophysical imaging and xenolith studies reveal that thick, buoyant, and chemically distinct Archaean cratons with deep roots may deflect mantle flow, and localize magmatism and strain over many tectonic cycles. Studies of the Colorado Plateau and East African rift reveal widespread mantle metasomatism, and high levels of magma degassing along faults and at active volcanoes. The volcanoes and magmatic systems show a strong dependence on pre-existing heterogeneities in plate structure. Syntheses of the EarthScope program ishow that lateral density contrasts and migration of volatiles that accumulated during subduction can refertilize mantle lithosphere, and enable volatile-rich magmatism beneath relatively thick continental lithosphere. For example, the passive margin of eastern N. America shows uplift and magmatism long after the onset of seafloor spreading, demonstrating the dynamic nature of coupling between the lithosphere, asthenosphere, and deeper mantle. As demonstrated by the East African Rift, the Mid-Continent Rift, and other active and ancient rift zones, the interiors of continents, including thick, cold Archaean cratons are not immune to mafic magmatism and tectonism. Recent studies in N. America and Africa reveal ca. 1000 km-wide zones of dynamic uplift, low upper mantle velocities, and broadly distributed strain. The distribution of magmatism and volatile release, in combination with geophysical signals, indicates a potentially convective origin for widespread

Molecular Rift: Virtual Reality for Drug Designers.

Science.gov (United States)

Norrby, Magnus; Grebner, Christoph; Eriksson, Joakim; Boström, Jonas

2015-11-23

Recent advances in interaction design have created new ways to use computers. One example is the ability to create enhanced 3D environments that simulate physical presence in the real world--a virtual reality. This is relevant to drug discovery since molecular models are frequently used to obtain deeper understandings of, say, ligand-protein complexes. We have developed a tool (Molecular Rift), which creates a virtual reality environment steered with hand movements. Oculus Rift, a head-mounted display, is used to create the virtual settings. The program is controlled by gesture-recognition, using the gaming sensor MS Kinect v2, eliminating the need for standard input devices. The Open Babel toolkit was integrated to provide access to powerful cheminformatics functions. Molecular Rift was developed with a focus on usability, including iterative test-group evaluations. We conclude with reflections on virtual reality's future capabilities in chemistry and education. Molecular Rift is open source and can be downloaded from GitHub.

Fluid circulations in response to mantle exhumation at the passive margin setting in the north Pyrenean zone, France

Science.gov (United States)

Corre, B.; Boulvais, P.; Boiron, M. C.; Lagabrielle, Y.; Marasi, L.; Clerc, C.

2018-02-01

Sub-continental lithospheric mantle rocks are exhumed in the distal part of magma-poor passive margins. Remnants of the North Iberian paleo-passive margin are now exposed in the North-Pyrenean Zone (NPZ) and offers a field analogue to study the processes of continental crust thinning, subcontinental mantle exhumation and associated fluid circulations. The Saraillé Massif which belongs to the `Chaînons Béarnais' range (Western Pyrenees), displays field, petrographic and stable isotopic evidence of syn-kinematic fluid circulations. Using electron probe micro-analyses on minerals, O, C, Sr isotopes compositions and micro thermometry/Raman spectrometry of fluid inclusions, we investigate the history of fluid circulations along and in the surroundings of the Saraillé detachment fault. The tectonic interface between the pre-rift Mesozoic sedimentary cover and the mantle rocks is marked by a metasomatic talc-chlorite layer. This layer formed through the infiltration of a fluid enriched in chemical elements like Cr leached from the exhuming serpentinized mantle rocks. In the overlying sediments (dolomitic and calcitic marbles of Jurassic to Aptian age), a network of calcitic veins, locally with quartz, formed as a consequence of the infiltration of aqueous saline fluids (salinities up to 34 wt% NaCl are recorded in quartz-hosted fluid inclusions) at moderate temperatures ( 220 °C). These brines likely derived from the dissolution of the local Triassic evaporites. In the upper part of the metasomatic system, upward movement of fluids is limited by the Albian metasediments, which likely acted as an impermeable layer. The model of fluid circulation in the Saraillé Massif sheds light onto other synchronous metasomatic systems in the Pyrenean realm.

The NE Rift of Tenerife: towards a model on the origin and evolution of ocean island rifts; La dorsal NE de Tenerife: hacia un modelo del origen y evolucion de los rifts de islas oceanicas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carracedo, J. C.; Guillou, H.; Rodriguez Badiola, E.; Perez-Torrado, F. J.; Rodriguez Gonzalez, A.; Peris, R.; Troll, V.; Wiesmaier, S.; Delcamp, A.; Fernandez-Turiel, J. L.

2009-07-01

The NE Rift of Tenerife is an excellent example of a persistent, recurrent rift, providing important evidence of the origin and dynamics of these major volcanic features. The rift developed in three successive, intense and relatively short eruptive stages (a few hundred ka), separated by longer periods of quiescence or reduced activity: A Miocene stage (7266 {+-}156 ka), apparently extending the central Miocene shield of Tenerife towards the Anaga massif; an Upper Pliocene stage (2710{+-} 58 ka) and the latest stage, with the main eruptive phase in the Pleistocene. Detailed geological (GIS) mapping, geomagnetic reversal mapping and stratigraphic correlation, and radioisotopic (K/Ar) dating of volcanic formations allowed the reconstruction of the latest period of rift activity. In the early phases of this stage the majority of the eruptions grouped tightly along the axis of the rift and show reverse polarity (corresponding to the Matuyama chron). Dykes are of normal and reverse polarities. In the final phase of activity, eruptions are more disperse and lavas and dykes are consistently of normal polarity (Brunhes chron). Volcanic units of normal polarity crossed by dykes of normal and reverse polarities yield ages apparently compatible with normal subchrons (M-B Precursor and Jaramillo) in the Upper Matuyama chron. Three lateral collapses successively mass-wasted the rift: The Micheque collapse, completely concealed by subsequent nested volcanism, and the Guimar and La Orotava collapses, that are only partially filled. Time occurrence of collapses in the NE rift apparently coincides with glacial stages, suggesting that giant landslides may be finally triggered by sea level chan-ges during glaciations. Pre-collapse and nested volcanism is predominantly basaltic, except in the Micheque collapse, where magmas evolved towards intermediate and felsic (trachytic) compositions. Rifts in the Canary Islands are long-lasting, recurrent features, probably related to primordial

The planet beyond the plume hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Alan D.; Lewis, Charles

1999-12-01

intraplate volcanism evolve from the source residues of arc volcanism located along sutures in the continental mantle. Continental rifting and the lateral distribution of intraplate sources in the asthenosphere are controlled by Earth rotation. Shear induced on the base of the asthenosphere from the mesosphere as the Earth rotates is transmitted to the lithosphere as basal drag. Attenuation of the drag due to the low viscosity of the asthenosphere, in conjunction with plate motions from boundary forces, results in a rotation differential of up to 5 cm yr -1 between the lithosphere and mesosphere manifest as westward plate lag/eastward mantle flow. Continental rifting results from basal drag supplemented by local convection induced by lithospheric architecture. Large continental igneous provinces are generated by convective melting, with passive margin volcanic sequences following the axis of rifting and flood basalts overlying the intersection of sutures in the continental mantle. As rifting progresses, the convection cells expand, cycling continental mantle from sutures perpendicular to the rift axis to generate intraplate tracks in the ocean basin. Continental mantle not melted on rifting, or delaminated on continental collision, becomes displaced to the east of the continent by differential rotation, which also sets up a means for tapping the material to give fixed melting anomalies. When plates move counter to the Earth's rotation, as in the example of the Pacific plate, asthenospheric flow is characterised by a counterflow regime with a zero velocity layer at depths within the stability field for volatile-bearing minerals. Intraplate volcanism results when melts are tapped from this stationary layer along lithospheric stress trajectories induced by stressing of the plate from variations in the subduction geometry around the margins of the plate. Plate boundary forces acting in the same direction as Earth rotation, as for the Nazca plate, produce fast plate velocities

A new perspective on evolution of the Baikal Rift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor D. Mats

2011-07-01

The three-stage model of the rift history does not rule out the previous division into two major stages but rather extends its limits back into time as far as the Maastrichtian. Our model is consistent with geological, stratigraphic, structural, and geophysical data and provides further insights into the understanding of rifting in the Baikal region in particular and continental rifting in general.

Geometry of the neoproterozoic and paleozoic rift margin of western Laurentia: Implications for mineral deposit settings

Science.gov (United States)

Lund, K.

2008-01-01

polarity and kinematics of the rift segment. Locally, discrete mineral belts parallel secondary structures such as rotated crustal blocks at depth that produced sedimentary subbasins and conduits for hydrothermal fluids. Where the miogeocline was overprinted by Mesozoic and Cenozoic deformation and magmatism, igneous rock-related mineral deposits are common. ??2008 Geological Society of America.

Nucleogenic production of Ne isotopes in Earth's crust and upper mantle induced by alpha particles from the decay of U and Th

Science.gov (United States)

Leya, Ingo; Wieler, Rainer

1999-07-01

The production of nucleogenic Ne in terrestrial crust and upper mantle by alpha particles from the decay of U and Th was calculated. The calculations are based on stopping powers for the chemical compounds and thin-target cross sections. This approach is more rigorous than earlier studies using thick-target yields for pure elements, since our results are independent of limiting assumptions about stopping-power ratios. Alpha induced reactions account for >99% of the Ne production in the crust and for most of the 20,21Ne in the upper mantle. On the other hand, our 22Ne value for the upper mantle is a lower limit because the reaction 25Mg(n,α)22Ne is significant in mantle material. Production rates calculated here for hypothetical crustal and upper mantle material with average major element composition and homogeneously distributed F, U, and Th are up to 100 times higher than data presented by Kyser and Rison [1982] but agree within error limits with the results by Yatsevich and Honda [1997]. Production of nucleogenic Ne in "mean" crust and mantle is also given as a function of the weight fractions of O and F. The alpha dose is calculated by radiogenic 4He as well as by the more retentive fissiogenic 136Xe. U and Th is concentrated in certain accessory minerals. Since the ranges of alpha particles from the three decay chains are comparable to mineral dimensions, most nucleogenic Ne is produced in U- and Th-rich minerals. Therefore nucleogenic Ne production in such accessories was also calculated. The calculated correlation between nucleogenic 21Ne and radiogenic 4He agrees well with experimental data for Earth's crust and accessories. Also, the calculated 22Ne/4He ratios as function of the F concentration and the dependence of 21Ne/22Ne from O/F for zircon and apatite agree with measurements.

Discussion on final rifting evolution and breakup : insights from the Mid Norwegian - North East Greenland rifted system

Science.gov (United States)

Peron-Pinvidic, Gwenn; Terje Osmundsen, Per

2016-04-01

In terms of rifted margin studies, the characteristics of the distal and outer domains are among the today's most debated questions. The architecture and composition of deep margins are rarely well constrained and hence little understood. Except from in a handful number of cases (eg. Iberia-Newfoundland, Southern Australia, Red Sea), basement samples are not available to decipher between the various interpretations allowed by geophysical models. No consensus has been reached on the basement composition, tectonic structures, sedimentary geometries or magmatic content. The result is that non-unique end-member interpretations and models are still proposed in the literature. So, although these domains mark the connection between continents and oceans, and thus correspond to unique stages in the Earth's lithospheric life cycle, their spatial and temporal evolution are still unresolved. The Norwegian-Greenland Sea rift system represents an exceptional laboratory to work on questions related to rifting, rifted margin formation and sedimentary basin evolution. It has been extensively studied for decades by both the academic and the industry communities. The proven and expected oil and gas potentials led to the methodical acquisition of world-class geophysical datasets, which permit the detailed research and thorough testing of concepts at local and regional scales. This contribution is issued from a three years project funded by ExxonMobil aiming at better understanding the crustal-scale nature and evolution of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. The idea was to take advantage of the data availability on this specific rift system to investigate further the full crustal conjugate scale history of rifting, confronting the various available datasets. In this contribution, we will review the possible structural and sedimentary geometries of the distal margin, and their connection to the oceanic domain. We will discuss the definition of 'breakup' and introduce a first order conceptual

Full seismic waveform inversion of the African crust and Mantle - Initial Results

Science.gov (United States)

Afanasiev, Michael; Ermert, Laura; Staring, Myrna; Trampert, Jeannot; Fichtner, Andreas

2016-04-01

We report on the progress of a continental-scale full-waveform inversion (FWI) of Africa. From a geodynamic perspective, Africa presents an especially interesting case. This interest stems from the presence of several anomalous features such as a triple junction in the Afar region, a broad region of high topography to the south, and several smaller surface expressions such as the Cameroon Volcanic Line and Congo Basin. The mechanisms behind these anomalies are not fully clear, and debate on their origin spans causative mechanisms from isostatic forcing, to the influence of localized asthenospheric upwelling, to the presence of deep mantle plumes. As well, the connection of these features to the African LLSVP is uncertain. Tomographic images of Africa present unique challenges due to uneven station coverage: while tectonically active areas such as the Afar rift are well sampled, much of the continent exhibits a severe dearth of seismic stations. As well, while mostly surrounded by tectonically active spreading plate boundaries (a fact which contributes to the difficulties in explaining the South's high topography), sizeable seismic events (M > 5) in the continent's interior are relatively rare. To deal with these issues, we present a combined earthquake and ambient noise full-waveform inversion of Africa. The noise component serves to boost near-surface sensitivity, and aids in mitigating issues related to the sparse source / station coverage. The earthquake component, which includes local and teleseismic sources, aims to better resolve deeper structure. This component also has the added benefit of being especially useful in the search for mantle plumes: synthetic tests have shown that the subtle scattering of elastic waves off mantle plumes makes the plumes an ideal target for FWI [1]. We hope that this new model presents a fresh high-resolution image of sub-African geodynamic structure, and helps advance the debate regarding the causative mechanisms of its surface

Post-rift deformation of the Red Sea Arabian margin

Science.gov (United States)

Zanoni, Davide; Schettino, Antonio; Pierantoni, Pietro Paolo; Rasul, Najeeb

2017-04-01

Starting from the Oligocene, the Red Sea rift nucleated within the composite Neoproterozoic Arabian-Nubian shield. After about 30 Ma-long history of continental lithosphere thinning and magmatism, the first pulse of oceanic spreading occurred at around 4.6 Ma at the triple junction of Africa, Arabia, and Danakil plate boundaries and propagated southward separating Danakil and Arabia plates. Ocean floor spreading between Arabia and Africa started later, at about 3 Ma and propagated northward (Schettino et al., 2016). Nowadays the northern part of the Red Sea is characterised by isolated oceanic deeps or a thinned continental lithosphere. Here we investigate the deformation of thinned continental margins that develops as a consequence of the continental lithosphere break-up induced by the progressive oceanisation. This deformation consists of a system of transcurrent and reverse faults that accommodate the anelastic relaxation of the extended margins. Inversion and shortening tectonics along the rifted margins as a consequence of the formation of a new segment of ocean ridge was already documented in the Atlantic margin of North America (e.g. Schlische et al. 2003). We present preliminary structural data obtained along the north-central portion of the Arabian rifted margin of the Red Sea. We explored NE-SW trending lineaments within the Arabian margin that are the inland continuation of transform boundaries between segments of the oceanic ridge. We found brittle fault zones whose kinematics is consistent with a post-rift inversion. Along the southernmost transcurrent fault (Ad Damm fault) of the central portion of the Red Sea we found evidence of dextral movement. Along the northernmost transcurrent fault, which intersects the Harrat Lunayyir, structures indicate dextral movement. At the inland termination of this fault the evidence of dextral movement are weaker and NW-SE trending reverse faults outcrop. Between these two faults we found other dextral transcurrent

Diamond ages from Victor (Superior Craton): Intra-mantle cycling of volatiles (C, N, S) during supercontinent reorganisation

Science.gov (United States)

Aulbach, S.; Creaser, Robert A.; Stachel, Thomas; Heaman, Larry M.; Chinn, Ingrid L.; Kong, Julie

2018-05-01

The central Superior Craton hosts both the diamondiferous 1.1 Ga Kyle Lake and Jurassic Attawapiskat kimberlites. A major thermal event related to the Midcontinent Rift at ca. 1.1 Ga induced an elevated geothermal gradient that largely destroyed an older generation of diamonds, raising the question of when, and how, the diamond inventory beneath Attawapiskat was formed. We determined Re-Os isotope systematics of sulphides included in diamonds from Victor by isotope dilution negative thermal ionisation mass spectrometry in order to obtain insights into the age and nature of the diamond source in the context of regional tectonothermal evolution. Regression of the peridotitic inclusion data (n = 14 of 16) yields a 718 ± 49 Ma age, with an initial 187Os/188Os ratio of 0.1177 ± 0.0016, i.e. depleted at the time of formation (γOs -3.7 ± 1.3). Consequently, Re depletion model ages calculated for these samples are systematically overestimated. Given that reported 187Os/188Os in olivine from Attawapiskat xenoliths varies strongly (0.1012-0.1821), the low and nearly identical initial Os of sulphide inclusions combined with their high 187Re/188Os (median 0.34) suggest metasomatic formation from a mixed source. This was likely facilitated by percolation of amounts of melt sufficient to homogenise Os, (re)crystallise sulphide and (co)precipitate diamond; that is, the sulphide inclusions and their diamond host are synchronous if not syngenetic. The ∼720 Ma age corresponds to rifting beyond the northern craton margin during Rodinia break-up. This suggests mobilisation of volatiles (C, N, S) and Os due to attendant mantle stretching and metasomatism by initially oxidising and S-undersaturated melts, which ultimately produced lherzolitic diamonds with high N contents compared to older Kyle Lake diamonds. Thus, some rift-influenced settings are prospective with respect to diamond formation. They are also important sites of hidden, intra-lithospheric volatile redistribution

Dynamical geochemistry of the mantle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. F. Davies

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The reconciliation of mantle chemistry with the structure of the mantle inferred from geophysics and dynamical modelling has been a long-standing problem. This paper reviews three main aspects. First, extensions and refinements of dynamical modelling and theory of mantle processing over the past decade. Second, a recent reconsideration of the implications of mantle heterogeneity for melting, melt migration, mantle differentiation and mantle segregation. Third, a recent proposed shift in the primitive chemical baseline of the mantle inferred from observations of non-chondritic ¹⁴²Nd in the Earth. It seems most issues can now be resolved, except the level of heating required to maintain the mantle's thermal evolution.

A reconciliation of refractory trace elements and their isotopes with the dynamical mantle, proposed and given preliminary quantification by Hofmann, White and Christensen, has been strengthened by work over the past decade. The apparent age of lead isotopes and the broad refractory-element differences among and between ocean island basalts (OIBs and mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs can now be quantitatively accounted for with some assurance.

The association of the least radiogenic helium with relatively depleted sources and their location in the mantle have been enigmatic. The least radiogenic helium samples have recently been recognised as matching the proposed non-chondritic primitive mantle. It has also been proposed recently that noble gases reside in a so-called hybrid pyroxenite assemblage that is the result of melt from fusible pods reacting with surrounding refractory peridotite and refreezing. Hybrid pyroxenite that is off-axis may not remelt and erupt at MORs, so its volatile constituents would recirculate within the mantle. Hybrid pyroxenite is likely to be denser than average mantle, and thus some would tend to settle in the D" zone at the base of the mantle, along with some old subducted

The Effect of Slab Holes on the Surrounding Mantle Flow Field and the Surface from a Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Portner, D. E.; Kiraly, A.; Makushkina, A.; Parks, B. H.; Ghosh, T.; Haynie, K. L.; Metcalf, K.; Manga, M.; O'Farrell, K. A.; Moresi, L. N.; Jadamec, M. A.; Stern, R. J.

2017-12-01

Large-scale detachment of subducting slabs can have a significant geologic footprint by altering the slab-driven mantle flow field as hot subslab mantle can flow upward through the newly developed opening in the slab. The resulting increase in heat and vertical motion in the mantle wedge may contribute to volcanism and broad surface uplift. Recent geodynamic modeling results show that smaller tears and holes are similarly likely to form in many settings, such as where oceanic ridges or continental fragments subduct. High-resolution seismic tomography models are imaging an increasing number of these gaps and tears ranging in size from tens to hundreds of km in size, many of which occur proximal to alkali volcanism. Here we investigate the role of such gaps on the subduction-induced mantle flow field and related surface response. In particular, we address the relationships between slab hole size, depth, and distance from the slab edge and the magnitude of dynamic response of the mantle using analog experiments and numerical simulations. In the laboratory models, the subduction system is simplified to a two-layered Newtonian viscous sheet model. Our setup consists of a tank filled with glucose syrup and a plate made from silicon putty to model the upper mantle and subducting lithosphere, respectively. In each experiment, we pre-cut a rectangular hole with variable width into the silicon putty plate. Additionally, we perform a series of complementary numerical models using the Underworld geophysical modeling code to calculate the more detailed instantaneous mantle flow perturbation induced by the slab hole. Together, these results imply a strong effect of hole size on mantle flow. Similarly, the depth of the slab hole influences near-surface flow, with significant surface flow alteration when the hole is near the trench and diminishing surface deformation as the hole is dragged deeper into the mantle. The inferred consequence of the dependence of vertical mantle flux

Oblique rift opening revealed by reoccurring magma injection in central Iceland

KAUST Repository

Ruch, Joel; Wang, Teng; Xu, Wenbin; Hensch, Martin; Jonsson, Sigurjon

2016-01-01

-field deformation has rarely been captured, hindering progress in understanding rifting mechanisms and evolution. Here we show new evidence of oblique rift opening during a rifting event influenced by pre-existing fractures and two centuries of extension deficit

Images of the East Africa Rift System from the Joint Inversion of Body Waves, Surface Waves, and Gravity: Investigating the Role of Magma in Early-Stage Continental Rifting

Science.gov (United States)

Roecker, S. W.; Ebinger, C. J.; Tiberi, C.; Mulibo, G. D.; Ferdinand-Wambura, R.; Muzuka, A.; Khalfan, M.; Kianji, G.; Gautier, S.; Albaric, J.; Peyrat, S.

2015-12-01

With several rift segments at different stages of the rifting cycle, and the last orogenic episode more than 500 Mya, the young (Ngorongoro caldera appears to be physically cut off from the magma beneath the main part of the rift zone by a relatively thin (< 10 km) wide zone of higher shear wave speeds that lies along the western edge of the fault-bounded rift. The narrow ridge of higher velocity lower crustal material may be a consequence of flexural uplift of the rift flank in response to stretching of strong, cratonic lithosphere.

The Age of Rift-Related Basalts in East Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Leitchenkov, G. L.; Belyatsky, B. V.; Kaminsky, V. D.

2018-01-01

The Lambert Rift, which is a large intracontinental rift zone in East Antarctica, developed over a long period of geological time, beginning from the Late Paleozoic, and its evolution was accompanied by magmatic activity. The latest manifestation of magmatism is eruption of alkaline olivine-leucite basalts on the western side of the Lambert Rift; Rb-Sr dating referred its time to the Middle Eocene, although its genesis remained vague. In order to solve this problem, we found geochronometer minerals in basaltic samples and 68 apatite grains appeared to be suitable for analysis. Their ages and ages of host basalts, determined by the U-Pb local method on the SIMS SHRIMP-II, were significantly different (323 ± 31 Ma) from those assumed earlier. This age corresponds to the earliest stage of crustal extension in East Antarctica and to most of Gondwana. The new data crucially change the ideas about the evolution of Lambert Rift and demonstrate the ambiguity of K-Ar dates of the alkali effusive formed under long-term rifting.

Chromium isotope variations (δ53/52Cr) in mantle-derived sources and their weathering products: Implications for environmental studies and the evolution of δ53/52Cr in the Earth’s mantle over geologic time

Science.gov (United States)

Farkaš, Juraj; Chrastný, Vladislav; Novák, Martin; Čadkova, Eva; Pašava, Jan; Chakrabarti, Ramananda; Jacobsen, Stein B.; Ackerman, Lukáš; Bullen, Thomas D.

2013-12-01

Here we report chromium isotope compositions, expressed as δ53/52Cr in per mil (‰) relative to NIST 979, measured in selected Cr-rich minerals and rocks formed by the primary magmatic as well as the secondary metamorphic and weathering processes. The main objectives of this study were: (i) to further constrain the isotope composition of the Earth’s mantle Cr inventory and its possible variation during geological history, based on the analysis of globally distributed and stratigraphically constrained mantle-derived chromites; and (ii) to investigate the magnitude and systematics of Cr isotope fractionation during oxidative weathering and secondary alteration (i.e., hydration, serpentinization) of the magmatic Cr sources. Specifically, we analyzed δ53/52Cr in a set of globally distributed mantle-derived chromites (FeMgCr2O4, n = 30) collected from various locations in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, and our results confirm that a chromite-hosted Earth’s mantle Cr inventory is uniform at -0.079 ± 0.129‰ (2SD), which we named here as a ‘canonical’ mantle δ53/52Cr signature. Furthermore our dataset of stratigraphically constrained chromites, whose crystallization ages cover most of the Earth’s geological history, indicate that the bulk Cr isotope composition of the chromite-hosted mantle inventory has remained uniform, within about ±0.100‰, since at least the Early Archean times (∼3500 million years ago, Ma). To investigate the systematics of Cr isotope fractionation associated with alteration processes we analyzed a number of secondary Cr-rich minerals and variably altered ultramafic rocks (i.e., serpentinized harzburgites, lherzolites) that revealed large positive δ53/52Cr anomalies that are systematically shifted to higher values with an increasing degree of alteration and serpentinization. The degree of aqueous alteration and serpentinization was quantified by the abundances of fluid-mobile (Rb, K) elements, and by the Loss On

3D Numerical Model of Continental Breakup via Plume Lithosphere Interaction Near Cratonic Blocks: Implications for the Tanzanian Craton

Science.gov (United States)

Koptev, A.; Calais, E.; Burov, E. B.; Leroy, S. D.; Gerya, T.

2014-12-01

Although many continental rift basins and their successfully rifted counterparts at passive continental margins are magmatic, some are not. This dichotomy prompted end-member views of the mechanism driving continental rifting, deep-seated and mantle plume-driven for some, owing to shallow lithospheric stretching for others. In that regard, the East African Rift (EAR), the 3000 km-long divergent boundary between the Nubian and Somalian plates, provides a unique setting with the juxtaposition of the eastern, magma-rich, and western, magma-poor, branches on either sides of the 250-km thick Tanzanian craton. Here we implement high-resolution rheologically realistic 3D numerical model of plume-lithosphere interactions in extensional far-field settings to explain this contrasted behaviour in a unified framework starting from simple, symmetrical initial conditions with an isolated mantle plume rising beneath a craton in an east-west tensional far field stress. The upwelling mantle plume is deflected by the cratonic keel and preferentially channelled along one of its sides. This leads to the coeval development of a magma-rich branch above the plume head and a magma-poor one along the opposite side of the craton, the formation of a rotating microplate between the two rift branches, and the feeding of melt to both branches form a single mantle source. The model bears strong similarities with the evolution of the eastern and western branches of the central EAR and the geodetically observed rotation of the Victoria microplate. This result reconciles the passive (plume-activated) versus active (far-field tectonic stresses) rift models as our experiments shows both processes in action and demonstrate the possibility of developing both magmatic and amagmatic rifts in identical geotectonic environments.

Tectonic setting and uplift analysis of the Pangani rift basin in northern Tanzania using apatite fission track thermochronology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mbede, E.I.

2001-01-01

Thirty four new Apatite Fission Track (AFT) ages and 32 track length distributions from samples of basement rocks flanking the Pangani rift, East African Rift System (EARS) are presented, in an attempt to elucidate the uplift and erosion of the rift flanks. The ages fall in the range of 207±15 to 48±4 Ma, spanning from Early Jurassic to Early Tertiary. These ages are much younger than the last thermal event in the Mozambique belt that form the basement complex and are interpreted to represent the most recent tectonic events. Track length (TL) distributions suggest that uplift and erosion of the rift flanks are related to three different tectonic events, which are also recorded by the sedimentary units within the adjacent coastal basins. These included the Triassic/Early Jurassic, Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary tectonic events. Erosion and isostatic rebound have modified the tectonically induced topographic patterns and the highly elevated plateaus flanking the Pangani rift represent an erosional surface referred to as the 'Gondwana surface' of eastern and central Africa. T he present AFT data suggest that initial exhumation of the 'Gondwana surface' from temperatures above 383.15 K to temperatures less than 333.15 K, in this area, took place during Early Jurassic times, but the final sub-aerial exposure of the surface did not take place until Early Tertiary. (author)

Hydrothermal bitumen generated from sedimentary organic matter of rift lakes - Lake Chapala, Citala Rift, western Mexico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zarate del Valle, Pedro F. [Departamento de Quimica, Universidad de Guadalajara - CUCEI, Ap. Postal 4-021, Guadalajara, Jalisco CP 44410 (Mexico); Simoneit, Bernd R.T. [Environmental and Petroleum Geochemistry Group, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Building 104, Corvallis, OR 97331-5503 (United States)]. E-mail: simoneit@coas.oregonstate.edu

2005-12-15

Lake Chapala is in the Citala Rift of western Mexico, which in association with the Tepic-Zacoalco and Colima Rifts, form the well-known neotectonic Jalisco continental triple junction. The rifts are characterized by evidence for both paleo- and active hydrothermal activity. At the south shore of the lake, near the Los Gorgos sublacustrine hydrothermal field, there are two tar emanations that appear as small islands composed of solid, viscous and black bitumen. Aliquots of tar were analyzed by GC-MS and the mixtures are comprised of geologically mature biomarkers and an UCM. PAH and n-alkanes are not detectable. The biomarkers consist mainly of hopanes, gammacerane, tricyclic terpanes, carotane and its cracking products, steranes, and drimanes. The biomarker composition and bulk C isotope composition ({delta} {sup 13}C = -21.4%) indicate an organic matter source from bacteria and algae, typical of lacustrine ecosystems. The overall composition of these tars indicates that they are hydrothermal petroleum formed from lacustrine organic matter in the deeper sediments of Lake Chapala exceeding 40 ka ({sup 14}C) in age and then forced to the lakebed by tectonic activity. The absence of alkanes and the presence of an UCM with mature biomarkers are consistent with rapid hydrothermal oil generation and expulsion at temperatures of 200-250 deg. C. The occurrence of hydrothermal petroleum in continental rift systems is now well known and should be considered in future energy resource exploration in such regions.

Edifice growth, deformation and rift zone development in basaltic setting: Insights from Piton de la Fournaise shield volcano (Réunion Island)

Science.gov (United States)

Michon, Laurent; Cayol, Valérie; Letourneur, Ludovic; Peltier, Aline; Villeneuve, Nicolas; Staudacher, Thomas

2009-07-01

The overall morphology of basaltic volcanoes mainly depends on their eruptive activity (effusive vs. explosive), the geometry of the rift zones and the characteristics of both endogenous and exogenous growth processes. The origin of the steep geometry of the central cone of Piton de la Fournaise volcano, which is unusual for a basaltic effusive volcano, and its deformation are examined with a combination of a detailed morphological analysis, field observations, GPS data from the Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Observatory and numerical models. The new caldera walls formed during the April 2007 summit collapse reveal that the steep cone is composed of a pyroclastic core, inherited from an earlier explosive phase, overlapped by a pile of thin lava flows. This suggests that exogenous processes played a major role in the building of the steep central cone. Magma injections into the cone, which mainly occur along the N25-30 and N120 rift zones, lead to an asymmetric outward inflation concentrated in the cone's eastern half. This endogenous growth progressively tilts the southeast and east flanks of the cone, and induces the development of a dense network of flank fractures. Finally, it is proposed that intrusions along the N120 rift zone are encouraged by stresses induced by magma injections along the N25-30 rift zone.

Heat transfer correlations in mantle tanks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Furbo, Simon; Knudsen, Søren

2005-01-01

on calculations with a CFD-model, which has earlier been validated by means of experiments. The CFD-model is used to determine the heat transfer between the solar collector fluid in the mantle and the walls surrounding the mantle in all levels of the mantle as well as the heat transfer between the wall...... transfer correlations are suitable as input for a detailed simulation model for mantle tanks. The heat transfer correlations determined in this study are somewhat different from previous reported heat transfer correlations. The reason is that this study includes more mantle tank designs and operation......Small solar domestic hot water systems are best designed as low flow systems based on vertical mantle tanks. Theoretical investigations of the heat transfer in differently designed vertical mantle tanks during different operation conditions have been carried out. The investigations are based...

Guidebook to Rio Grande rift in New Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Hawley, J.W.

1978-01-01

Discusses the details of geologic features along the rift zone. Included are short papers on topics relative to the overall region. These papers and the road logs are of special interest to any one pursuing further study of the rift. This book is a comprehensive guide to the middle and late Cenozoic geology of the Rio Grande region of Colorado and New Mexico. Though initially used on field trips for the International Symposium on Tectonics and Magmatism of the Rio Grande rift, the guidebook will be useful to anyone interested in the Cenozoic history of the 600-mi-long area extending from central Colorado to El Paso, Texas.

Signature recognition for rift structures of different sediment strata in ordos basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Xigang

2006-10-01

The rift structure weak information of high Bouguer gravity anomaly data among different Sediment strata are extracted By the horizontal gradient Maximum modulus, the wavelet variation, stripped gravity anomaly of basement and interfaces above/under researched layer, image processing method. So the linear rift structures of different Sediment strata are recognized on data images, such as Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, Permian and Carboniferous, Ordovician System. Development rifts of different Sediment strata occur in stereo structure with quasi-uniform spacing, the rift density of above Sediment stratum is more than lower in different Sediment strata, but the north rift density of the same Sediment stratum is less than south's. It is useful to study rift structure and co-explore for oil, gas, coal and uranium resources in Ordos Basin. (authors)

Mantle Flow Implications across Easter and Southern Africa from Shear Wave Splitting Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, C.; Nyblade, A.; Bagley, B. C.; Mulibo, G. D.; Tugume, F.; Wysession, M. E.; Wiens, D.; van der Meijde, M.

2015-12-01

In this study, we present new shear wave splitting results from broadband seismic stations in Botswana and Namibia, and combine them with previous results from stations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Angola to further examine the pattern of seismic anisotropy across southern Africa. The new results come from stations in northern Namibia and Botswana, which help to fill in large gaps in data coverage. Our preliminary results show that fast polarization directions overall trend in a NE orientation. The most noticeable measurements that deviate from this pattern are located around the Archean Tanzania Craton in eastern Africa. The general NE pattern of fast polarization directions is attributed to mantle flow linked to the African superplume. Smaller scale variations from this general direction can be explained by shape anisotropy in the lithosphere in magmatic regions in the East African rift system and to fossil anisotropy in the Precambrian lithosphere.

The Earth's mantle and geoneutrinos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiorentini, Giovanni; Fogli, Gian Luigi; Lisi, Eligio; Mantovani, Fabio; Rotunno, Anna Maria; Xhixha, Gerti

2013-01-01

The KamLAND and Borexino experiments have observed, each at ∼4σ level, signals of electron antineutrinos produced in the decay chains of thorium and uranium in the Earth's crust and mantle (Th and U geoneutrinos). Various pieces of geochemical and geophysical information allow an estimation of the crustal geoneutrino flux components with relatively small uncertainties. The mantle component may then be inferred by subtracting the estimated crustal flux from the measured total flux. We find that crust-subtracted signals show hints of a residual mantle component, emerging at ∼2.4σ level by combining the KamLAND and Borexino data. The inferred mantle flux, slightly favoring scenarios with relatively high Th and U abundances, within ∼1σ uncertainties is comparable to the predictions from recent mantle models

Oblique rift opening revealed by reoccurring magma injection in central Iceland

KAUST Repository

Ruch, Joel

2016-08-05

Extension deficit builds up over centuries at divergent plate boundaries and is recurrently removed during rifting events, accompanied by magma intrusions and transient metre-scale deformation. However, information on transient near-field deformation has rarely been captured, hindering progress in understanding rifting mechanisms and evolution. Here we show new evidence of oblique rift opening during a rifting event influenced by pre-existing fractures and two centuries of extension deficit accumulation. This event originated from the Bárðarbunga caldera and led to the largest basaltic eruption in Iceland in >200 years. The results show that the opening was initially accompanied by left-lateral shear that ceased with increasing opening. Our results imply that pre-existing fractures play a key role in controlling oblique rift opening at divergent plate boundaries.

Mantle wedge serpentinization effects on slab dips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eh Tan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The mechanical coupling between a subducting slab and the overlying mantle wedge is an important factor in controlling the subduction dip angle and the flow in mantel wedge. This paper investigates the role of the amount of mantle serpentinization on the subduction zone evolution. With numerical thermos-mechanical models with elasto-visco-plastic rheology, we vary the thickness and depth extent of mantle serpentinization in the mantle wedge to control the degree of coupling between the slab and mantle wedge. A thin serpentinized mantle layer is required for stable subduction. For models with stable subduction, we find that the slab dip is affected by the down-dip extent and the mantle serpentinization thickness. A critical down-dip extent exists in mantle serpentinization, determined by the thickness of the overriding lithosphere. If the down-dip extent does not exceed the critical depth, the slab is partially coupled to the overriding lithosphere and has a constant dip angle regardless of the mantle serpentinization thickness. However, if the down-dip extent exceeds the critical depth, the slab and the base of the overriding lithosphere would be separated and decoupled by a thick layer of serpentinized peridotite. This allows further slab bending and results in steeper slab dip. Increasing mantle serpentinization thickness will also result in larger slab dip. We also find that with weak mantle wedge, there is no material flowing from the asthenosphere into the serpentinized mantle wedge. All of these results indicate that serpentinization is an important ingredient when studying the subduction dynamics in the mantle wedge.

Tectono-stratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous Syn-rift Succession in Bongor Basin, Chad: Insights into Structural Controls on Sedimentary Infill of a Continental Rift

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, C.; Ji, Y.; Wei, X.; An, F.; Li, D.; Zhu, R.

2017-12-01

In a rift basin, the dispersal and deposition of sediments is significantly influenced by the paleo-topography, which is highly controlled by the evolution and interaction of normal faults in different scales. To figure out the impact of faults evolution and topographic elements towards sedimentary fillings, we investigated the Lower Cretaceous syn-rift package in Bongor Basin, south of Chad Republic. Constrained with 2D and 3D seismic data, core data and logging information, a sequence stratigraphy architecture and a variety of depositional systems are recognized, including fan delta, braided delta, sub-lacustrine fan and lacustrine system. We also studied the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of clastic depositional systems of the syn-rift complex, and valuable insights into structural controls of sequence architectures and depositional systems are provided. During the evolution of rift basin, marginal structures such as relay ramps and strike-slipping boundary transfer fault are major elements that influence the main sediments influx points. Release faults in the hanging-wall could form a differential evolution pattern for accommodation, and effect the deposition systems in the early stage of rift evolution. Oblique crossing-faults, minor faults that develop on the erosional uplift in the interior foot-wall, would cut the uplifts and provide faulted-through paths for the over-filled sediments in the accommodation space, making it possible to develop sedimentary systems towards the center of basin during the early stage of rift evolution, although the origins of such minor faults still need further discussion. The results of this research indicate that different types of fault interactions have a fundamental control on patterns of sediment dispersal during early stage of rift basins.

Mantle Convection on Modern Supercomputers

Science.gov (United States)

Weismüller, J.; Gmeiner, B.; Huber, M.; John, L.; Mohr, M.; Rüde, U.; Wohlmuth, B.; Bunge, H. P.

2015-12-01

Mantle convection is the cause for plate tectonics, the formation of mountains and oceans, and the main driving mechanism behind earthquakes. The convection process is modeled by a system of partial differential equations describing the conservation of mass, momentum and energy. Characteristic to mantle flow is the vast disparity of length scales from global to microscopic, turning mantle convection simulations into a challenging application for high-performance computing. As system size and technical complexity of the simulations continue to increase, design and implementation of simulation models for next generation large-scale architectures is handled successfully only in an interdisciplinary context. A new priority program - named SPPEXA - by the German Research Foundation (DFG) addresses this issue, and brings together computer scientists, mathematicians and application scientists around grand challenges in HPC. Here we report from the TERRA-NEO project, which is part of the high visibility SPPEXA program, and a joint effort of four research groups. TERRA-NEO develops algorithms for future HPC infrastructures, focusing on high computational efficiency and resilience in next generation mantle convection models. We present software that can resolve the Earth's mantle with up to 1012 grid points and scales efficiently to massively parallel hardware with more than 50,000 processors. We use our simulations to explore the dynamic regime of mantle convection and assess the impact of small scale processes on global mantle flow.

Identification of a major non-structural protein in the nuclei of Rift Valley fever virus-infected cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Struthers, J K; Swanepoel, R

1982-06-01

A non-structural protein of mol. wt. 34 X 10(3) was demonstrated in the nuclei of Rift Valley fever virus-infected Vero cells by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electro-phoresis. The protein appears to correspond to the virus-induced antigen demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence in intranuclear inclusions.

Assessing the Threat of Amphibian Chytrid Fungus in the Albertine Rift: Past, Present and Future

Science.gov (United States)

Seimon, Tracie A.; Ayebare, Samuel; Sekisambu, Robert; Muhindo, Emmanuel; Mitamba, Guillain; Greenbaum, Eli; Menegon, Michele; Pupin, Fabio; McAloose, Denise; Ammazzalorso, Alyssa; Meirte, Danny; Lukwago, Wilbur; Behangana, Mathias; Seimon, Anton; Plumptre, Andrew J.

2015-01-01

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the cause of chytridiomycosis, is a pathogenic fungus that is found worldwide and is a major contributor to amphibian declines and extinctions. We report results of a comprehensive effort to assess the distribution and threat of Bd in one of the Earth’s most important biodiversity hotspots, the Albertine Rift in central Africa. In herpetological surveys conducted between 2010 and 2014, 1018 skin swabs from 17 amphibian genera in 39 sites across the Albertine Rift were tested for Bd by PCR. Overall, 19.5% of amphibians tested positive from all sites combined. Skin tissue samples from 163 amphibians were examined histologically; of these two had superficial epidermal intracorneal fungal colonization and lesions consistent with the disease chytridiomycosis. One amphibian was found dead during the surveys, and all others encountered appeared healthy. We found no evidence for Bd-induced mortality events, a finding consistent with other studies. To gain a historical perspective about Bd in the Albertine Rift, skin swabs from 232 museum-archived amphibians collected as voucher specimens from 1925–1994 were tested for Bd. Of these, one sample was positive; an Itombwe River frog (Phrynobatrachus asper) collected in 1950 in the Itombwe highlands. This finding represents the earliest record of Bd in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We modeled the distribution of Bd in the Albertine Rift using MaxEnt software, and trained our model for improved predictability. Our model predicts that Bd is currently widespread across the Albertine Rift, with moderate habitat suitability extending into the lowlands. Under climatic modeling scenarios our model predicts that optimal habitat suitability of Bd will decrease causing a major range contraction of the fungus by 2080. Our baseline data and modeling predictions are important for comparative studies, especially if significant changes in amphibian health status or climactic conditions are

Evidence for triple-junction rifting focussed on local magmatic centres along Parga Chasma, Venus

Science.gov (United States)

Graff, J. R.; Ernst, R. E.; Samson, C.

2018-05-01

Parga Chasma is a discontinuous rift system marking the southern boundary of the Beta-Atla-Themis (BAT) region on Venus. Along a 1500 km section of Parga Chasma, detailed mapping of Magellan Synthetic Aperture Radar images has revealed 5 coronae, 11 local rift zones distinct from a regional extension pattern, and 47 graben-fissure systems with radiating (28), linear (12) and circumferential (7) geometries. The magmatic centres of these graben-fissure systems typically coincide with coronae or large volcanoes, although a few lack any central magmatic or tectonic feature (i.e. are cryptic). Some of the magmatic centres are interpreted as the foci of triple-junction rifting that form the 11 local rift zones. Cross-cutting relationships between graben-fissure systems and local rift faults reveal synchronous formation, implying a genetic association. Additionally, cross-cutting relationships show that local rifting events postdate the regional extension along Parga Chasma, further indicating multiple stages of rifting. Evidence for multiple centres of younger magmatism and local rifting against a background of regional extension provides an explanation for the discontinuous morphology of Parga Chasma. Examination of the Atlantic Rift System (prior to ocean opening) on Earth provides an analogue to the rift morphologies observed on Venus.

Crustal and upper mantle velocity structure of the Salton Trough, southeast California

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, T.; McCarthy, J.

1996-01-01

predates Salton Trough rifting. It may also in part result from migration of magmatic spreading centers associated with the southern San Andreas fault system. These spreading centers may have existed east of their current locations in the past and may have influenced the lower crust and upper mantle to the east of the current Salton Trough.

Analogue modelling of microcontinent formation: a case study from the Danakil Block, southern Red Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Molnar, Nicolas; Cruden, Alexander; Betts, Peter

2017-04-01

The kinematic evolution of the Danakil Block is well constrained but the processes responsible for the formation of an isolated continental segment around 13 Ma ago with an independent pole of rotation are still matter of debate. We performed three-dimensional analogue experiments of rotational continental extension containing a pre-existing linear weakness zones in the lithospheric mantle to investigate the formation of the Red Sea, including the Danakil Block. We imposed a rotational extensional boundary condition that simulates the progressive anticlockwise rotation of the Arabian Plate with respect to the Nubia Plate over the last 13-15 Ma and we simulated the presence of a narrow thermal anomaly related to the northward channelling of Afar plume by varying the viscosity of the model lithospheric mantle. The results from experiments containing a linear zone of weakness oriented at low angles with respect to the rift axis show that early stages of deformation are characterised by the development of two rift sub-parallel compartments that delimit an intra-rift block in the vicinity of the weak lithosphere boundary zone, which are analogous to the two rift branches that confine the Danakil Block in the southern Red Sea. The imposed rotational boundary condition creates a displacement gradient along the intra-rift block and prevents the nucleation of the early rift compartments to the north of the block, enhancing the formation of an independently rotating intra-rift segment. Comparison with geodetic data supports our modelling results, which are also in agreement with the "crank-arm" model of Sichler (1980. La biellette Danakile: un modèle pour l'évolution géodynamique de l'Afar. Bull. la Société Géologique Fr. 22, 925-933). Additional analogue models of i) orthogonal extension with an identical lithospheric mantle weakness and, ii) rotational extension with a homogeneous lithosphere (i.e., no lithospheric mantle weakness) show no evidence of developing

Oceanization of the lithospheric mantle: the study case of the spinel peridotites from Monte Maggiore (Corsica, France).

Science.gov (United States)

Piccardo, G. B.

2009-04-01

(Rampone, 2004; Rampone et al., 2008; 2009) provide reliable geochronological informations (i.e. Sm-Nd cpx-plg-wr isochron ages and Sm-Nd model ages) and evidence that the whole mafic and ultramafic rocks show an overall Sm/Nd isotopic homogeneity. Cpx-plg-wr data from gabbroic dykes define internal isochrones yielding Jurassic ages (162+/-10 Ma and 159+/-15 Ma, respectively). The plg-cpx(-wr) isochrons for impregnated plagioclase peridotites yields age of 155+/-6 Ma. The initial ɛNd values (8.9-9.7) are indicative of a MORB affinity. Calculated DM model ages for both spinel and plagioclase peridotites point to a Late Jurassic age (150 Ma). Isotope ratios of cpx from spinel and plagioclase peridotites conform to the linear array defined by overall gabbroic rocks. The isotopic evidence from the melt-percolated, reactive and impregnated peridotites indicates that the pristine lithospheric mantle protoliths were isotopically homogenized by the melt-rock interaction during percolation/impregnation processes which erased any pre-existing isotopic signature. Moreover, the overall Sm/Nd isotopic homogeneity indicates that the asthenospheric mantle sources of the infiltrating melts were isotopically homogeneous. Accordingly, it is plausible that percolation and intrusion were operated by similar and coeval Late Jurassic MORB-type melts. In conclusion, petrologic and isotopic data allow to recognize that the extending sub-continental lithospheric mantle was infiltrated by Late Jurassic MORB melts, formed by asthenospheric decompression-induced partial melting during continental extension and rifting. Melt-peridotite interaction modified the compositional features of the lithospheric mantle and caused its isotopic resetting. Accordingly, the sub-continental lithospheric mantle underwent an "oceanization" process (i.e. isotope resetting to "oceanic" MORB signatures) during Late Jurassic times operated by asthenospheric MORB melts. Depending on the melt composition, the lithospheric

Preferential rifting of continents - A source of displaced terranes

Science.gov (United States)

Vink, G. E.; Morgan, W. J.; Zhao, W.-L.

1984-01-01

Lithospheric rifting, while prevalent in the continents, rarely occurs in oceanic regions. To explain this preferential rifting of continents, the total strength of different lithospheres is compared by integrating the limits of lithospheric stress with depth. Comparisons of total strength indicate that continental lithosphere is weaker than oceanic lithosphere by about a factor of three. Also, a thickened crust can halve the total strength of normal continental lithosphere. Because the weakest area acts as a stress guide, any rifting close to an ocean-continent boundary would prefer a continental pathway. This results in the formation of small continental fragments or microplates that, once accreted back to a continent during subduction, are seen as displaced terranes. In addition, the large crustal thicknesses associated with suture zones would make such areas likely locations for future rifting episodes. This results in the tendency of new oceans to open along the suture where a former ocean had closed.

Experimental constraints on metasomatism of mantle wedge peridotites by hybridized adakitic melts

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Corgne, Alexandre; Schilling, Manuel E.; Grégoire, Michel; Langlade, Jessica

2018-05-01

In this study, a series of high-pressure (1.5 GPa) and high-temperature (1000-1300 °C) experiments were performed to investigate the petrological imprints of adakitic metasomatism on mantle wedge peridotites. Reaction couples were prepared using a powdered adakite from Cerro Pampa, Argentina (Mg# 0.7) placed in contact with a cored sample of medium-grained protogranular depleted spinel lherzolite from Pali Aike (Chile). Textural and chemical analyses of the run products allow us to identify key features of modal metasomatism by hybridized adakitic melts. The main changes in phase relations are associated with the following metasomatic reactions: incongruent dissolution of olivine and associated precipitation of secondary orthopyroxene, dissolution of primary spinel and subsequent replacement by secondary high-Cr spinel. In experiments with high water contents (9-12 wt%), precipitation of pargasitic amphibole also occurred, possibly at the expense of primary clinopyroxene. Neither phlogopite nor Ti-oxides were precipitated in any of these experiments. As expected, primary pyroxenes do not show evidence of being significantly altered following the interaction with the produced siliceous melts. Within the adakitic portion of the experimental charge, it was also observed the crystallization of secondary Ti-rich, Cr- and Na-poor diopsidic clinopyroxene, andesine plagioclase and, at low temperature, Fe-enriched secondary orthopyroxene. Considering textural criteria, we interpreted the formation of these minerals as crystallization products of the adakite component and not as true products of metasomatic reactions. The experimental results are used to discuss some of the petrological evidences presented to support modal metasomatism by slab-derived melts of mantle xenoliths extracted from several suprasubduction settings located around the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Seismic Imaging of Mantle Plumes

Science.gov (United States)

Nataf, Henri-Claude

The mantle plume hypothesis was proposed thirty years ago by Jason Morgan to explain hotspot volcanoes such as Hawaii. A thermal diapir (or plume) rises from the thermal boundary layer at the base of the mantle and produces a chain of volcanoes as a plate moves on top of it. The idea is very attractive, but direct evidence for actual plumes is weak, and many questions remain unanswered. With the great improvement of seismic imagery in the past ten years, new prospects have arisen. Mantle plumes are expected to be rather narrow, and their detection by seismic techniques requires specific developments as well as dedicated field experiments. Regional travel-time tomography has provided good evidence for plumes in the upper mantle beneath a few hotspots (Yellowstone, Massif Central, Iceland). Beneath Hawaii and Iceland, the plume can be detected in the transition zone because it deflects the seismic discontinuities at 410 and 660 km depths. In the lower mantle, plumes are very difficult to detect, so specific methods have been worked out for this purpose. There are hints of a plume beneath the weak Bowie hotspot, as well as intriguing observations for Hawaii. Beneath Iceland, high-resolution tomography has just revealed a wide and meandering plume-like structure extending from the core-mantle boundary up to the surface. Among the many phenomena that seem to take place in the lowermost mantle (or D''), there are also signs there of the presence of plumes. In this article I review the main results obtained so far from these studies and discuss their implications for plume dynamics. Seismic imaging of mantle plumes is still in its infancy but should soon become a turbulent teenager.

Neoproterozoic stratigraphic framework of the Tarim Craton in NW China: Implications for rift evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Lin; Guan, Shuwei; Zhang, Shuichang; Yang, Haijun; Jin, Jiuqiang; Zhang, Xiaodan; Zhang, Chunyu

2018-06-01

The Tarim Craton is overlain by thick Neoproterozoic sedimentary successions in rift tectonic setting. This study examines the latest outcrop, seismic, and drilling core data with the objective of investigating the regional stratigraphy to deeply recognize the evolution of rifting in the craton. Cryogenian to Lower Ediacaran successions are mainly composed of clastic rocks with thicknesses of 2000-3000 m, and the Upper Ediacaran successions are composed of carbonate rocks with thicknesses of 500-800 m. The rift basins and stratigraphic zones are divided into northern and southern parts by a central paleo-uplift. The northern rift basin extends through the northern Tarim Craton in an E-W direction with two depocenters (Aksu and Kuruktag). The southern rift basin is oriented NE-SW. There are three or four phases of tillites in the northern zone, while there are two in the southern zone. Given the north-south difference of the stratigraphic framework, the northern rift basin initiated at ca. 740 Ma and the southern rift basin initiated at ca. 780 Ma. During the Cryogenian and Ediacaran, the northern and southern rift basins were separated by the central paleo-uplift, finally connecting with each other in the early Cambrian. Tectonic deformation in the Late Ediacaran led to the formation of a parallel unconformity in the rift basins and an angular unconformity in the central paleo-uplift. The Neoproterozoic rift basins continued to affect the distribution of Lower Cambrian hydrocarbon source rocks. The north-south distribution and evolution of the rift basins in the Tarim Craton have implications for reconstructions of the Rodinia supercontinent.

How sedimentation affects rift segment interaction during oblique extension: a 4D analogue modelling study

Science.gov (United States)

Zwaan, Frank; Schreurs, Guido; Adam, Jürgen

2017-04-01

During the early stages of rifting, rift segments may form along non-continuous and/or offset pre-existing weaknesses. It is important to understand how these initial rift segments interact and connect to form a continuous rift system. Previous modelling of rift interaction structures has shown the dominant influence of oblique extension, promoting rift segment linkage (e.g. Zwaan et al., 2016) and eventual continent break-up (Brune et al., 2012). However, these studies did not incorporate sedimentation, which can have important implications for rift evolution (e.g. Bialas and Buck, 2009). Here we present a series of analogue model experiments investigating the influence of sedimentation on rift interaction structures under oblique extension conditions. Our set-up involves a base of compressed foam and plexiglass that forces distributed extension in the overlying analogue materials when the model sidewalls move apart. A sand layer simulates the brittle upper crust and a viscous sand/silicone mixture the ductile lower crust. One of the underlying base plates can move laterally allowing oblique extension. Right-stepping offset and disconnected lines of silicone (seeds) on top of the basal viscous serve as inherited structures since the strong sand cover is locally thinner. We apply syn-rift sediments by filling in the developing rift and transfer zone basins with sand at fixed time steps. Models are run either with sedimentation or without to allow comparison. The first results suggest that the gross structures are similar with or without sedimentation. As seen by Zwaan et al. (2016), dextral oblique extension promotes rift linkage because rift propagation aligns itself perpendicular to the extension direction. This causes the rift segments to grow towards each other and to establish a continuous rift structure. However, the structures within the rift segments show quite different behaviour when sedimentation is applied. The extra sediment loading in the rift basin

Lower Crustal Strength Controls on Melting and Serpentinization at Magma-Poor Margins: Potential Implications for the South Atlantic

Science.gov (United States)

Ros, Elena; Pérez-Gussinyé, Marta; Araújo, Mario; Thoaldo Romeiro, Marco; Andrés-Martínez, Miguel; Morgan, Jason P.

2017-12-01

Rifted continental margins may present a predominantly magmatic continent-ocean transition (COT), or one characterized by large exposures of serpentinized mantle. In this study we use numerical modeling to show the importance of the lower crustal strength in controlling the amount and onset of melting and serpentinization during rifting. We propose that the relative timing between both events controls the nature of the COT. Numerical experiments for half-extension velocities serpentinized mantle underlain by some magmatic products. In contrast, a weak lower crust promotes margins with a gentle crustal tapering, small faults dipping both ocean- and landward and small syn-rift subsidence. Their COT is predominantly magmatic at any ultra-slow extension velocity and perhaps underlain by some serpentinized mantle. These margins can also be either symmetric or asymmetric. Our models predict that magmatic underplating mostly underlies the wide margin at weak asymmetric conjugates, whereas the wide margin is mainly underlain by serpentinized mantle at strong asymmetric margins. Based on this conceptual template, we propose different natures for the COTs in the South Atlantic.

Characterising East Antarctic Lithosphere and its Rift Systems using Gravity Inversion

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughan, Alan P. M.; Kusznir, Nick J.; Ferraccioli, Fausto; Leat, Phil T.; Jordan, Tom A. R. M.; Purucker, Michael E.; Golynsky, A. V. Sasha; Rogozhina, Irina

2013-04-01

Since the International Geophysical Year (1957), a view has prevailed that East Antarctica has a relatively homogeneous lithospheric structure, consisting of a craton-like mosaic of Precambrian terranes, stable since the Pan-African orogeny ~500 million years ago (e.g. Ferracioli et al. 2011). Recent recognition of a continental-scale rift system cutting the East Antarctic interior has crystallised an alternative view of much more recent geological activity with important implications. The newly defined East Antarctic Rift System (EARS) (Ferraccioli et al. 2011) appears to extend from at least the South Pole to the continental margin at the Lambert Rift, a distance of 2500 km. This is comparable in scale to the well-studied East African rift system. New analysis of RadarSat data by Golynsky & Golynsky (2009) indicates that further rift zones may form widely distributed extension zones within the continent. A pilot study (Vaughan et al. 2012), using a newly developed gravity inversion technique (Chappell & Kusznir 2008) with existing public domain satellite data, shows distinct crustal thickness provinces with overall high average thickness separated by thinner, possibly rifted, crust. Understanding the nature of crustal thickness in East Antarctica is critical because: 1) this is poorly known along the ocean-continent transition, but is necessary to improve the plate reconstruction fit between Antarctica, Australia and India in Gondwana, which will also better define how and when these continents separated; 2) lateral variation in crustal thickness can be used to test supercontinent reconstructions and assess the effects of crystalline basement architecture and mechanical properties on rifting; 3) rift zone trajectories through East Antarctica will define the geometry of zones of crustal and lithospheric thinning at plate-scale; 4) it is not clear why or when the crust of East Antarctica became so thick and elevated, but knowing this can be used to test models of

The lakes of the Jordan Rift Valley

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gat, J.R.

2001-01-01

This paper presents a summary of the proceedings of a workshop on the Lakes of the Jordan Rift Valley that was held in conjunction with the CRP on The Use of Isotope Techniques in Lake Dynamics Investigations. The paper presents a review of the geological, hydrogeological and physical limnological setting of the lakes in the Jordan Rift Valley, Lake Hula, Lake Kinneret and the Dead Sea. This is complemented by a description of the isotope hydrology of the system that includes the use of a wide range of isotopes: oxygen-18, deuterium, tritium, carbon-14, carbon-13, chlorine isotopes, boron-11 and helium-3/4. Environmental isotope aspects of the salt balances of the lakes, their palaeolimnology and biogeochemical tracers are also presented. The scope of application of isotopic tracers is very broad and provides a clear insight into many aspects of the physical, chemical and biological limnology of the Rift Valley Lakes. (author)

Alkali feldspar syenites with shoshonitic affinities from Chhotaudepur area: Implication for mantle metasomatism in the Deccan large igneous province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.R. Hari

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Two petrologically distinct alkali feldspar syenite bodies (AFS-1 and AFS-2 from Chhotaudepur area, Deccan Large Igneous Province are reported in the present work. AFS-1 is characterized by hypidiomorphic texture and consists of feldspar (Or55Ab43 to Or25Ab71, ferro-pargasite/ferro-pargasite hornblende, hastingsite, pyroxene (Wo47, En5, Fs46, magnetite and biotite. AFS-2 exhibits panidiomorphic texture with euhedral pyroxene (Wo47-50, En22-39, Fs12–31 set in a groundmass matrix of alkali feldspar (Or99Ab0.77 to Or1.33Ab98, titanite and magnetite. In comparison to AFS-1, higher elemental concentrations of Ba, Sr and ∑REE are observed in AFS-2. The average peralkaline index of the alkali feldspar syenites is ∼1 indicating their alkaline nature. Variation discrimination diagrams involving major and trace elements and their ratios demonstrate that these alkali feldspar syenites have a shoshonite affinity but emplaced in a within-plate and rifting environment. No evidence of crustal contamination is perceptible in the multi-element primitive mantle normalized diagram as well as in terms of trace elemental ratios. The enrichment of incompatible elements in the alkali feldspar syenites suggests the involvement of mantle metasomatism in their genesis.

Colorado Basin Structure and Rifting, Argentine passive margin

Science.gov (United States)

Autin, Julia; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena; Loegering, Markus; Anka, Zahie; Vallejo, Eduardo; Rodriguez, Jorge; Marchal, Denis; Reichert, Christian; di Primio, Rolando

2010-05-01

The Argentine margin presents a strong segmentation with considerable strike-slip movements along the fracture zones. We focus on the volcanic segment (between the Salado and Colorado transfer zones), which is characterized by seaward dipping reflectors (SDR) all along the ocean-continent transition [e.g. Franke et al., 2006; Gladczenko et al., 1997; Hinz et al., 1999]. The segment is structured by E-W trending basins, which differs from the South African margin basins and cannot be explained by classical models of rifting. Thus the study of the relationship between the basins and the Argentine margin itself will allow the understanding of their contemporary development. Moreover the comparison of the conjugate margins suggests a particular evolution of rifting and break-up. We firstly focus on the Colorado Basin, which is thought to be the conjugate of the well studied Orange Basin [Hirsch et al., 2009] at the South African margin [e.g. Franke et al., 2006]. This work presents results of a combined approach using seismic interpretation and structural, isostatic and thermal modelling highlighting the structure of the crust. The seismic interpretation shows two rift-related discordances: one intra syn-rift and the break-up unconformity. The overlying sediments of the sag phase are less deformed (no sedimentary wedges) and accumulated before the generation of oceanic crust. The axis of the Colorado Basin trends E-W in the western part, where the deepest pre-rift series are preserved. In contrast, the basin axis turns to a NW-SE direction in its eastern part, where mainly post-rift sediments accumulated. The most distal part reaches the margin slope and opens into the oceanic basin. The general basin direction is almost orthogonal to the present-day margin trend. The most frequent hypothesis explaining this geometry is that the Colorado Basin is an aborted rift resulting from a previous RRR triple junction [e.g. Franke et al., 2002]. The structural interpretation

Estimation of induced secondary metabolites in chickpea tissues in response to elicitor preparation of seaweeds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bi, F.; Iqbal, S.

2000-01-01

Disease response of plants in terms of induced browning and phytoalexin (induced secondary metabolites) production were recorded in the tissues of Cicer arietinum (Chick pea) treated with the High Molecular Crude Elicitor Preparations, HMWCEP 'Polysaccharides' of Hypnea musciformis (red algae), Padina tetrastromatica (brown algae) and Ulva lactulus (green algae). A UV-visible spectrophotometric method has been developed for the quantification of induced secondary metabolites with time. (author)

The MOZART Project - MOZAmbique Rift Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, J. F.; Chamussa, J. R.; Domingues, A.; Helffrich, G. R.; Fishwick, S.; Ferreira, A. M.; Custodio, S.; Brisbourne, A. M.; Grobbelaar, M.

2012-12-01

Project MOZART (MOZAmbique Rift Tomography) is an ongoing joint effort of Portuguese, Mozambican and British research groups to investigate the geological structure and current tectonic activity of the southernmost tip of the East African Rift System (EARS) through the deployment of a network of 30 broad band seismic stations in Central and Southern Mozambique. In contrast with other stretches of the EARS to the North and with the Kapvaal craton to the West and South, the lithosphere of Mozambique was not previously studied with a dense seismographic deployment on account of past political instability, and many questions remain unanswered with respect to the location and characteristics of the EARS to the south of Tanzania. In recent years, space geodesy revealed the existence of three microplates in and off Mozambique - Victoria, Rovuma, Lwandle - whose borders provide a connection of the EARS to the South West Indian Ridge as required by plate tectonics. However, the picture is still coarse concerning the location of the rift structures. The 2006 M7 Machaze earthquake in Central Mozambique highlighted the current tectonic activity of the region and added a further clue to the location of the continental rift, prompting the MOZART deployment. Besides helping unravel the current tectonics, the project is expected to shed light on the poorly known Mesoproterozoic structure described by Arthur Holmes in 1951 as the Mozambique Belt, and on the mechanisms of transition from stable craton to rifted continental crust, through the development of a tomographic model for the lithosphere. The MOZART network is distributed South of the Zambezi river at average inter-station spaces of the order of 100 km and includes four stations across the border in South Africa. Data exchange was agreed with AfricaArray. The deployment proceeded in two phases in March 2011, and November and December 2011. Decommissioning is foreseen for August 2013. We report preliminary results for this

Mantle-cell lymphoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Barista, I; Romaguera, J E; Cabanillas, F

2001-03-01

During the past decade, mantle-cell lymphoma has been established as a new disease entity. The normal counterparts of the cells forming this malignant lymphoma are found in the mantle zone of the lymph node, a thin layer surrounding the germinal follicles. These cells have small to medium-sized nuclei, are commonly indented or cleaved, and stain positively with CD5, CD20, cyclin D1, and FMC7 antibodies. Because of its morphological appearance and a resemblance to other low-grade lymphomas, many of which grow slowly, this lymphoma was initially thought to be an indolent tumour, but its natural course was not thoroughly investigated until the 1990s, when the BCL1 oncogene was identified as a marker for this disease. Mantle-cell lymphoma is a discrete entity, unrelated to small lymphocytic or small-cleaved-cell lymphomas.

Sources and mobility of carbonate melts beneath cratons, with implications for deep carbon cycling, metasomatism and rift initiation

Science.gov (United States)

Tappe, Sebastian; Romer, Rolf L.; Stracke, Andreas; Steenfelt, Agnete; Smart, Katie A.; Muehlenbachs, Karlis; Torsvik, Trond H.

2017-05-01

differentiated 'cratonic carbonatites' have only little in common with those of metasomatic agents that act on the deeper lithosphere. Consequently, carbonatite trace element systematics should only be used with caution when constraining carbon mobility and metasomatism at mantle depths. Regardless of the exact nature of carbonate-bearing melts within the mantle lithosphere, they play an important role in enrichment processes, thereby decreasing the stability of buoyant cratons and promoting rift initiation - as exemplified by the Mesozoic-Cenozoic breakup of the North Atlantic craton.

Monitoring of fumarole discharge during the 1975-1982 rifting in Krafla volcanic center, North Iceland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oskarsson, N.

1984-09-01

Fumarole discharge chemistry in the Krafla geothermal field changed regionally during the 1975-1982 rifting activity. The discharge chemistry previously encountered in the Krafla fumarole grounds was masked by a carbon dioxide-rich gas during the first weeks of rifting. The new discharge composition remained unchanged until 1983 when the first signs of recovery of the previous equilibrium composition appeared at the margins of the area. The outgassing carbon dioxide is released from the deep aquifers beneath the area by the interaction of magmatic gas with the hydrothermal system. In addition to juvenile magmatic carbon the outgassing contains carbon released from the hydrothermal system upon reaction with acid magmatic gases. Increased boiling of the hydrothermal fumaroles was induced by the lowering of the partial pressure of steam due to increased gas content in the fumarole conduits. At the center of rifting activity above the magma chamber the fumarole discharge was temporarily mixed with magmatic gases during local effusive activity. Hydrogen was the dominating magmatic gas in that discharge due to the preferred degassing of hydrogen from magma at shallow levels. These ''hydrogen pulses'' increased in magnitude and duration towards the end of rifting in 1982. The discharge chemistry correlates with the expansion of the magma reservoir of the volcano (regional change of long duration) and local volcanism (short-lived change, hydrogen pulses). The chemical monitoring of fumaroles in Krafla shows that the chemical surveillance of volcanos needs rapid methods for sampling and complete chemical analysis which can be interpreted in terms of reactions and magmatic processes.

A >100 Ma Mantle Geochemical Record: Retiring Mantle Plumes may be Premature

Science.gov (United States)

Konter, J. G.; Hanan, B. B.; Blichert-Toft, J.; Koppers, A. A.; Plank, T.; Staudigel, H.

2006-12-01

Hotspot volcanism has long been attributed to mantle plumes, but in recent years suggestions have been made that plate tectonic processes, such as extension, can account for all hotspot tracks. This explanation involves a profoundly less dynamic lower mantle, which justifies a critical evaluation before the plume model is dismissed. Such an evaluation has to involve a wide range of geochemical, geological, and geophysical techniques, broadly investigating the products of volcanism as well as the underlying lithosphere and mantle. We argue here that the combined geological record and geochemistry of intraplate volcanoes holds some important clues that help us decide between models of plume-like upwelling versus passive upwelling with lithospheric extension. The best of these integrated datasets can be obtained from the long seamount chains in the Pacific Ocean. A new combined dataset of trace element and isotopic compositions, along with modern 40Ar/39Ar ages from seamounts in the Gilbert Ridge, Tokelau chain, and West Pacific Seamount Province (WPSP) provides a record of current to Cretaceous volcanism in the South Pacific. We have reconstructed the eruptive locations of the seamounts using a range of absolute plate motion models, including some models with hotspot motion and others that use the Indo-Atlantic hotspot reference frame. Our results show that the backtracked locations consistently form clusters (300km radius) around the active ends of the Macdonald, Rurutu and Rarotonga hotspot chains, while closely matching their distinct C-HIMU and C-EM1 signatures. The oldest WPSP seamounts (older than 100 Ma) form the only exception and backtrack, with larger uncertainty, to north of Rarotonga. Therefore, the mantle currently underlying the Cook-Austral islands has produced volcanoes in three geochemically distinct areas for at least 100 m.y. Furthermore, we find the shortest mantle residence time, 0.6 Ga, for a source of mixed recycled DMM and an EM1-like

ALVIN investigation of an active propagating rift system, Galapagos 95.5° W

Science.gov (United States)

Hey, R.N.; Sinton, J.M.; Kleinrock, M.C.; Yonover, R.N.; MacDonald, K.C.; Miller, S.P.; Searle, R.C.; Christie, D.M.; Atwater, T.M.; Sleep, Norman H.; Johnson, H. Paul; Neal, C.A.

1992-01-01

ALVIN investigations have defined the fine-scale structural and volcanic patterns produced by active rift and spreading center propagation and failure near 95.5° W on the Galapagos spreading center. Behind the initial lithospheric rifting, which is propagating nearly due west at about 50 km m.y.−1, a triangular block of preexisting lithosphere is being stretched and fractured, with some recent volcanism along curving fissures. A well-organized seafloor spreading center, an extensively faulted and fissured volcanic ridge, develops ~ 10 km (~ 200,000 years) behind the tectonic rift tip. Regional variations in the chemical compositions of the youngest lavas collected during this program contrast with those encompassing the entire 3 m.y. of propagation history for this region. A maximum in degree of magmatic differentiation occurs about 9 km behind the propagating rift tip, in a region of diffuse rifting. The propagating spreading center shows a gentle gradient in magmatic differentiation culminating at the SW-curving spreading center tip. Except for the doomed rift, which is in a constructional phase, tectonic activity also dominates over volcanic activity along the failing spreading system. In contrast to the propagating rift, failing rift lavas show a highly restricted range of compositions consistent with derivation from a declining upwelling zone accompanying rift failure. The lithosphere transferred from the Cocos to the Nazca plate by this propagator is extensively faulted and characterized by ubiquitous talus in one of the most tectonically disrupted areas of seafloor known. The pseudofault scarps, where the preexisting lithosphere was rifted apart, appear to include both normal and propagator lavas and are thus more lithologically complex than previously thought. Biological communities, probably vestimentiferan tubeworms, occur near the top of the outer pseudofault scarp, although no hydrothermal venting was observed.

Experimental investigation of the stability of Fe-rich carbonates in the lower mantle

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Boulard, E.; Menguy, N.; Auzende, A.; Benzerara, K.; Bureau, H.; Antonangeli, D.; Corgne, A.; Morard, G.; Siebert, J.; Perrillat, J.; Guyot, F. J.; Fiquet, G.

2011-12-01

Carbonates are the main C-bearing minerals that are transported deep in the Earth's mantle via subduction of the oceanic lithosphere [1]. The fate of carbonates at mantle conditions plays a key role in the deep carbon cycle. Decarbonation, melting or reduction of carbonates will affect the extent and the way carbon is recycled into the deep Earth. To clarify the fate of carbonates in the deep mantle, high-pressure high-temperature experiments were carried out up to 105 GPa and 2850 K on oxide assemblages of (Mg,Fe)O + CO2. The presence of Fe(II) in starting materials induces redox reactions from which Fe(II) is oxidized and a part of the carbon is reduced. This leads to an assemblage of magnetite, diamonds, and carbonates or, pressure depending, their newly discovered Fe(III)-bearing high-pressure polymorphs based on a silicate-like chemistry with tetrahedrally coordinated carbon [2]. Our results show the possibility for carbon to be recycled in the lowermost mantle and provide evidence of a possible coexistence of reduced and oxidized carbon at lower mantle conditions. [1] Sleep, N. H., and K. Zahnle (2001) J. Geophys. Res.-Planets 106(E1), 1373-1399. [2] Boulard et al. (2011) PNAS, 108, 5184-5187.

Commercial helium reserves, continental rifting and volcanism

Science.gov (United States)

Ballentine, C. J.; Barry, P. H.; Hillegonds, D.; Fontijn, K.; Bluett, J.; Abraham-James, T.; Danabalan, D.; Gluyas, J.; Brennwald, M. S.; Pluess, B.; Seneshens, D.; Sherwood Lollar, B.

2017-12-01

Helium has many industrial applications, but notably provides the unique cooling medium for superconducting magnets in medical MRI scanners and high energy beam lines. In 2013 the global supply chainfailed to meet demand causing significant concern - the `Liquid Helium Crisis' [1]. The 2017 closure of Quatar borders, a major helium supplier, is likely to further disrupt helium supply, and accentuates the urgent need to diversify supply. Helium is found in very few natural gas reservoirs that have focused 4He produced by the dispersed decay (a-particle) of U and Th in the crust. We show here, using the example of the Rukwa section of the Tanzanian East African Rift, how continental rifting and local volcanism provides the combination of processes required to generate helium reserves. The ancient continental crust provides the source of 4He. Rifting and associated magmatism provides the tectonic and thermal mechanism to mobilise deep fluid circulation, focusing flow to the near surface along major basement faults. Helium-rich springs in the Tanzanian Great Rift Valley were first identified in the 1950's[2]. The isotopic compositions and major element chemistry of the gases from springs and seeps are consistent with their release from the crystalline basement during rifting [3]. Within the Rukwa Rift Valley, helium seeps occur in the vicinity of trapping structures that have the potential to store significant reserves of helium [3]. Soil gas surveys over 6 prospective trapping structures (1m depth, n=1486) show helium anomalies in 5 out of the 6 at levels similar to those observed over a known helium-rich gas reservoir at 1200m depth (7% He - Harley Dome, Utah). Detailed macroseep gas compositions collected over two days (n=17) at one site allows us to distinguish shallow gas contributions and shows the deep gas to contain between 8-10% helium, significantly increasing resource estimates based on uncorrected values (1.8-4.2%)[2,3]. The remainder of the deep gas is

Towards modelling of water inflow into the mantle

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Thielmann, M.; Eichheimer, P.; Golabek, G.

2017-12-01

The transport and storage of water in the mantle significantly affects various material properties of mantle rocks and thus water plays a key role in a variety of geodynamical processes (tectonics, magmatism etc.) Geological and seismological observations suggest different inflow mechanisms of water via the subducting slab like slab bending, thermal cracking and serpentinization (Faccenda et al., 2009; Korenaga, 2017). Most of the previous numerical models do not take different dip angles of the subduction slab and subduction velocities into account, while nature provides two different types of subduction regimes i.e. shallow and deep subduction (Li et al., 2011). To which extent both parameters influence the inflow and outflow of water in the mantle still remains unclear. For the investigation of the inflow and outflow of fluids e.g. water in the mantle, we use high resolution 2D finite element simulations, which allow us to resolve subducted sediments and crustal layers. For this purpose the finite element code MVEP2 (Kaus, 2010), is tested against benchmark results (van Keken et al., 2008). In a first step we reproduced the analytical cornerflow model (Batchelor, 1967) used in the benchmark of van Keken et al.(2008) as well as the steady state temperature field. Further steps consist of successively increasing model complexity, such as the incorporation of hydrogen diffusion, water transport and dehydration reactions. ReferencesBatchelor, G. K. An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK (1967) van Keken, P. E., et al. A community benchmark for subduction zone modeling. Phys. Earth Planet. Int. 171, 187-197 (2008). Faccenda, M., T.V. Gerya, and L. Burlini. Deep slab hydration induced by bending-related variations in tectonic pressure. Nat. Geosci. 2, 790-793 (2009). Korenaga, J. On the extent of mantle hydration caused by plate bending. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 457, 1-9 (2017). Li, Z. H., Xu, Z. Q., and T.V. Gerya. Flat versus

Twenty-five years of geodetic measurements along the Tadjoura-Asal rift system, Djibouti, East Africa

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Vigny, Christophe; de Chabalier, Jean-Bernard; Ruegg, Jean-Claude; Huchon, Philippe; Feigl, Kurt L.; Cattin, Rodolphe; Asfaw, Laike; Kanbari, Khaled

2007-06-01

Since most of Tadjoura-Asal rift system sits on dry land in the Afar depression near the triple junction between the Arabia, Somalia, and Nubia plates, it is an ideal natural laboratory for studying rifting processes. We analyze these processes in light of a time series of geodetic measurements from 1978 through 2003. The surveys used triangulation (1973), trilateration (1973, 1979, and 1981-1986), leveling (1973, 1979, 1984-1985, and 2000), and the Global Positioning System (GPS, in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003). A network of about 30 GPS sites covers the Republic of Djibouti. Additional points were also measured in Yemen and Ethiopia. Stations lying in the Danakil block have almost the same velocity as Arabian plate, indicating that opening near the southern tip of the Red Sea is almost totally accommodated in the Afar depression. Inside Djibouti, the Asal-Ghoubbet rift system accommodates 16 ± 1 mm/yr of opening perpendicular to the rift axis and exhibits a pronounced asymmetry with essentially null deformation on its southwestern side and significant deformation on its northeastern side. This rate, slightly higher than the large-scale Arabia-Somalia motion (13 ± 1 mm/yr), suggests transient variations associated with relaxation processes following the Asal-Ghoubbet seismovolcanic sequence of 1978. Inside the rift, the deformation pattern exhibits a clear two-dimensional pattern. Along the rift axis, the rate decreases to the northwest, suggesting propagation in the same direction. Perpendicular to the rift axis, the focus of the opening is clearly shifted to the northeast, relative to the topographic rift axis, in the "Petit Rift," a rift-in-rift structure, containing most of the active faults and the seismicity. Vertical motions, measured by differential leveling, show the same asymmetric pattern with a bulge of the northeastern shoulder. Although the inner floor of the rift is subsiding with respect to the shoulders, all sites within the

Density of alkaline magmas at crustal and upper mantle conditions by X-ray absorption

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Seifert, R.; Malfait, W.; Petitgirard, S.; Sanchez-Valle, C.

2011-12-01

Silicate melts are essential components of igneous processes and are directly involved in differentiation processes and heat transfer within the Earth. Studies of the physical properties of magmas (e.g., density, viscosity, conductivity, etc) are however challenging and experimental data at geologically relevant pressure and temperature conditions remain scarce. For example, there is virtually no data on the density at high pressure of alkaline magmas (e.g., phonolites) typically found in continental rift zone settings. We present in situ density measurements of alkaline magmas at crustal and upper mantle conditions using synchrotron X-ray absorption. Measurements were conducted on ID27 beamline at ESRF using a panoramic Paris-Edinburgh Press (PE Press). The starting material is a synthetic haplo-phonolite glass similar in composition to the Plateau flood phonolites from the Kenya rift [1]. The glass was synthesized at 1673 K and 2.0 GPa in a piston-cylinder apparatus at ETH Zurich and characterized using EPMA, FTIR and density measurements. The sample contains less than 200 ppm water and is free of CO2. Single-crystal diamond cylinders (Øin = 0.5 mm, height = 1 mm) were used as sample containers and placed in an assembly formed by hBN spacers, a graphite heater and a boron epoxy gasket [2]. The density was determined as a function of pressure (1.0 to 3.1 GPa) and temperature (1630-1860 K) from the X-ray absorption contrast at 20 keV between the sample and the diamond capsule. The molten state of the sample during the data collection was confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements. Pressure and temperature were determined simultaneously from the equation of state of hBN and platinum using the the double isochor method [3].The results are combined with available density data at room conditions to derive the first experimental equation of state (EOS) of phonolitic liquids at crustal and upper mantle conditions. We will compare our results with recent reports of the

Tectonic inheritance in the development of the Kivu - north Tanganyika rift segment of the East African Rift System: role of pre-existing structures of Precambrian to early Palaeozoic origin.

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Delvaux, Damien; Fiama Bondo, Silvanos; Ganza Bamulezi, Gloire

2017-04-01

The present architecture of the junction between the Kivu rift basin and the north Tanganyika rift basin is that of a typical accommodation zone trough the Ruzizi depression. However, this structure appeared only late in the development of the Western branch of the East African Rift System and is the result of a strong control by pre-existing structures of Precambrian to early Palaeozoic origin. In the frame of a seismic hazard assessment of the Kivu rift region, we (Delvaux et al., 2016) constructed homogeneous geological, structural and neotectonic maps cross the five countries of this region, mapped the pre-rift, early rift and Late Quaternary faults and compiled the existing knowledge on thermal springs (assumed to be diagnostic of current tectonic activity along faults). We also produced also a new catalogue of historical and instrumental seismicity and defined the seismotectonic characteristics (stress field, depth of faulting) using published focal mechanism data. Rifting in this region started at about 11 Ma by initial doming and extensive fissural basaltic volcanism along normal faults sub-parallel to the axis of the future rift valley, as a consequence of the divergence between the Nubia and the Victoria plate. In a later stage, starting around 8-7 Ma, extension localized along a series of major border faults individualizing the subsiding tectonic basins from the uplifting rift shoulders, while lava evolved towards alkali basaltic composition until 2.6 Ma. During this stage, initial Kivu rift valley was extending linearly in a SSW direction, much further than its the actual termination at Bukavu, into the Mwenga-Kamituga graben, up to Namoya. The SW extremity of this graben was linked via a long oblique transfer zone to the central part of Lake Tanganyika, itself reactivating an older ductile-brittle shear zone. In the late Quaternary-early Holocene, volcanism migrated towards the center of the basin, with the development of the Virunga volcanic massif

Numerical modelling of volatiles in the deep mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Eichheimer, Philipp; Thielmann, Marcel; Golabek, Gregor J.

2017-04-01

The transport and storage of water in the mantle significantly affects several material properties of mantle rocks and thus water plays a key role in a variety of geodynamical processes (tectonics, magmatism etc.). The processes driving transport and circulation of H2O in subduction zones remain a debated topic. Geological and seismological observations suggest different inflow mechanisms of water e.g. slab bending, thermal cracking and serpentinization (Faccenda et al., 2009; Korenaga, 2017), followed by dehydration of the slab. On Earth both shallow and steep subduction can be observed (Li et al., 2011). However most previous models (van Keken et al., 2008; Wilson et al., 2014) did not take different dip angles and subduction velocities of slabs into account. To which extent these parameters and processes influence the inflow of water still remains unclear. We present 2D numerical models simulating the influence of the various water inflow mechanisms on the mantle with changing dip angle and subduction velocity of the slab over time. The results are used to make predictions regarding the rheological behavior of the mantle wedge, dehydration regimes and volcanism at the surface. References: van Keken, P. E., et al. A community benchmark for subduction zone modeling. Phys. Earth Planet. Int. 171, 187-197 (2008). Faccenda, M., T.V. Gerya, and L. Burlini. Deep slab hydration induced by bending-related variations in tectonic pressure. Nat. Geosci. 2, 790-793 (2009). Korenaga, J. On the extent of mantle hydration caused by plate bending. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 457, 1-9 (2017). Wilson, C. R., et al. Fluid flow in subduction zones: The role of solid rheology and compaction pressure. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 401, 261-274 (2014). Li, Z. H., Z. Q. Xu, and T. V. Gerya. Flat versus steep subduction: Contrasting modes for the formation and exhumation of high- to ultrahigh-pressure rocks in continental collision zones. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 301, 65-77 (2011).

Reassessment of petrogenesis of Carboniferous–Early Permian rift-related volcanic rocks in the Chinese Tianshan and its neighboring areas

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Linqi Xia

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The Carboniferous−Early Permian rift-related volcanic successions, covering large areas in the Chinese Tianshan and its adjacent areas, make up a newly recognized important Phanerozoic large igneous province in the world, which can be further divided into two sub-provinces: Tianshan and Tarim. The regional unconformity of Lower Carboniferous upon basement or pre-Carboniferous rocks, the ages (360–351 Ma of the youngest ophiolite and the peak of subduction metamorphism of high pressure–low temperature metamorphic belt and the occurrence of Ni-Cu-bearing mafic-ultramafic intrusion with age of ∼352 Ma and A-type granite with age of ∼358 Ma reveal that the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean might take place in the Early Mississippian. Our summation shows that at least four criteria, being normally used to identify ancient asthenosphere upwelling (or mantle plumes, are met for this large igneous province: (1 surface uplift prior to magmatism; (2 being associated with continental rifting and breakup events; (3 chemical characteristics of asthenosphere (or plume derived basalts; (4 close links to large-scale mineralization and the uncontaminated basalts, being analogous to those of many “ore-bearing” large igneous provinces, display Sr-Nd isotopic variations between plume and EM1 geochemical signatures. These suggest that a Carboniferous asthenosphere upwelling and an Early Permian plume played the central role in the generation of the Tianshan–Tarim (central Asia large igneous province.

Mantle Cell Hyperplasia of Peripheral Lymph Nodes as Initial Manifestation of Sickle Cell Disease.

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Monabbati, Ahmad; Noori, Sadat; Safaei, Akbar; Ramzi, Mani; Eghbali, Seyedsajjad; Adib, Ali

2016-01-01

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a well known hemoglobinopathy with usual manifestations including anemia, hyperbilirubinemia, and vasoocclusive complications. Despite presence of mild splenomegaly in early phase of the disease, lymphadenopathy is not an often finding of SCD. We introduce an undiagnosed case of SCD who presented in third decade of his life with multiple cervical lymphadenopathies and mild splenomegaly persistent for about five years. Histopathologic examination of the resected lymph nodes showed expansion of the mantle cell layers of secondary follicles as well as several monomorphic mantle cell nodules. To rule out possibility of a malignant process involving lymph nodes, an immunohistochemical panel was ordered which was in favor of benign mantle cell hyperplasia. Immunoglobulin gene rearrangement study showed no clonal bands and confirmed benign nature of the process. Respecting mild abnormalities on Complete Blood Count, peripheral blood smear was reviewed revealing some typical sickle red blood cells as well as rare nucleated red blood cells. Solubility test for hemoglobin (HB) S was positive. Hemoglobin electrophoresis confirmed diagnosis of homozygous HbS disease.

The Role of Rift Obliquity in Formation of the Gulf of California

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Bennett, Scott Edmund Kelsey

The Gulf of California illustrates how highly oblique rift geometries, where transform faults are kinematically linked to large-offset normal faults in adjacent pull-apart basins, enhance the ability of continental lithosphere to rupture and, ultimately, hasten the formation of new oceanic basins. The Gulf of California rift has accommodated oblique divergence of the Pacific and North America tectonic plates in northwestern Mexico since Miocene time. Due to its infancy, the rifted margins of the Gulf of California preserve a rare onshore record of early continental break-up processes from which to investigate the role of rift obliquity in strain localization. Using new high-precision paleomagnetic vectors from tectonically stable sites in north-central Baja California, I compile a paleomagnetic transect of Miocene ignimbrites across northern Baja California and Sonora that reveals the timing and distribution of dextral shear associated with inception of this oblique rift. I integrate detailed geologic mapping, basin analysis, and geochronology of pre-rift and syn-rift volcanic units to determine the timing of fault activity on Isla Tiburon, a proximal onshore exposure of the rifted North America margin, adjacent to the axis of the Gulf of California. The onset of strike-slip faulting on Isla Tiburon, ca. 8 - 7 Ma, was synchronous with the onset of transform faulting along a significant length of the nascent plate boundary within the rift. This tectonic transition coincides with a clockwise azimuthal shift in Pacific-North America relative motion that increased rift obliquity. I constrain the earliest marine conditions on southwest Isla Tiburon to ca. 6.4 - 6.0 Ma, coincident with a regional latest Miocene marine incursion in the northern proto-Gulf of California. This event likely flooded a narrow, incipient topographic depression along a ˜650 km-long portion of the latest Miocene plate boundary and corresponds in time and space with formation of a newly

Salt Lakes of the African Rift System: A Valuable Research ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Salt Lakes of the African Rift System: A Valuable Research Opportunity for Insight into Nature's Concenrtated Multi-Electrolyte Science. JYN Philip, DMS Mosha. Abstract. The Tanzanian rift system salt lakes present significant cultural, ecological, recreational and economical values. Beyond the wealth of minerals, resources ...

Thermal Stratification in Vertical Mantle Tanks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Søren; Furbo, Simon

2001-01-01

It is well known that it is important to have a high degree of thermal stratification in the hot water storage tank to achieve a high thermal performance of SDHW systems. This study is concentrated on thermal stratification in vertical mantle tanks. Experiments based on typical operation conditions...... are carried out to investigate how the thermal stratification is affected by different placements of the mantle inlet. The heat transfer between the solar collector fluid in the mantle and the domestic water in the inner tank is analysed by CFD-simulations. Furthermore, the flow pattern in the vertical mantle...

Antarctic Lithosphere Studies: Progress, Problems and Promise

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Dalziel, I. W. D.; Wilson, T. J.

2017-12-01

In the sixty years since the International Geophysical Year, studies of the Antarctic lithosphere have progressed from basic geological observations and sparse geophysical measurements to continental-scale datasets of radiometric dates, ice thickness, bedrock topography and characteristics, seismic imaging and potential fields. These have been augmented by data from increasingly dense broadband seismic and geodetic networks. The Antarctic lithosphere is known to have been an integral part, indeed a "keystone" of the Pangea ( 250-185Ma) and Gondwanaland ( 540-180 Ma) supercontinents. It is widely believed to have been part of hypothetical earlier supercontinents Rodinia ( 1.0-0.75 Ga) and Columbia (Nuna) ( 2.0-1.5 Ga). Despite the paucity of exposure in East Antarctica, the new potential field datasets have emboldened workers to extrapolate Precambrian geological provinces and structures from neighboring continents into Antarctica. Hence models of the configuration of Columbia and its evolution into Rodinia and Gondwana have been proposed, and rift-flank uplift superimposed on a Proterozoic orogenic root has been hypothesized to explain the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains. Mesozoic-Cenozoic rifting has imparted a strong imprint on the West Antarctic lithosphere. Seismic tomographic evidence reveals lateral variation in lithospheric thickness, with the thinnest zones within the West Antarctic rift system and underlying the Amundsen Sea Embayment. Upper mantle low velocity zones are extensive, with a deeper mantle velocity anomaly underlying Marie Byrd Land marking a possible mantle plume. Misfits between crustal motions measured by GPS and GIA model predictions can, in part, be linked with the changes in lithosphere thickness and mantle rheology. Unusually high uplift rates measured by GPS in the Amundsen region can be interpreted as the response of regions with thin lithosphere and weak mantle to late Holocene ice mass loss. Horizontal displacements across the TAM

Widespread melt/rock interaction and seismic properties of the lithosphere above mantle plumes: Evidence from mantle xenoliths from French Polynesia

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Tommasi, A.; Godard, M.; Coromina, G.; Dautria, J. M.; Barczus, H.

2003-04-01

In addition to thermal erosion, plume/lithosphere interaction may induce significant changes in the lithosphere chemical composition. To constrain the extent of this process in an oceanic environment and its consequences on the lithosphere seismic properties, we studied the relationship between petrological processes and microstructure in mantle xenoliths from the Austral-Cook, Society and Marquesas islands. Olivine forsterite contents in our sp-peridotites vary continuously from Fo91 to Fo83, the lowest Fo being observed in dunites and wehrlites. Yet, their high Ni content (up to 2500 ppm) precludes a cumulate origin. These rocks are rather interpreted as resulting from melt/rock reactions involving olivine precipitation and pyroxene dissolution, the dunites indicating high melt-rock ratios. Moreover, wehrlites display poikiloblastic diopside enclosing corroded olivines. Late crystallization of clinopyroxene, also observed in lherzolites, may result from a near-solidus melt-freezing reaction occurring at the boundary of a partial melting domain developed at the expenses of lithospheric mantle. These data suggest that the lithosphere above a mantle plume undergoes a complex sequence of magmatic processes that significantly change its composition. Yet, crystal preferred orientations and thus seismic anisotropy are little affected by these processes. Lherzolites and harzburgites, independent from composition, show high-temperature porphyroclastic microstructures and strong olivine CPO. Although dunites and wehrlites display annealing microstructures to which is associated a progressive dispersion of the olivine CPO, very weak CPO are limited to a few dunites and wehrlites, suggesting that CPO destruction is restricted to domains of intense magma-rock interaction due to localized flow or accumulation of magmas. Conversely, the compositional changes result in lower seismic velocities for P- and S-waves. Relative to normal mantle, seismic anomalies may attain -2.5 (2

Archean crust-mantle geochemical differentiation

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Tilton, G. R.

Isotope measurements on carbonatite complexes and komatiites can provide information on the geochemical character and geochemical evolution of the mantle, including the sub-continental mantle. Measurements on young samples establish the validity of the method. These are based on Sr, Nd and Pb data from the Tertiary-Mesozoic Gorgona komatiite and Sr and Pb data from the Cretaceous Oka carbonatite complex. In both cases the data describe a LIL element-depleted source similar to that observed presently in MORB. Carbonatite data have been used to study the mantle beneath the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield one billion years (1 AE) ago. The framework for this investigation was established by Bell et al., who showed that large areas of the province appear to be underlain by LIL element-depleted mantle (Sr-85/Sr-86=0.7028) at 1 AE ago. Additionally Bell et al. found four complexes to have higher initial Sr ratios (Sr-87/Sr-86=0.7038), which they correlated with less depleted (bulk earth?) mantle sources, or possibly crustal contamination. Pb isotope relationships in four of the complexes have been studied by Bell et al.

Archean crust-mantle geochemical differentiation

Science.gov (United States)

Tilton, G. R.

1983-01-01

Isotope measurements on carbonatite complexes and komatiites can provide information on the geochemical character and geochemical evolution of the mantle, including the sub-continental mantle. Measurements on young samples establish the validity of the method. These are based on Sr, Nd and Pb data from the Tertiary-Mesozoic Gorgona komatiite and Sr and Pb data from the Cretaceous Oka carbonatite complex. In both cases the data describe a LIL element-depleted source similar to that observed presently in MORB. Carbonatite data have been used to study the mantle beneath the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield one billion years (1 AE) ago. The framework for this investigation was established by Bell et al., who showed that large areas of the province appear to be underlain by LIL element-depleted mantle (Sr-85/Sr-86=0.7028) at 1 AE ago. Additionally Bell et al. found four complexes to have higher initial Sr ratios (Sr-87/Sr-86=0.7038), which they correlated with less depleted (bulk earth?) mantle sources, or possibly crustal contamination. Pb isotope relationships in four of the complexes have been studied by Bell et al.

LATE CREATACEOUS-CENOZOIC SEDIMENTS OF THE BAIKAL RIFT BASIN AND CHANGING NATURAL CONDITIONS

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Viktor D. Mats

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The late Cretaceous-Cenozoic sediments of fossil soils and weathering crusts of the Baikal rift have been subject to long-term studies. Based on our research results, it is possible to distinguish the following litho-stratigraphic complexes which are related to particular stages of the rift development: the late Cretaceous–early Oligocene (crypto-rift Arheo-baikalian, the late Oligocene–early Pliocene (ecto-rift early orogenic Pra-baikalian, and the late Pliocene-Quaternary (ecto-rift late orogenic Pra-baikalian – Baikalian complexes. Changes of weathering modes (Cretaceous-quarter, soil formation (Miocene-quarter and differences of precipitation by vertical and lateral stratigraphy are analysed with regard to specific features of climate, tectonics and facial conditions of sedimentation. Tectonic phases are defined in the Cenozoic period of the Pribaikalie.

Spatial and temporal variations of diffuse CO_{2} degassing at the N-S volcanic rift-zone of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) during 2002-2015 period

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso, Mar; Ingman, Dylan; Alexander, Scott; Barrancos, José; Rodríguez, Fátima; Melián, Gladys; Pérez, Nemesio M.

2016-04-01

Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and, together with Gran Canaria Island, is the only one with a central volcanic complex that started to grow at about 3.5 Ma. Nowadays the central complex is formed by Las Cañadas caldera, a volcanic depression measuring 16×9 km that resulted from multiple vertical collapses and was partially filled by post-caldera volcanic products. Up to 297 mafic monogenetic cones have been recognized on Tenerife, and they represent the most common eruptive activity occurring on the island during the last 1 Ma (Dóniz et al., 2008). Most of the monogenetic cones are aligned following a triple junction-shaped rift system, as result of inflation produced by the concentration of emission vents and dykes in bands at 120o to one another as a result of minimum stress fracturing of the crust by a mantle upwelling. The main structural characteristic of the southern volcanic rift (N-S) of the island is an apparent absence of a distinct ridge, and a fan shaped distribution of monogenetic cones. Four main volcanic successions in the southern volcanic rift zone of Tenerife, temporally separated by longer periods (˜70 - 250 ka) without volcanic activity, have been identified (Kröchert and Buchner, 2008). Since there are currently no visible gas emissions at the N-S rift, diffuse degassing surveys have become an important geochemical tool for the surveillance of this volcanic system. We report here the last results of diffuse CO2 efflux survey at the N-S rift of Tenerife, performed using the accumulation chamber method in the summer period of 2015. The objectives of the surveys were: (i) to constrain the total CO2 output from the studied area and (ii) to evaluate occasional CO2 efflux surveys as a volcanic surveillance tool for the N-S rift of Tenerife. Soil CO2 efflux values ranged from non-detectable up to 31.7 g m-2 d-1. A spatial distribution map, constructed following the sequential Gaussian simulation (sGs) procedure, did not show an

The tectonic evolution of the southeastern Terceira Rift/São Miguel region (Azores)

Science.gov (United States)

Weiß, B. J.; Hübscher, C.; Lüdmann, T.

2015-07-01

The eastern Azores Archipelago with São Miguel being the dominant subaerial structure is located at the intersection of an oceanic rift (Terceira Rift) with a major transform fault (Gloria Fault) representing the westernmost part of the Nubian-Eurasian plate boundary. The evolution of islands, bathymetric highs and basin margins involves strong volcanism, but the controlling geodynamic and tectonic processes are currently under debate. In order to study this evolution, multibeam bathymetry and marine seismic reflection data were collected to image faults and stratigraphy. The basins of the southeastern Terceira Rift are rift valleys whose southwestern and northeastern margins are defined by few major normal faults and several minor normal faults, respectively. Since São Miguel in between the rift valleys shows an unusual W-E orientation, it is supposed to be located on a leaky transform. South of the island and separated by a N120° trending graben system, the Monacco Bank represents a N160° oriented flat topped volcanic ridge dominated by tilted fault blocks. Up to six seismic units are interpreted for each basin. Although volcanic ridges hamper a direct linking of depositional strata between the rift and adjacent basins, the individual seismic stratigraphic units have distinct characteristics. Using these units to provide a consistent relative chrono-stratigraphic scheme for the entire study area, we suggest that the evolution of the southeastern Terceira Rift occurred in two stages. Considering age constrains from previous studies, we conclude that N140° structures developed orthogonal to the SW-NE direction of plate-tectonic extension before ~ 10 Ma. The N160° trending volcanic ridges and faults developed later as the plate tectonic spreading direction changed to WSW-ENE. Hence, the evolution of the southeastern Terceira Rift domain is predominantly controlled by plate kinematics and lithospheric stress forming a kind of a re-organized rift system.

The role of plumes in mantle helium fluxes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kellogg, L.H.; Wasserburg, G.J.

1990-01-01

We present a simple model of 3 He and 4 He transport in the mantle using the appropriate rates of mass and species transfer and 4 He production. Previous workers have shown the presence of excess 3 He in hotspots such as Hawaii and Iceland and inferred that these hotspots tap a source with a higher 3 He/ 4 He ratio than the source region of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). Hotspot ocean islands probably originate over upwelling plumes which carry material from the lower mantle to the upper mantle. Melting at hotspots and at mid-ocean ridges degasses the mantle of volatiles such as helium. The upper mantle is outgassed largely of helium due to melting at mid-ocean ridges and hotspots. We postulate that the excess 3 He seen in MORB originates in material that was carried from the lower mantle in plumes but not completely outgassed at hotspots. This helium is incoporated into the depleted upper mantle. Assuming that the upper mantle is in a quasi-steady-state with respect to helium, a simple model balancing 3 He and 4 He fluxes in the upper mantle indicates that the hotspots significantly outgas the lower mantle of 3 He. The concentration of 4 He in the plume source reservoir is 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the concentration in carbonaceous chondrites. The residence time of helium in the upper mantle depends on the outgassing efficiency at hotspots, since the hotspots may outgas some upper mantle material which has been entrained in the plumes. The residence time of He in the upper mantle is about 1.4x10 9 yr. We conclude that the efficiency of outgassing of He from plumes is high and that the plumes dominate the present 3 He loss to the atmosphere. The 4 He in the less depleted layer of the mantle is not trapped ''primordial'' but is predominantly from in situ decay of U and Th in the depleted layer over ≅ 1.4x10 9 yr. The 4 He in the lower mantle is dominantly from in situ decay of U and Th over 4.4x10 9 yr. (orig./WL)

Nd-isotopes in selected mantle-derived rocks and minerals and their implications for mantle evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Basu, A.R.; Tatsumoto, M.

1980-01-01

The Sm-Nd systematics in a variety of mantle-derived samples including kimberlites, alnoite, carbonatite, pyroxene and amphibole inclusions in alkali basalts and xenolithic eclogites, granulites and a pyroxene megacryst in kimberlites are reported. The additional data on kimberlites strengthen our earlier conclusion that kimberlites are derived from a relatively undifferentiated chondritic mantle source. This conclusion is based on the observation that the e{open}Nd values of most of the kimberlites are near zero. In contrast with the kimberlites, their garnet lherzolite inclusions show both time-averaged Nd enrichment and depletion with respect to Sm. Separated clinopyroxenes in eclogite xenoliths from the Roberts Victor kimberlite pipe show both positive and negative e{open}Nd values suggesting different genetic history. A whole rock lower crustal scapolite granulite xenolith from the Matsoku kimberlite pipe shows a negative e{open}Nd value of -4.2, possibly representative of the base of the crust in Lesotho. It appears that all inclusions, mafic and ultramafic, in kimberlites are unrelated to their kimberlite host. The above data and additional Sm-Nd data on xenoliths in alkali basalts, alpine peridotite and alnoite-carbonatites are used to construct a model for the upper 200 km of the earth's mantle - both oceanic and continental. The essential feature of this model is the increasing degree of fertility of the mantle with depth. The kimberlite's source at depths below 200 km in the subcontinental mantle is the most primitive in this model, and this primitive layer is also extended to the suboceanic mantle. However, it is clear from the Nd-isotopic data in the xenoliths of the continental kimberlites that above 200 km the continental mantle is distinctly different from their suboceanic counterpart. ?? 1980 Springer-Verlag.

Seismic anisotropy of the French Massif Central and predisposition of Cenozoic rifting and volcanism by Variscan suture hidden in the mantle lithosphere

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Babuška, Vladislav; Plomerová, Jaroslava; Vecsey, Luděk; Granet, M.; Achauer, U.

2002-01-01

Roč. 21, č. 4 (2002), s. U407-U429 ISSN 0278-7407 R&D Projects: GA ČR GV205/98/K004; GA ČR GA205/01/1154; GA AV ČR IAA3012908 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z3012916 Keywords : seismic anisotropy * Massif Central * mantle lithosphere Subject RIV: DC - Siesmology, Volcanology, Earth Structure Impact factor: 2.697, year: 2002

Rift Valley fever potential mosquito vectors and their infection status ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral zoonotic disease. Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) has been isolated from more than 40 species of mosquitoes from eight genera. This study was conducted to determine the abundance of potential mosquito vectors and their RVFV infection status in Ngorongoro ...

Numerical simulations of the mantle lithosphere delamination

Science.gov (United States)

Morency, C.; Doin, M.-P.

2004-03-01

Sudden uplift, extension, and increased igneous activity are often explained by rapid mechanical thinning of the lithospheric mantle. Two main thinning mechanisms have been proposed, convective removal of a thickened lithospheric root and delamination of the mantle lithosphere along the Moho. In the latter case, the whole mantle lithosphere peels away from the crust by the propagation of a localized shear zone and sinks into the mantle. To study this mechanism, we perform two-dimensional (2-D) numerical simulations of convection using a viscoplastic rheology with an effective viscosity depending strongly on temperature, depth, composition (crust/mantle), and stress. The simulations develop in four steps. (1) We first obtain "classical" sublithospheric convection for a long time period (˜300 Myr), yielding a slightly heterogeneous lithospheric temperature structure. (2) At some time, in some simulations, a strong thinning of the mantle occurs progressively in a small area (˜100 km wide). This process puts the asthenosphere in direct contact with the lower crust. (3) Large pieces of mantle lithosphere then quickly sink into the mantle by the horizontal propagation of a detachment level away from the "asthenospheric conduit" or by progressive erosion on the flanks of the delaminated area. (4) Delamination pauses or stops when the lithospheric mantle part detaches or when small-scale convection on the flanks of the delaminated area is counterbalanced by heat diffusion. We determine the parameters (crustal thicknesses, activation energies, and friction coefficients) leading to delamination initiation (step 2). We find that delamination initiates where the Moho temperature is the highest, as soon as the crust and mantle viscosities are sufficiently low. Delamination should occur on Earth when the Moho temperature exceeds ˜800°C. This condition can be reached by thermal relaxation in a thickened crust in orogenic setting or by corner flow lithospheric erosion in the

East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Ferraccioli, F.; Finn, Carol A.; Jordan, Tom A.; Bell, Robin E.; Anderson, Lester M.; Damaske, Detlef

2011-01-01

The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are the least understood tectonic feature on Earth, because they are completely hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Their high elevation and youthful Alpine topography, combined with their location on the East Antarctic craton, creates a paradox that has puzzled researchers since the mountains were discovered in 1958. The preservation of Alpine topography in the Gamburtsevs may reflect extremely low long-term erosion rates beneath the ice sheet, but the mountains’ origin remains problematic. Here we present the first comprehensive view of the crustal architecture and uplift mechanisms for the Gamburtsevs, derived from radar, gravity and magnetic data. The geophysical data define a 2,500-km-long rift system in East Antarctica surrounding the Gamburtsevs, and a thick crustal root beneath the range. We propose that the root formed during the Proterozoic assembly of interior East Antarctica (possibly about 1 Gyr ago), was preserved as in some old orogens and was rejuvenated during much later Permian (roughly 250 Myr ago) and Cretaceous (roughly 100 Myr ago) rifting. Much like East Africa, the interior of East Antarctica is a mosaic of Precambrian provinces affected by rifting processes. Our models show that the combination of rift-flank uplift, root buoyancy and the isostatic response to fluvial and glacial erosion explains the high elevation and relief of the Gamburtsevs. The evolution of the Gamburtsevs demonstrates that rifting and preserved orogenic roots can produce broad regions of high topography in continental interiors without significantly modifying the underlying Precambrian lithosphere.

The influence of inherited structures on magmatic and amagmatic processes in the East African Rift.

Science.gov (United States)

Biggs, J.; Lloyd, R.; Hodge, M.; Robertson, E.; Wilks, M.; Fagereng, A.; Kendall, J. M.; Mdala, H. S.; Lewi, E.; Ayele, A.

2017-12-01

The idea that crustal heterogeneities, particularly inherited structures, influence the initiation and evolution of continental rifts is not new, but now modern techniques allow us to explore these controls from a fresh perspective, over a range of lengthscales, timescales and depths. In amagmatic rifts, I will demonstrate that deep fault structure is controlled by the stress orientation during the earliest phase of rifting, while the surface expression exploits near-surface weaknesses. I will show that pre-existing structures control the storage and orientation of deeper magma reservoirs in magmatic rifts, while the tectonic stress regime controls intra-rift faulting and shallow magmatism and stresses related to surface loading and cycles of inflation and deflation dominate at volcanic edifices. Finally, I will show how cross-rift structures influence short-term processes such as deformation and seismicity. I will illustrate the talk throughout using examples from along the East African Rift, including Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Evolved Rocks in Ocean Islands Formed by Melting of Metasomatized Mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Ashwal, L. D.; Torsvik, T. H.; Horvath, P.; Harris, C.; Webb, S. J.; Werner, S. C.; Corfu, F.

2015-12-01

Evolved rocks like trachyte occur as minor components of many plume-related basaltic ocean islands (e.g. Hawaii, Gran Canaria, Azores, Réunion), and are typically interpreted as products of extreme fractional crystallization from broadly basaltic magmas. Trachytes from Mauritius (Indian Ocean) suggest otherwise. Here, 6.8 Ma nepheline-bearing trachytes (SiO2 ~63%, Na2O + K2O ~12%) are enriched in all incompatible elements except Ba, Sr and Eu, which show prominent negative anomalies. Initial eNd values cluster at 4.03 ± 0.15 (n = 13), near the lower end of the range for Mauritian basalts (eNd = 3.70 - 5.75), but initial Sr is highly variable (ISr = 0.70408 - 0.71034) suggesting secondary deuteric alteration. Fractional crystallization models starting with a basaltic parent fail, because when plagioclase joins olivine in the crystallizing assemblage, residual liquids become depleted in Al2O3, produce no nepheline, and do not approach trachytic compositions. Mauritian basalts and trachytes do not fall near the ends of known miscibility gaps, eliminating liquid immiscibility processes. Partial melting of extant gabbroic bodies, either from the oceanic crust or from Réunion plume-related magmas should yield quartz-saturated melts different from the critically undersaturated Mauritian trachytes. A remaining possibility is that the trachytes represent direct, small-degree partial melts of fertile, perhaps metasomatized mantle. This is supported by the presence of trachytic glasses in many mantle xenoliths, and experimental results show that low-degree trachytic melts can be produced from mantle peridotites even under anhydrous conditions. If some feldspar is left behind as a residual phase, this would account for the negative Ba, Sr and Eu anomalies observed in Mauritian trachytes. Two trachyte samples that are less depleted in these elements contain xenocrysts of anorthoclase, Al-rich cpx and Cl-rich kaersutite that are out of equilibrium with host trachyte magmas

Survival of the primitive mantle reservoir?

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, S.; Jacobsen, S. B.; Mukhopadhyay, S.

2010-12-01

The high-3He lavas are thought to originate from a deep primitive mantle source that has not been much modified since the formation of Earth’s core. Comparison of 4He/3He in MORBs and plume lavas indicate that the plume sources must be a lower mantle feature, in agreement with most geophysical inferences. However, the lithophile element isotope systems of plume lavas are not primitive. The idea that the high-3He source is significantly less processed and more primitive than MORB source is clearly supported by mixing trends in plots of 4He/3He versus Sr, Nd and Pb isotope ratios, which have been extrapolated to an inferred 4He/3He of ~17,000 (~43x the atmospheric ratio), a mantle reservoir named PHEM (Primitive HElium Mantle). Slightly lower 4He/3He, ~15,000, were reported for Baffin Island picrites. Recently, Jackson et al. (2010) claimed that some Baffin Island and Greenland picrites with single-stage Pb model ages of ~4.5 Ga have low 4He/3He, and argued that “their source is the most ancient accessible reservoir in the Earth’s mantle, and it may be parental to all mantle reservoirs”. However, the available data are insufficient to make such a claim, and we suggest an alternative interpretation. Specially: 1. Four out of ten Baffin Island and Greenland picrites used by Jackson et al. (2010) have 4He/3He higher than average MORB value and all are far removed from the lowest measured value of 15,000. 2. Five Greenland picrites which cluster around the 4.50 Gyr geochron (Jackson et al., 2010) form a curved 207Pb*/206Pb*-4He/3He trend. This trend is best explained as a mixing line, implying that the single-stage Pb ages of these lavas are meaningless. 3. In a 207Pb*/206Pb*-4He/3He plot, Koolau lavas from Hawaii overlap with Baffin Island and Greenland picrites. If Baffin Island and Greenland picrites represent melts from the primitive mantle based on their Pb and He isotopes (Jackson et al., 2010), a similar argument can be applied to Koolau lavas. However, it

Morphostructural evidence for Recent/active extension in Central Tanzania beyond the southern termination of the Kenya Rift.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Gall, B.; Rolet, J.; Gernigon, L.; Ebinger, C.; Gloaguen, R.

2003-04-01

The southern tip zone of the Kenya Rift on the eastern branch of the East African System is usually thought to occur in the so-called North Tanzanian Divergence. In this region, the narrow (50 km-wide) axial graben of southern Kenya splays southwards, via a major EW-trending volcanic lineament, into a 200 km-wide broad rifted zone with three separate arms of normal faulting and tilted fault blocks (Eyasi, Manyara and Pangani arms from W to E). Remote sensing analysis from Central Tanzania demonstrates that rift morphology exists over an area lying 400 km beyond the southern termination of the Kenya Rift. The most prominent rift structures are observed in the Kilombero region and consist of a 100 km-wide range of uplifted basement blocks fringed to the west by an E-facing half-graben inferred to reach depths of 6-8 km from aeromagnetic dataset. Physiographic features (fault scarps), and river drainage anomalies suggest that the present-day rift pattern in the Kilombero extensional province principally results from Recent/Neogene deformation. That assumption is also supported by the seismogenic character of a number of faults. The Kilombero half-graben is superimposed upon an earlier rift system, Karoo in age, which is totally overprinted and is only evidenced from its sedimentary infill. On the other hand, the nature and thickness of the inferred Neogene synrift section is still unknown. The Kilombero rifted zone is assumed to connect northwards into the central rift arm (Manyara) of the South Kenya Rift via a seismically active transverse fault zone that follows ductile fabrics within the Mozambican crystalline basement. The proposed rift model implies that incipient rifting propagates hroughout the cold and strong crust/lithosphere of Central Tanzania along Proterozoic (N140=B0E) basement weakness zones and earlier Karoo (NS)rift structures. A second belt of Recent-active linked fault/basins also extends further East from the Pangani rift arm to the offshore

Seismic Investigations of an Accommodation zone in the Northern Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Baldridge, W. S.; Valdes, J.; Nedorub, O.; Phrampus, B.; Braile, L. W.; Ferguson, J. F.; Benage, M. C.; Litherland, M.

2010-12-01

Seismic reflection and refraction data acquired in the Rio Grande rift near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2009 and 2010 by the SAGE (Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience) program imaged the La Bajada fault (LBF) and strata offset across the associated, perpendicular Budagher fault (BF). The LBF is a major basin-bounding normal fault, offset down to the west; the smaller BF is an extensional fault that breaks the hanging wall ramp of the LBF. We chose this area because it is in a structurally complex region of the rift, comprising a small sub-basin and plunging relay ramps, where north-trending, en echelon basin-bounding faults (including the LBF) transfer crustal extension laterally between the larger Española (to north) and Albuquerque rift basins. Our data help determine the precise location and geometry of the poorly exposed LBF, which, near the survey location, offsets the rift margin vertically about 3,000 m. When integrated with industry reflection data and other SAGE seismic, gravity, and magnetotelluric surveys, we are able to map differences in offset and extension laterally (especially southward) along the fault. We interpret only about 200 m of normal offset across the BF. Our continuing work helps define multiple structural elements, partly buried by syn-rift basin-filling sedimentary rocks, of a complex intra-rift accommodation zone. We are also able to discriminate pre-Eocene (Laramide) from post-Miocene (rift) structures. Our data help determine the amount of vertical offset of pre-rift strata across structural elements of the accommodation zone, and depth and geometry of basin fill. A goal is to infer the kinematic development of this margin of the rift, linkages among faults, growth history, and possible pre-rift structural controls. This information will be potentially useful for evaluation of resources, including oil and/or gas in pre-rift strata and ground water in Late Miocene to Holocene rift-filling units.

Stagnant lids and mantle overturns: Implications for Archaean tectonics, magmagenesis, crustal growth, mantle evolution, and the start of plate tectonics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean H. Bédard

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The lower plate is the dominant agent in modern convergent margins characterized by active subduction, as negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere sinks into the asthenosphere under its own weight. This is a strong plate-driving force because the slab-pull force is transmitted through the stiff sub-oceanic lithospheric mantle. As geological and geochemical data seem inconsistent with the existence of modern-style ridges and arcs in the Archaean, a periodically-destabilized stagnant-lid crust system is proposed instead. Stagnant-lid intervals may correspond to periods of layered mantle convection where efficient cooling was restricted to the upper mantle, perturbing Earth's heat generation/loss balance, eventually triggering mantle overturns. Archaean basalts were derived from fertile mantle in overturn upwelling zones (OUZOs, which were larger and longer-lived than post-Archaean plumes. Early cratons/continents probably formed above OUZOs as large volumes of basalt and komatiite were delivered for protracted periods, allowing basal crustal cannibalism, garnetiferous crustal restite delamination, and coupled development of continental crust and sub-continental lithospheric mantle. Periodic mixing and rehomogenization during overturns retarded development of isotopically depleted MORB (mid-ocean ridge basalt mantle. Only after the start of true subduction did sequestration of subducted slabs at the core-mantle boundary lead to the development of the depleted MORB mantle source. During Archaean mantle overturns, pre-existing continents located above OUZOs would be strongly reworked; whereas OUZO-distal continents would drift in response to mantle currents. The leading edge of drifting Archaean continents would be convergent margins characterized by terrane accretion, imbrication, subcretion and anatexis of unsubductable oceanic lithosphere. As Earth cooled and the background oceanic lithosphere became denser and stiffer, there would be an increasing

Mantle strength of the San Andreas fault system and the role of mantle-crust feedbacks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chatzaras, V.; Tikoff, B.; Newman, J.; Withers, A.C.; Drury, M.R.

2015-01-01

In lithospheric-scale strike-slip fault zones, upper crustal strength is well constrained from borehole observations and fault rock deformation experiments, but mantle strength is less well known. Using peridotite xenoliths, we show that the upper mantle below the San Andreas fault system

The mantle-plume model, its feasibility and consequences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Calsteren, van P.W.C.

1981-01-01

High beat-flow foci on the Earth have been named ‘hot-spots’ and are commonly correlated with ‘mantle-plumes’ in the deep. A mantle plume may be described as a portion of mantle material with a higher heat content than its surroundings. The intrusion of a mantle-plume is inferred to be similar to

Inflation rates, rifts, and bands in a pāhoehoe sheet flow

Science.gov (United States)

Hoblitt, Richard P.; Orr, Tim R.; Heliker, Christina; Denlinger, Roger P.; Hon, Ken; Cervelli, Peter F.

2012-01-01

The margins of sheet flows—pāhoehoe lavas emplaced on surfaces sloping Inflation and rift-band formation is probably cyclic, because the pattern we observed suggests episodic or crude cyclic behavior. Furthermore, some inflation rifts contain numerous bands whose spacing and general appearances are remarkably similar. We propose a conceptual model wherein the inferred cyclicity is due to the competition between the fluid pressure in the flow's liquid core and the tensile strength of the viscoelastic layer where it is weakest—in inflation rifts. The viscoelastic layer consists of lava that has cooled to temperatures between 800 and 1070 °C. This layer is the key parameter in our model because, in its absence, rift banding and stepwise changes in the flow height would not occur.

Upper Mantle Seismic Anisotropy Beneath West Antarctica from Shear Wave Splitting Analysis of POLENET/ANET Data

Science.gov (United States)

Accardo, N.; Wiens, D. A.; Hernandez, S.; Aster, R. C.; Nyblade, A.; Anandakrishnan, S.; Huerta, A. D.; Wilson, T. J.

2011-12-01

We constrain azimuthal anisotropy in the Antarctic upper mantle using shear wave splitting parameters obtained from teleseismic SKS, SKKS, and PKS phases recorded at 30 broad-band seismometers deployed in West Antarctica, and the Transantarctic Mountains as a part of POLENET/ANET. The first seismometers were deployed in late 2007 and additional seismometers were deployed in 2008 and 2009. The seismometers generally operate year-round using solar power, insulated boxes, and either rechargeable AGM or primary lithium batteries. We used an eigenvalue technique to linearize the rotated and shifted shear wave particle motions and determine the best splitting parameters. Robust windows around the individual phases were chosen using the Teanby cluster-analysis algorithm. We visually inspected all results and assigned a quality rating based on factors including signal-to-noise ratios, particle motions, and error contours. The best results for each station were then stacked to get an average splitting direction and delay time. The delay times range from 0.33 to 1.33 s, but generally average about 1 s. We conclude that the splitting results from anisotropy in the upper mantle, since the large splitting times cannot be accumulated in the relatively thin crust (20-30 km) of the region. Overall, fast directions in West Antarctica are at large angles to the direction of Antarctic absolute plate motion in either hotspot or no-net rotation frameworks, showing that the anisotropic fabric does not result from shear associated with the motion of Antarctica over the mantle. The West Antarctic fast directions are also much different than those found in East Antarctica by previous studies. We suggest that the East Antarctic splitting results from anisotropy frozen into the cold cratonic continental lithosphere, whereas West Antarctic splitting is related to Cenozoic tectonism. Stations within the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS), a region of Cenozoic extension, show fast directions

Tectonic-magmatic interplay during the early stages of oceanic rifting: temporal constraints from cosmogenic 3He dating in the Dabbahu rift segment, Afar

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, A.; Pik, R.; Burnard, P.; Medynski, S.; Yirgu, G.

2009-12-01

The Afar Rift in Ethiopia is one of the only subaerial locations in the world where the transition from continental break-up to oceanic-spreading can be observed. Extension and volcanism in the Afar is concentrated in tectono-magmatic segments (TMS), similar in size and morphology to those that characterize mid-ocean ridge systems. However, unlike their submarine equivalents, the Afar TMS contain large silicic central volcanoes, implying that magma differentiation plays an important role in the early evolution of the oceanic rifts. The Dabbahu TMS at the south of the western Afar rift system has recently been the site of significant activity. A massive seismic event in late 2005, triggered by dyke injection, heralded the onset of new rifting period. Volcanism associated with the periods of magma-driven extension has been both silicic (explosive) and basaltic (fissural). The most recent activity in the Afar thus testifies to the close interplay of tectonics and magmatism in rifting environments. In an effort to decipher the long-term structural and volcanic evolution of Dabbahu TMS, we combine cosmogenic 3He dating with geological interpretation of ASTER images and major and trace element analyses of the main volcanic units present. The cosmogenic dating method has advantages over other geochronological tools in that we can target both volcanic and tectonic surfaces of a few Kyr to several Myr age. At Baddi Volcano, an off-axis stratovolcano located west of the Dabbahu rift-axis, basaltic lava flows overlie an acidic base, previously dated at 290 ka using the K-Ar technique (Lahitte et al., 2003). Following preliminary sampling in 2007, we determined cosmogenic 3He ages of 57 ka and 45 ka for two basaltic flows on the flanks of Baddi. We now investigate whether this presumed replenishment of the Baddi magma chamber represents a replenishment of the entire sub-rift plumbing system, and how this in turn relates to the onset and maintenance of surface deformation

Mantle geofluid and uranium ore-formation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Jianhua; Liu Shuai; Yu Dagan; Zhang Bangtong

2005-01-01

Results of the recent research show that volcanic-type and granite-type uranium deposits have both early and late phases of uranium mineralization, and the early phase uranium mineralization is characterized by metallogenetic features of mantle fluids. This paper discusses the geofluids and related metallogenesis, as well as characteristics of early phase uranium mineralisation, and emphasizes, that the ΣCO 2 , U and H 2 O, that comprise the bulk of the ore-forming hot fluids, are originated from different sources, namely CO 2 comes from mantle fluids, U comes from country rocks the mantle fluids have passed during their ascending way, and H 2 O comes from mantle fluids and country rocks the mantle fluids have passed during their ascending way. (authors)

Sub-Moho Reflectors, Mantle Faults and Lithospheric Rheology

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, L. D.

2013-12-01

One of the most unexpected and dramatic observations from the early years of deep reflection profiling of the continents using multichannel CMP techniques was the existing of prominent reflections from the upper mantle. The first of these, the Flannan thrust/fault/feature, was traced by marine profiling of the continental margin offshore Britain by the BIRPS program, which soon found them to be but one of several clear sub-crustal discontinuities in that area. Subsequently, similar mantle reflectors have been observed in many areas around the world, most commonly beneath Precambrian cratonic areas. Many, but not all, of these mantle reflections appear to arise from near the overlying Moho or within the lower crust before dipping well into the mantle. Others occur as subhorizontal events at various depths with the mantle, with one suite seeming to cluster at a depth of about 75 km. The dipping events have been variously interpreted as mantle roots of crustal normal faults or the deep extension of crustal thrust faults. The most common interpretation, however, is that these dipping events are the relicts of ancient subduction zones, the stumps of now detached Benioff zones long since reclaimed by the deeper mantle. In addition to the BIRPS reflectors, the best known examples include those beneath Fennoscandia in northern Europe, the Abitibi-Grenville of eastern Canada, and the Slave Province of northwestern Canada (e.g. on the SNORCLE profile). The most recently reported example is from beneath the Sichuan Basin of central China. The preservation of these coherent, and relatively delicate appearing, features beneath older continental crust and presumably within equally old (of not older) mantle lithosphere, has profound implications for the history and rheology of the lithosphere in these areas. If they represent, as widely believe, some form of faulting with the lithosphere, they provide corollary constraints on the nature of faulting in both the lower crust and

The geological record of base metal sulfides in the cratonic mantle: A microscale 187Os/188Os study of peridotite xenoliths from Somerset Island, Rae Craton (Canada)

Science.gov (United States)

Bragagni, A.; Luguet, A.; Fonseca, R. O. C.; Pearson, D. G.; Lorand, J.-P.; Nowell, G. M.; Kjarsgaard, B. A.

2017-11-01

We report detailed petrographic investigations along with 187Os/188Os data in Base Metal Sulfide (BMS) on four cratonic mantle xenoliths from Somerset Island (Rae Craton, Canada). The results shed light on the processes affecting the Re-Os systematics and provide time constraints on the formation and evolution of the cratonic lithospheric mantle beneath the Rae craton. When devoid of alteration, BMS grains mainly consist of pentlandite + pyrrhotite ± chalcopyrite. The relatively high BMS modal abundance of the four investigated xenoliths cannot be reconciled with the residual nature of these peridotites, but requires addition of metasomatic BMS. This is especially evident in the two peridotites with the highest bulk Pd/Ir and Pd/Pt. Metasomatic BMS likely formed during melt/fluid percolation in the Sub Continental Lithospheric Mantle (SCLM) as well as during infiltration of the host kimberlite magma, when djerfisherite crystallized around older Fe-Ni-sulfides. On the whole-rock scale, kimberlite metasomatism is visible in a subset of bulk xenoliths, which defines a Re-Os errorchron that dates the host magma emplacement. The 187Os/188Os measured in the twenty analysed BMS grains vary from 0.1084 to >0.17 and it shows no systematic variation depending on the sulfide mineralogical assemblage. The largest range in 187Os/188Os is observed in BMS grains from the two xenoliths with the highest Pd/Ir, Pd/Pt, and sulfide modal abundance. The whole-rock TRD ages of these two samples underestimate the melting age obtained from BMS, demonstrating that bulk Re-Os model ages from peridotites with clear evidence of metasomatism should be treated with caution. The TRD ages determined in BMS grains are clustered around 2.8-2.7, ∼2.2 and ∼1.9 Ga. The 2.8-2.7 Ga TRD ages document the main SCLM building event in the Rae craton, which is likely related to the formation of the local greenstone belts in a continental rift setting. The Paleoproterozoic TRD ages can be explained by

Light Stable Isotopic Compositions of Enriched Mantle Sources: Resolving the Dehydration Paradox

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, J. E.; Bindeman, I. N.; Kingsley, R. H.

2017-12-01

An outstanding puzzle in mantle geochemistry has been the origin and evolution of Earth's volatile components. The "dehydration paradox" refers to the following conundrum. Mantle compositions for some enriched mid-ocean ridge (MORB) and ocean island (OIB) basalts basalts require involvement of a mostly dehydrated slab component to explain the trace element ratios and radiogenic isotopic compositions, but a fully hydrated slab component to explain the stable isotopic compositions. Volatile and stable isotopic data on enriched MORB show a diversity of enriched components. Pacific PREMA-type basalts (H2O/Ce = 215 ± 30, δDSMOW = -45 ± 5 ‰) are similar to those in the north Atlantic (H2O/Ce = 220 ± 30; δDSMOW = -30 to -40 ‰). Basalts with EM-type signatures have regionally variable volatile compositions. North Atlantic EM-type basalts are wetter (H2O/Ce = 330 ± 30) and have isotopically heavier hydrogen (δDSMOW = -57 ± 5 ‰) than north Atlantic MORB. South Atlantic EM-type basalts are damp (H2O/Ce = 120 ± 10) with intermediate δDSMOW (-68 ± 2 ‰), similar to dDSMOW for Pacific MORB. North EPR EM-type basalts are dry (H2O/Ce = 110 ± 20) and isotopically light (δDSMOW = -94 ± 3 ‰). Boron and lithium isotopic ratios parallel the trends observed for dDSMOW. A multi-stage metasomatic and melting model accounts for the origin of the enriched components by extending the subduction factory concept down through the mantle transition zone, with slab temperature a key variable. The dehydration paradox is resolved by decoupling of volatiles from lithophile elements, reflecting primary dehydration of the slab followed by secondary rehydration and re-equilibration by fluids derived from subcrustal hydrous phases (e.g., antigorite) in cooler, deeper parts of the slab. The "expanded subduction factory" model includes melting at several key depths, including 1) 180 to 280 km, where EM-type mantle compositions are generated above slabs with average to hot thermal

What, When, Where, and Why of Secondary Hawaiian Hotspot Volcanism

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, M. O.; Ito, G.; Applegate, B.; Weis, D.; Swinnard, L.; Flinders, A.; Hanano, D.; Nobre-Silva, I.; Bianco, T.; Naumann, T.; Geist, D.; Blay, C.; Sciaroni, L.; Maerschalk, C.; Harpp, K.; Christensen, B.

2007-12-01

Secondary hotspot volcanism occurs on most oceanic island groups (Hawaii, Canary, Society) but its origins remain enigmatic. A 28-day marine expedition used multibeam bathymetry and acoustic imagery to map the extent of submarine volcanic fields around the northern Hawaiian Islands (Kauai, Niihau and Kaula), and the JASON2 ROV to sample many volcanoes to characterize the petrology, geochemistry (major and trace elements, and isotopes) and ages of the lavas from these volcanoes. Our integrated geological, geochemical and geophysical study attempts to examine the what (compositions and source), where (distribution and volumes), when (ages), and why (mechanisms) of secondary volcanism on and around the northern Hawaiian Islands. A first-order objective was to establish how the submarine volcanism relates in space, time, volume, and composition to the nearby shield volcanoes and their associated onshore secondary volcanism. Our surveying and sampling revealed major fields of submarine volcanoes extending from the shallow slopes of these islands to more than 100 km offshore. These discoveries dramatically expand the volumetric importance, distribution and geodynamic framework for Hawaiian secondary volcanism. New maps and rock petrology on the samples collected will be used to evaluate currently proposed mechanisms for secondary volcanism and to consider new models such as small-scale mantle convection driven by thermal and melt-induced buoyancy to produce the huge volume of newly discovered lava. Our results seem to indicate substantial revisions are needed to our current perceptions of hotspot dynamics for Hawaii and possibly elsewhere.

Esophageal cancer in north rift valley of western Kenya | Wakhisi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Esophageal cancer in north rift valley of western Kenya. ... Our finding also contrast with an earlier reported study that indicated that Rift Valley is a low prevalence area for this type of cancer. The mean age ... This may lead to identification of molecular biomarkers to be used in future for the early detection of this neoplasm.

Trace elements in olivine of ultramafic lamprophyres controlled by phlogopite-rich mineral assemblages in the mantle source

Science.gov (United States)

Veter, Marina; Foley, Stephen F.; Mertz-Kraus, Regina; Groschopf, Nora

2017-11-01

Carbonate-rich ultramafic lamprophyres (aillikites) and associated rocks characteristically occur during the early stages of thinning and rifting of cratonic mantle lithosphere, prior to the eruption of melilitites, nephelinites and alkali basalts. It is accepted that they require volatile-rich melting conditions, and the presence of phlogopite and carbonate in the source, but the exact source rock assemblages are debated. Melts similar to carbonate-rich ultramafic lamprophyres (aillikites) have been produced by melting of peridotites in the presence of CO2 and H2O, whereas isotopes and trace elements appear to favor distinct phlogopite-bearing rocks. Olivine macrocrysts in aillikites are usually rounded and abraded, so that it is debated whether they are phenocrysts or mantle xenocrysts. We have analyzed minor and trace element composition in olivines from the type aillikites from Aillik Bay in Labrador, Canada. We characterize five groups of olivines: [1] mantle xenocrysts, [2] the main phenocryst population, and [3] reversely zoned crystals interpreted as phenocrysts from earlier, more fractionated, magma batches, [4] rims on the phenocrysts, which delineate aillikite melt fractionation trends, and [5] rims around the reversely zoned olivines. The main phenocryst population is characterized by mantle-like Ni (averaging 3400 μg g- 1) and Ni/Mg at Mg# of 88-90, overlapping with phenocrysts in ocean island basalts and Mediterranean lamproites. However, they also have low 100 Mn/Fe of 0.9-1.3 and no correlation between Ni and other trace elements (Sc, Co, Li) that would indicate recycled oceanic or continental crust in their sources. The low Mn/Fe without high Ni/Mg, and the high V/Sc (2-5) are inherited from phlogopite in the source that originated by solidification of lamproitic melts at the base of the cratonic lithosphere in a previous stage of igneous activity. The olivine phenocryst compositions are interpreted to result from phlogopite and not high modal

Mg-Fe Isotope Systems of Mantle Xenoliths: Constrains on the Evolution of Siberian Craton

Science.gov (United States)

An, Y.; Kiseeva, E. S.; Sobolev, N. V.; Zhang, Z.

2017-12-01

Mantle xenoliths bring to the surface a variety of lithologies (dunites, lherzolites, harzburgites, wehrlites, eclogites, pyroxenites, and websterites) and represent snapshots of the geochemical processes that occur deep within the Earth. Recent improvements in the precision of the MC-ICP-MS measurements have allowed us to expand the amount of data on Mg and Fe isotopes for mantle-derived samples. For instance, to constrain the isotopic composition of the Earth based on the study of spinel and garnet peridotites (An et al., 2017; Teng et al., 2010), to trace the origin and to investigate the isotopic fractionation mechanism during metamorphic process using cratonic or orogenic eclogites (Li et al., 2011; Wang et al., 2012) and to reveal the metasomatism-induced mantle heterogeneity by pyroxenites (Hu et al., 2016). Numerous multi-stage modification events and mantle layering are detected in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle under the Siberian craton (Ashchepkov et al., 2008a; Sobolev et al., 1975, etc). Combined analyses of Mg and Fe isotopic systems could provide new constraints on the formation and evolution of the ancient cratonic mantle. In order to better constrain the magnitude and mechanism of inter-mineral Mg and Fe isotopic fractionations at high temperatures, systematic studies of mantle xenoliths are needed. For example, theoretical calculations and natural samples measurements have shown that large equilibrium Mg isotope fractionations controlled by the difference in coordination number of Mg among minerals could exist (Huang et al., 2013; Li et al., 2011). Thus, the Mg isotope geothermometer could help us trace the evolution history of ancient cratons. In this study we present Mg and Fe isotopic data for whole rocks and separated minerals (clinopyroxene (cpx) and garnet (grt)) from different types of mantle xenoliths (garnet pyroxenites, eclogites, grospydites and garnet peridotites) from a number of kimberlite pipes in Siberian craton (Udachnaya

Oceanic magmatic evolution during ocean opening under influence of mantle plume

Science.gov (United States)

Sushchevskaya, Nadezhda; Melanholina, Elena; Belyatsky, Boris; Krymsky, Robert; Migdisova, Natalya

2015-04-01

Petrology, geochemistry and geophysics as well as numerical simulation of spreading processes in plume impact environments on examples of Atlantic Ocean Iceland and the Central Atlantic plumes and Kerguelen plume in the Indian Ocean reveal: - under interaction of large plume and continental landmass the plume can contribute to splitting off individual lithosphere blocks, and their subsequent movement into the emergent ocean. At the same time enriched plume components often have geochemical characteristics of the intact continental lithosphere by early plume exposure. This is typical for trap magmatism in Antarctica, and for magmatism of North and Central Atlantic margins; - in the course of the geodynamic reconstruction under the whole region of the South Atlantic was formed (not in one step) metasomatized enriched sub-oceanic mantle with pyroxenite mantle geochemical characteristics and isotopic composition of enriched HIMU and EM-2 sources. That is typical for most of the islands in the West Antarctic. This mantle through spreading axes jumping involved in different proportions in the melting under the influence of higher-temperature rising asthenospheric lherzolite mantle; - CAP activity was brief enough (200 ± 2 Ma), but Karoo-Maud plume worked for a longer time and continued from 180 to 170 Ma ago in the main phase. Plume impact within Antarctica distributed to the South and to the East, leading to the formation of extended igneous provinces along the Transantarctic Mountains and along the east coast (Queen Maud Land province and Schirmacher Oasis). Moreover, this plume activity may be continued later on, after about 40 million years cessation, as Kerguelen plume within the newly-formed Indian Ocean, significantly affects the nature of the rift magmatism; - a large extended uplift in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean - Southeastern Indian Ridge (SEIR) was formed on the ancient spreading Wharton ridge near active Kerguelen plume. The strongest plume

Does cement mantle thickness really matter?

OpenAIRE

Caruana, J.

2008-01-01

The thickness of the cement mantle around the femoral component of total hip replacements is a contributing factor to aseptic loosening and revision. Nevertheless, various designs of stems and surgical tooling lead to cement mantles of differing thicknesses. This thesis is concerned with variability in cement thickness around the Stanmore Hip, due to surgical approach, broach size and stem orientation, and its effects on stress and cracking in the cement. The extent to which cement mantle thi...

Formation and modification of chromitites in the mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Arai, Shoji; Miura, Makoto

2016-11-01

Podiform chromitites have long supplied us with unrivaled information on various mantle processes, including the peridotite-magma reaction, deep-seated magmatic evolution, and mantle dynamics. The recent discovery of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) chromitites not only sheds light on a different aspect of podiform chromitites, but also changes our understanding of the whole picture of podiform chromitite genesis. In addition, new evidence was recently presented for hydrothermal modification/formation chromite/chromitite in the mantle, which is a classical but innovative issue. In this context, we present here an urgently needed comprehensive review of podiform chromitites in the upper mantle. Wall-rock control on podiform chromitite genesis demonstrates that the peridotite-magma reaction at the upper mantle condition is an indispensable process. We may need a large system in the mantle, far larger than the size of outcrops or mining areas, to fulfill the Cr budget requirement for podiform chromitite genesis. The peridotite-magma reaction over a large area may form a melt enriched with Na and other incompatible elements, which mixes with a less evolved magma supplied from the depth to create chromite-oversaturated magma. The incompatible-element-rich magma trapped by the chromite mainly precipitates pargasite and aspidolite (Na analogue of phlogopite), which are stable under upper mantle conditions. Moderately depleted harzburgites, which contain chromite with a moderate Cr# (0.4-0.6) and a small amount of clinopyroxene, are the best reactants for the chromitite-forming reaction, and are the best hosts for podiform chromitites. Arc-type chromitites are dominant in ophiolites, but some are of the mid-ocean ridge type; chromitites may be common beneath the ocean floor, although it has not yet been explored for chromitite. The low-pressure (upper mantle) igneous chromitites were conveyed through mantle convection or subduction down to the mantle transition zone to form

Carbonate stability in the reduced lower mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Dorfman, Susannah M.; Badro, James; Nabiei, Farhang; Prakapenka, Vitali B.; Cantoni, Marco; Gillet, Philippe

2018-05-01

Carbonate minerals are important hosts of carbon in the crust and mantle with a key role in the transport and storage of carbon in Earth's deep interior over the history of the planet. Whether subducted carbonates efficiently melt and break down due to interactions with reduced phases or are preserved to great depths and ultimately reach the core-mantle boundary remains controversial. In this study, experiments in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell (LHDAC) on layered samples of dolomite (Mg, Ca)CO3 and iron at pressure and temperature conditions reaching those of the deep lower mantle show that carbon-iron redox interactions destabilize the MgCO3 component, producing a mixture of diamond, Fe7C3, and (Mg, Fe)O. However, CaCO3 is preserved, supporting its relative stability in carbonate-rich lithologies under reducing lower mantle conditions. These results constrain the thermodynamic stability of redox-driven breakdown of carbonates and demonstrate progress towards multiphase mantle petrology in the LHDAC at conditions of the lowermost mantle.

Monte Carlo simulation of positron induced secondary electrons in thin carbon foils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, L H; Yang, B; Ling, C C; Beling, C D; Fung, S

2011-01-01

Emission of secondary electrons induced by the passage of low energy positrons through thin carbon foils was studied by the Monte Carlo method. The positron and electron elastic cross sections were calculated by partial wave analysis. The inelastic positron-valence-electron was described by the energy loss function obtained from dielectric theory. The positron-core-electron interaction was modelled by the Gryzinski's excitation function. Positron transport inside the carbon foil was simulated in detail. Secondary electrons created by positrons and high energy secondary electrons through inelastic interactions were tracked through the foil. The positron transmission coefficient and secondary electron yielded in forward and backward geometry are calculated and dependences on positron energy and carbon foil thickness are discussed.

Sublithospheric flows in the mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Trifonov, V. G.; Sokolov, S. Yu.

2017-11-01

The estimated rates of upper mantle sublithospheric flows in the Hawaii-Emperor Range and Ethiopia-Arabia-Caucasus systems are reported. In the Hawaii-Emperor Range system, calculation is based on motion of the asthenospheric flow and the plate moved by it over the branch of the Central Pacific plume. The travel rate has been determined based on the position of variably aged volcanoes (up to 76 Ma) with respect to the active Kilauea Volcano. As for the Ethiopia-Arabia-Caucasus system, the age of volcanic eruptions (55-2.8 Ma) has been used to estimate the asthenospheric flow from the Ethiopian-Afar superplume in the northern bearing lines. Both systems are characterized by variations in a rate of the upper mantle flows in different epochs from 4 to 12 cm/yr, about 8 cm/yr on average. Analysis of the global seismic tomographic data has made it possible to reveal rock volumes with higher seismic wave velocities under ancient cratons; rocks reach a depth of more than 2000 km and are interpreted as detached fragments of the thickened continental lithosphere. Such volumes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were submerged at an average velocity of 0.9-1.0 cm/yr along with its opening. The estimated rates of the mantle flows clarify the deformation properties of the mantle and regulate the numerical models of mantle convection.

The role of magmatic loads and rift jumps in generating seaward dipping reflectors on volcanic rifted margins

Science.gov (United States)

Buck, W. Roger

2017-05-01

The largest volcanic constructs on Earth are the seismically imaged seaward dipping reflector (SDR) units found offshore of many rifted continental margins, including most that border the Atlantic Ocean. Whether their formation requires large magnitude (i.e. 10 s of km) of normal fault slip or results from the deflection of the lithosphere by the weight of volcanic flows is controversial. Though there is evidence for faulting associated with some SDRs, this paper considers the range of structures that can be produced by magmatic and volcanic loading alone. To do this an idealized mechanical model for the construction of rift-related volcanic flow structures is developed. Dikes open as plates move away from the center of a model rift and volcanic flows fill the depression produced by the load caused by dike solidification. The thin elastic plate flexure approximation allows a closed form description of the shape of both the contacts between flows and between the flows and underlying dikes. The model depends on two independent parameters: the flexure parameter, α, and the maximum isostatically supported extrusive layer thickness, w0. For reasonable values of these parameters the model reproduces the observed down-dip thickening of flows and the range of reflector dip angles. A numerical scheme using the analytic results allows simulation of the effect of temporal changes in the locus of magmatic spreading as well as changes in the amount of volcanic infill. Either jumps in the location of the center of diking or periods with no volcanism result in separate units or "packages" of model SDRs, in which the flow-dike contact dips landward, consistent with observations previously attributed only to listric normal fault offset. When jumps in the spreading center are small (i.e. less than α) they result in thicker, narrower volcanic units on one side of a rift compared to those on the other side. This is similar to the asymmetric distributions of volcanic packages seen

Hydrothermal alteration of plagioclase and growth of secondary feldspar in the Hengill Volcanic Centre, SW Iceland

Science.gov (United States)

Larsson, D.; Grönvold, K.; Oskarsson, N.; Gunnlaugsson, E.

2002-05-01

Dissolution of igneous feldspar and the formation and occurrence of secondary feldspar in tholeiitic basalts from the Hengill volcanic centre, in SW Iceland was studied by microprobe analysis of cuttings from two ca. 2000 m deep geothermal wells. Well NG-7 in Nesjavellir represents a geothermal system in a rift zone where the intensity of young, insignificantly altered intrusions increases with depth. Well KhG-1 in Kolviðarhóll represents the margin of a rift zone where the intensity of intrusives is lower and the intensity of alteration higher. This marginal well represents altered basaltic crust in an early retrograde state. The secondary plagioclase in both wells is mainly oligoclase, occurring in association with K-feldspar and chlorite±actinolite. The texture of this assemblage depends on the lithology and intensity of alteration. In Nesjavellir (NG-7) the composition of secondary albite-oligoclase is correlated with the host-rock composition. This connection is not apparent in more intensely altered samples from Kolviðarhóll (KhG-1). The influence of temperature on composition of secondary Na-feldspar is unclear in both wells although Ca is expected to increase with temperature. Any temperature dependence may be suppressed by the influence of rock composition in Nesjavellir and by retrograde conditions at Kolviðarhóll. The absence of clear compositional gradients between igneous plagioclase and secondary feldspar and between Na-feldspar and K-feldspar suggests that secondary feldspars formed by dissolution precipitation reactions.

Radial and Azimuthal Anisotropy Tomography of the NE Japan Subduction Zone: Implications for the Pacific Slab and Mantle Wedge Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Ishise, Motoko; Kawakatsu, Hitoshi; Morishige, Manabu; Shiomi, Katsuhiko

2018-05-01

We investigate slab and mantle structure of the NE Japan subduction zone from P wave azimuthal and radial anisotropy using travel time tomography. Trench normal E-W-trending azimuthal anisotropy (AA) and radial anisotropy (RA) with VPV > VPH are found in the mantle wedge, which supports the existence of small-scale convection in the mantle wedge with flow-induced LPO of mantle minerals. In the subducting Pacific slab, trench parallel N-S-trending AA and RA with VPH > VPV are obtained. Considering the effect of dip of the subducting slab on apparent anisotropy, we suggest that both characteristics can be explained by the presence of laminar structure, in addition to AA frozen-in in the subducting plate prior to subduction.

The Ellsworth terrane, coastal Maine: Geochronology, geochemistry, and Nd-Pb isotopic composition - Implications for the rifting of Ganderia

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, K.J.; Stewart, D.B.; Tucker, R.D.; Pollock, J.C.; Ayuso, R.A.

2008-01-01

interlayered with basalt in the Ellsworth Schist, is calc-alkaline and characterized by relatively low REE, Zr, and Hf contents, enriched LREE ([La/Yb]N ???3-6), positive Th and negative Th anomalies, ??Nd (500) values near zero (+0.5 to -0.9), and relatively unradiogenic Ph isotope values (206Pb/204Pb = 18.845; 207Pb/ 204Pb = 15.625; 208Pb/204Pb = 38.626). The data suggest that R-1 rhyolite magma was Likely derived by mixing of basalt with melts from a relatively depleted crustal source. Type R-2 rhyolite, which mostly occurs as lava flows and domes in the Castine volcanics, is tholeiitic and characterized by enriched REE with flat patterns ([La/Yb]N = 1-2.5), moderate negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0-34.5), enriched Th, small negative Th anomalies, and ??Nd (500) (+5.8-+7.5) and Ph isotope (206Pb/204Pb = 19.175-19.619; 207Pb/204Pb = 15.605--15.649; 208Pb/204Pb = 38.834-38.851) values that overlap those of the tholeiitic basalts. The data suggest that R-2 rhyolite magma was derived by the partial melting of hydrothermally altered basalt with the addition of a small amount of an enriched component, probably R-1 rhyolite. The geololic, geochemicai, and isotopic characteristics of the bimodal volcanic sequences strongly suggest that the Ellsworth terrane did not evolve as an extensional back-arc basin behind an active arc, but rather it evolved as a proto-oceanic rift petrogenetically similar to Cenozoic rifts like the Gulf of California-Salton mrough and Red Sea-Gulf of Aden rift systems. Such a setting is supported by the presence of serpentinized mantle and zinc-copper-rich massive sulfide deposits in the Ellsworth terrane. We conclude that the Ellsworth terrane developed as a Mid

Modeling the Sedimentary Infill of Lakes in the East African Rift: A Case Study of Multiple versus Single Rift Basin Segments

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, C.; Scholz, C. A.

2016-12-01

The sedimentary basins in the East African Rift are considered excellent modern examples for investigating sedimentary infilling and evolution of extensional systems. Some lakes in the western branch of the rift have formed within single-segment systems, and include Lake Albert and Lake Edward. The largest and oldest lakes developed within multi-segment systems, and these include Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. This research aims to explore processes of erosion and sedimentary infilling of the catchment area in single-segment rift (SSR) and multi-segment rift (MSR) systems. We consider different conditions of regional precipitation and evaporation, and assess the resulting facies architecture through forward modeling, using state-of-the-art commercial basin modeling software. Dionisos is a three-dimensional numerical stratigraphic forward modeling software program, which simulates basin-scale sediment transport based on empirical water- and gravity-driven diffusion equations. It was classically used to quantify the sedimentary architecture and basin infilling of both marine siliciclastic and carbonate environments. However, we apply this approach to continental rift basin environments. In this research, two scenarios are developed, one for a MSR and the other for a SSR. The modeled systems simulate the ratio of drainage area and lake surface area observed in modern Lake Tanganyika and Lake Albert, which are examples of MSRs and SSRs, respectively. The main parameters, such as maximum subsidence rate, water- and gravity-driven diffusion coefficients, rainfall, and evaporation, are approximated using these real-world examples. The results of 5 million year model runs with 50,000 year time steps show that MSRs are characterized by a deep water lake with relatively modest sediment accumulation, while the SSRs are characterized by a nearly overfilled lake with shallow water depths and thick sediment accumulation. The preliminary modeling results conform to the features

The evolution of the western rift area of the Fimbul Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Humbert

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the evolution of a zone in the Fimbul Ice Shelf that is characterised by large crevasses and rifts west of Jutulstraumen, an outlet glacier flowing into Fimbulisen. High-resolution radar imagery and radio echo sounding data were used to study the surface and internal structure of this rift area and to define zones of similar characteristics. The western rift area is dominated by two factors: a small ice rumple that leads to basal crevasses and disturbs the homogeneity of the ice, and a zone with fibre-like blocks. Downstream of the rumple we found down-welling of internal layers and local thinning, which we explain as a result of basal crevasses due to the basal drag at the ice rumple. North of Ahlmannryggen the ice loses its lateral constraint and forms individual blocks, which are deformed like fibres under shear, where the ice stream merges with slower moving ice masses of the western side. There, the ice loses its integrity, which initiates the western rift system. The velocity difference between the slow moving western part and the fast moving extension of Jutulstraumen produces shear stress that causes the rifts to form tails and expand them to the major rifts of up to 30 km length.

Characteristics of Vertical Mantle Heat Exchangers for Solar Water Heaters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shah, Louise Jivan; Morrison, G.L.; Behnia, M.

1999-01-01

- The flow structure in vertical mantle heat exchangers was investigated using a full-scale tank designed to facilitate flow visualisation. The flow structure and velocities in the mantle were measured using a particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system. A CFD simulation model of vertical mantle heat...... exchangers was also developed for detailed evaluation of the heat flux distribution over the mantle surface. Both the experimental and simulation results indicate that distribution of the flow around the mantle gap is governed by buoyancy driven recirculation in the mantle. The operation of the mantle...

MODELLING MANTLE TANKS FOR SDHW SYSTEMS USING PIV AND CFD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shah, Louise Jivan; Morrison, G.L.; Behnia, Masud

1999-01-01

Characteristics of vertical mantle heat exchanger tanks for SDHW systems have been investigated experimentally and theoretically using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and CFD modelling. A glass model of a mantle heat exchanger tank was constructed so that the flow distribution in the mantle could...... be studied using the PIV test facility. Two transient three-dimensional CFD-models of the glass model mantle tank were developed using the CFD-programmes CFX and FLUENT.The experimental results illustrate that the mantle flow structure in the mantle is complicated and the distribution of flow in the mantle...

Some aspects of the role of rift inheritance on Alpine-type orogens

Science.gov (United States)

Tugend, Julie; Manatschal, Gianreto; Mohn, Geoffroy; Chevrot, Sébastien

2017-04-01

Processes commonly recognized as fundamental for the formation of collisional orogens include oceanic subduction, arc-continent and continent-continent collision. As collisional belts result from the closure of oceanic basins and subsequent inversion of former rifted margins, their formation and evolution may also in theory be closely interlinked with the initial architecture of the former rifted margins. This assumption is indeed more likely to be applicable in the case of Alpine-type orogens, mainly controlled by mechanical processes and mostly devoid of arc-related magmatism. More and more studies from present-day magma-poor rifted margins illustrate the complex evolution of hyperextended domains (i.e. severely thinned continental crust (images across the Pyrenees (PYROPE) and the Alps (CIFALPS) reveal a surprisingly comparable present-day overall crustal and lithospheric structure. Based on the comparison between the two orogens we discuss: (1) the nature and depth of decoupling levels inherited from hyperextension; (2) the implications for restorations and interpretations of orogenic roots (former hyperextended domains vs. lower crust only); and (3) the nature and major role of buttresses in controlling the final stage of collisional processes. Eventually, we discuss the variability of the role of rift-inheritance in building Alpine-type orogens. The Pyrenees seem to represent one extreme, where rift-inheritance is important at different stages of collisional processes. In contrast, in the Alps the role of rift-inheritance is subtler, likely because of its more complex and polyphase compressional deformation history.

Focused seismicity triggered by flank instability on Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone

Science.gov (United States)

Judson, Josiah; Thelen, Weston A.; Greenfield, Tim; White, Robert S.

2018-03-01

Swarms of earthquakes at the head of the Southwest Rift Zone on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai´i, reveal an interaction of normal and strike-slip faulting associated with movement of Kīlauea's south flank. A relocated subset of earthquakes between January 2012 and August 2014 are highly focused in space and time at depths that are coincident with the south caldera magma reservoir beneath the southern margin of Kīlauea Caldera. Newly calculated focal mechanisms are dominantly dextral shear with a north-south preferred fault orientation. Two earthquakes within this focused area of seismicity have normal faulting mechanisms, indicating two mechanisms of failure in very close proximity (10's of meters to 100 m). We suggest a model where opening along the Southwest Rift Zone caused by seaward motion of the south flank permits injection of magma and subsequent freezing of a plug, which then fails in a right-lateral strike-slip sense, consistent with the direction of movement of the south flank. The seismicity is concentrated in an area where a constriction occurs between a normal fault and the deeper magma transport system into the Southwest Rift Zone. Although in many ways the Southwest Rift Zone appears analogous to the more active East Rift Zone, the localization of the largest seismicity (>M2.5) within the swarms to a small volume necessitates a different model than has been proposed to explain the lineament outlined by earthquakes along the East Rift Zone.

The role of solid-solid phase transitions in mantle convection

Science.gov (United States)

Faccenda, Manuele; Dal Zilio, Luca

2017-01-01

With changing pressure and temperature conditions, downwelling and upwelling crustal and mantle rocks experience several solid-solid phase transitions that affect the mineral physical properties owing to structural changes in the crystal lattice and to the absorption or release of latent heat. Variations in density, together with phase boundary deflections related to the non-null reaction slope, generate important buoyancy forces that add to those induced by thermal perturbations. These buoyancy forces are proportional to the density contrast between reactant and product phases, their volume fraction, the slope and the sharpness of the reaction, and affect the style of mantle convection depending on the system composition. In a homogeneous pyrolitic mantle there is little tendency for layered convection, with slabs that may stagnate in the transition zone because of the positive buoyancy caused by post-spinel and post-ilmenite reactions, and hot plumes that are accelerated by phase transformations in the 600-800 km depth range. By adding chemical and mineralogical heterogeneities as on Earth, phase transitions introduce bulk rock and volatiles filtering effects that generate a compositional gradient throughout the entire mantle, with levels that are enriched or depleted in one or more of these components. Phase transitions often lead to mechanical softening or hardening that can be related to a different intrinsic mechanical behaviour and volatile solubility of the product phases, the heating or cooling associated with latent heat, and the transient grain size reduction in downwelling cold material. Strong variations in viscosity would enhance layered mantle convection, causing slab stagnation and plume ponding. At low temperatures and relatively dry conditions, reactions are delayed due to the sluggish kinetics, so that non-equilibrium phase aggregates can persist metastably beyond the equilibrium phase boundary. Survival of low-density metastable olivine

Tectonic inheritance and continental rift architecture: Numerical and analogue models of the East African Rift System.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Corti, G.; van Wijk, J.W.; Cloetingh, S.A.P.L.; Morley, C.

2007-01-01

The western branch of the East African Rift is composed of an arcuate succession of elongate asymmetric basins, which differ in terms of interaction geometry, fault architecture and kinematics, and patterns of uplift/subsidence and erosion/sedimentation. The basins are located within Proterozoic

Magmatic dyking and recharge in the Asal Rift, Republic of Djibouti

Science.gov (United States)

Peltzer, G.; Harrington, J.; Doubre, C.; Tomic, J.

2012-12-01

The Asal Rift, Republic of Djibouti, has been the locus of a major magmatic event in 1978 and seems to have maintained a sustained activity in the three decade following the event. We compare the dyking event of 1978 with the magmatic activity occurring in the rift during the 1997-2008 time period. We use historical air photos and satellite images to quantify the horizontal opening on the major faults activated in 1978. These observations are combined with ground based geodetic data acquired between 1973 and 1979 across the rift to constrain a kinematic model of the 1978 rifting event, including bordering faults and mid-crustal dykes under the Asal Rift and the Ghoubbet Gulf. The model indicates that extension was concentrated between the surface and a depth of 3 km in the crust, resulting in the opening of faults, dykes and fissures between the two main faults, E and gamma, and that the structure located under the Asal Rift, below 3 km, deflated. These results suggest that, during the 1978 event, magmatic fluids transferred from a mid-crustal reservoir to the shallow structures, injecting dykes and filling faults and fissures, and reaching the surface in the Ardoukoba fissural eruption. Surface deformation observed by InSAR during the 1997-2008 decade reveals a slow, yet sustained inflation and extension across the Asal Rift combined with continuous subsidence of the rift inner floor. Modeling shows that these observations cannot be explained by visco-elastic relaxation, a process, which mostly vanishes 20 to 30 years after the 1978 event. However, the InSAR observations over this decade are well explained by a kinematic model in which an inflating body is present at mid-crustal depth, approximately under the Fieale caldera, and shallow faults accommodate both horizontal opening and down-dip slip. The total geometric moment rate, or inflation rate, due to the opening of the mid-crustal structure and the deeper parts of the opening faults is 3 106 m3yr. Such a

Iron-carbonate interaction at Earth's core-mantle boundary

Science.gov (United States)

Dorfman, S. M.; Badro, J.; Nabiei, F.; Prakapenka, V.; Gillet, P.

2015-12-01

Carbon storage and flux in the deep Earth are moderated by oxygen fugacity and interactions with iron-bearing phases. The amount of carbon stored in Earth's mantle versus the core depends on carbon-iron chemistry at the core-mantle boundary. Oxidized carbonates subducted from Earth's surface to the lowermost mantle may encounter reduced Fe0 metal from disproportionation of Fe2+ in lower mantle silicates or mixing with the core. To understand the fate of carbonates in the lowermost mantle, we have performed experiments on sandwiches of single-crystal (Ca0.6Mg0.4)CO3 dolomite and Fe foil in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell at lower mantle conditions of 49-110 GPa and 1800-2500 K. Syntheses were conducted with in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction to identify phase assemblages. After quench to ambient conditions, samples were sectioned with a focused Ga+ ion beam for composition analysis with transmission electron microscopy. At the centers of the heated spots, iron melted and reacted completely with the carbonate to form magnesiowüstite, iron carbide, diamond, magnesium-rich carbonate and calcium carbonate. In samples heated at 49 and 64 GPa, the two carbonates exhibit a eutectoid texture. In the sample heated at 110 GPa, the carbonates form rounded ~150-nm-diameter grains with a higher modal proportion of interspersed diamonds. The presence of reduced iron in the deep lower mantle and core-mantle boundary region will promote the formation of diamonds in carbonate-bearing subducted slabs. The complete reaction of metallic iron to oxides and carbides in the presence of mantle carbonate supports the formation of these phases at the Earth's core-mantle boundary and in ultra-low velocity zones.

Rayleigh Wave Phase Velocities Beneath the Central and Southern East African Rift System

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, A. N.; Miller, J. C.

2017-12-01

This study uses the Automated Generalized Seismological Data Function (AGSDF) method to develop a model of Rayleigh wave phase velocities in the central and southern portions of the East African Rift System (EARS). These phase velocity models at periods of 20-100s lend insight into the lithospheric structures associated with surficial rifting and volcanism, as well as basement structures that pre-date and affect the course of rifting. A large dataset of >700 earthquakes is used, comprised of Mw=6.0+ events that occurred between the years 1995 and 2016. These events were recorded by a composite array of 176 stations from twelve non-contemporaneous seismic networks, each with a distinctive array geometry and station spacing. Several first-order features are resolved in this phase velocity model, confirming findings from previous studies. (1) Low velocities are observed in isolated regions along the Western Rift Branch and across the Eastern Rift Branch, corresponding to areas of active volcanism. (2) Two linear low velocity zones are imaged trending southeast and southwest from the Eastern Rift Branch in Tanzania, corresponding with areas of seismic activity and indicating possible incipient rifting. (3) High velocity regions are observed beneath both the Tanzania Craton and the Bangweulu Block. Furthermore, this model indicates several new findings. (1) High velocities beneath the Bangweulu Block extend to longer periods than those found beneath the Tanzania Craton, perhaps indicating that rifting processes have not altered the Bangweulu Block as extensively as the Tanzania Craton. (2) At long periods, the fast velocities beneath the Bangweulu Block extend eastwards beyond the surficial boundaries, to and possibly across the Malawi Rift. This may suggest the presence of older, thick blocks of lithosphere in regions where they are not exposed at the surface. (3) Finally, while the findings of this study correspond well with previous studies in regions of overlapping

Geodetic Measurements and Numerical Models of Rifting in Northern Iceland for 1993-1999

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, T.; Feigl, K.; Masterlark, T.; Carr, B. B.; Sigmundsson, F.; Thurber, C. H.

2009-12-01

Rifting occurs as episodes of active deformation in individual rift segments of the Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ) of Iceland. To measure the deformation, we use interferometric analysis of synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data acquired between 1993 and 1999. Preliminary results suggest that a complex interplay of multiple inflating and deflating sources at depth is required to account for the observed deformation. In an effort to integrate heterogeneous constraining information (kinematic plate spreading, seismic tomography and anisotropy, and thermal and rheologic structures), we develop finite element models that simulate the underlying sources and processes associated with rifting events to quantitatively understand the magmatic plumbing system beneath Krafla central volcano and rift segment, the site of the most recent rifting episode in the NVZ. Calibration parameters include the positions, geometries, and flux rates for elements of the plumbing system, as well as material properties. The General Inversion for Phase Technique (GIPhT) [Feigl and Thurber, Geophys. J. Int., 2009] is used to model the InSAR phase data directly, without unwrapping parameters. It operates on wrapped phase values ranging from -1/2 to +1/2 cycles. By defining a cost function that quantifies the misfit between observed and modeled values in terms of wrapped phase, GIPhT can estimate parameters in a geophysical model by minimizing the cost function. Since this approach can handle noisy, wrapped phase data, it avoids the pitfalls of phase-unwrapping approaches. Consequently, GIPhT allows the analysis, interpretation and modeling of more interferometric pairs than approaches that require unwrapping. GIPhT also allows statistical testing of hypotheses because the wrapped phase residuals follow a Von Mises distribution. As a result, the model parameters estimated by GIPhT include formal uncertainties. We test the hypothesis that deformation in the rift zone occurred at a constant (secular

Two-component mantle melting-mixing model for the generation of mid-ocean ridge basalts: Implications for the volatile content of the Pacific upper mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Kei; Saal, Alberto E.; Myers, Corinne E.; Nagle, Ashley N.; Hauri, Erik H.; Forsyth, Donald W.; Kamenetsky, Vadim S.; Niu, Yaoling

2016-03-01

We report major, trace, and volatile element (CO2, H2O, F, Cl, S) contents and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) glasses from the Northern East Pacific Rise (NEPR) off-axis seamounts, the Quebrada-Discovery-GoFar (QDG) transform fault system, and the Macquarie Island. The incompatible trace element (ITE) contents of the samples range from highly depleted (DMORB, Th/La ⩽ 0.035) to enriched (EMORB, Th/La ⩾ 0.07), and the isotopic composition spans the entire range observed in EPR MORB. Our data suggest that at the time of melt generation, the source that generated the EMORB was essentially peridotitic, and that the composition of NMORB might not represent melting of a single upper mantle source (DMM), but rather mixing of melts from a two-component mantle (depleted and enriched DMM or D-DMM and E-DMM, respectively). After filtering the volatile element data for secondary processes (degassing, sulfide saturation, assimilation of seawater-derived component, and fractional crystallization), we use the volatiles to ITE ratios of our samples and a two-component mantle melting-mixing model to estimate the volatile content of the D-DMM (CO2 = 22 ppm, H2O = 59 ppm, F = 8 ppm, Cl = 0.4 ppm, and S = 100 ppm) and the E-DMM (CO2 = 990 ppm, H2O = 660 ppm, F = 31 ppm, Cl = 22 ppm, and S = 165 ppm). Our two-component mantle melting-mixing model reproduces the kernel density estimates (KDE) of Th/La and 143Nd/144Nd ratios for our samples and for EPR axial MORB compiled from the literature. This model suggests that: (1) 78% of the Pacific upper mantle is highly depleted (D-DMM) while 22% is enriched (E-DMM) in volatile and refractory ITE, (2) the melts produced during variable degrees of melting of the E-DMM controls most of the MORB geochemical variation, and (3) a fraction (∼65% to 80%) of the low degree EMORB melts (produced by ∼1.3% melting) may escape melt aggregation by freezing at the base of the oceanic lithosphere, significantly enriching it in

An experimental study of Fe-Ni exchange between sulfide melt and olivine at upper mantle conditions: implications for mantle sulfide compositions and phase equilibria

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhou; von der Handt, Anette; Hirschmann, Marc M.

2018-03-01

The behavior of nickel in the Earth's mantle is controlled by sulfide melt-olivine reaction. Prior to this study, experiments were carried out at low pressures with narrow range of Ni/Fe in sulfide melt. As the mantle becomes more reduced with depth, experiments at comparable conditions provide an assessment of the effect of pressure at low-oxygen fugacity conditions. In this study, we constrain the Fe-Ni composition of molten sulfide in the Earth's upper mantle via sulfide melt-olivine reaction experiments at 2 GPa, 1200 and 1400 °C, with sulfide melt X_{{{Ni}}}^{{{Sulfide}}}={{Ni}}/{{Ni+{Fe}}} (atomic ratio) ranging from 0 to 0.94. To verify the approach to equilibrium and to explore the effect of {f_{{{O}2}}} on Fe-Ni exchange between phases, four different suites of experiments were conducted, varying in their experimental geometry and initial composition. Effects of Ni secondary fluorescence on olivine analyses were corrected using the PENELOPE algorithm (Baró et al., Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res B 100:31-46, 1995), "zero time" experiments, and measurements before and after dissolution of surrounding sulfides. Oxygen fugacities in the experiments, estimated from the measured O contents of sulfide melts and from the compositions of coexisting olivines, were 3.0 ± 1.0 log units more reduced than the fayalite-magnetite-quartz (FMQ) buffer (suite 1, 2 and 3), and FMQ - 1 or more oxidized (suite 4). For the reduced (suites 1-3) experiments, Fe-Ni distribution coefficients K_{{D}}{}={(X_{{{Ni}}}^{{{sulfide}}}/X_{{{Fe}}}^{{{sulfide}}})}/{(X_{{{Ni}}^{{{olivine}}}/X_{{{Fe}}}^{{{olivine}}})}} are small, averaging 10.0 ± 5.7, with little variation as a function of total Ni content. More oxidized experiments (suite 4) give larger values of K D (21.1-25.2). Compared to previous determinations at 100 kPa, values of K D from this study are chiefly lower, in large part owing to the more reduced conditions of the experiments. The observed difference does not seem

Kinematics of the entire East African Rift from GPS velocities

Science.gov (United States)

Floyd, M.; King, R. W.

2017-12-01

Through a collaborative effort of the GeoPRISMS East Africa Rift GPS Working Group, we have collected and collated all of the publicly available continuous and survey-mode data for the entire rift system between 1994 and 2017 and processed these data as part of a larger velocity solution for Africa, Arabia and western Eurasia. We present here our velocity solution encompassing the major bounding plates and intervening terranes along the East African Rift from the Red Sea to the Malawi Rift and adjacent regions for GPS sites with data spans of at least 2.4 years, and north and east velocity uncertainties less than 1.5 mm/yr. To obtain realistic uncertainties for the velocity estimates, we attempted at each stage of the analysis to account for the character of the noise: During phase processing, we used an elevation-dependent weighting based on the phase residuals for each station; we then examined each position time series, removing outliers and reweighting appropriately to account for the white noise component of the errors; and e accounted for temporal correlations by estimating an equivalent random-walk magnitude for each continuous site and applying the median value (0.5 mm/√yr) to all survey-mode sites. We rigorously estimate relative rotation rates of Nubia, by choosing subset of well-determined sites such that the effective weights of western, northeastern and southern Africa were roughly equivalent, and Somalia, for which the estimate is dominated by three sites (MALI, RCMN, SEY1) whose uncertainties are a factor of 2-3 smaller than those of the other sites. For both plates, the weighted root-mean-square of the velocity residuals is 0.5 mm/yr. Our unified velocity solution provides a geodetic framework and constraints on the continental-scale kinematics of surface motions as well as more local effects both within and outside of the rift structures. Specific focus areas with denser coverage than previous fields include the Danakil block, the Afar Rift, the

The ruthenium isotopic composition of the oceanic mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Bermingham, K. R.; Walker, R. J.

2017-09-01

The approximately chondritic relative, and comparatively high absolute mantle abundances of the highly siderophile elements (HSE), suggest that their concentrations in the bulk silicate Earth were primarily established during a final ∼0.5 to 1% of ;late accretion; to the mantle, following the cessation of core segregation. Consequently, the isotopic composition of the HSE Ru in the mantle reflects an amalgamation of the isotopic compositions of late accretionary contributions to the silicate portion of the Earth. Among cosmochemical materials, Ru is characterized by considerable mass-independent isotopic variability, making it a powerful genetic tracer of Earth's late accretionary building blocks. To define the Ru isotopic composition of the oceanic mantle, the largest portion of the accessible mantle, we report Ru isotopic data for materials from one Archean and seven Phanerozoic oceanic mantle domains. A sample from a continental lithospheric mantle domain is also examined. All samples have identical Ru isotopic compositions, within analytical uncertainties, indicating that Ru isotopes are well mixed in the oceanic mantle, defining a μ100Ru value of 1.2 ± 7.2 (2SD). The only known meteorites with the same Ru isotopic composition are enstatite chondrites and, when corrected for the effects of cosmic ray exposure, members of the Main Group and sLL subgroup of the IAB iron meteorite complex which have a collective CRE corrected μ100Ru value of 0.9 ± 3.0. This suggests that materials from the region(s) of the solar nebula sampled by these meteorites likely contributed the dominant portion of late accreted materials to Earth's mantle.

Mantle Circulation Models with variational data assimilation: Inferring past mantle flow and structure from plate motion histories and seismic tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Bunge, H.; Hagelberg, C.; Travis, B.

2002-12-01

EarthScope will deliver data on structure and dynamics of continental North America and the underlying mantle on an unprecedented scale. Indeed, the scope of EarthScope makes its mission comparable to the large remote sensing efforts that are transforming the oceanographic and atmospheric sciences today. Arguably the main impact of new solid Earth observing systems is to transform our use of geodynamic models increasingly from conditions that are data poor to an environment that is data rich. Oceanographers and meteorologists already have made substantial progress in adapting to this environment, by developing new approaches of interpreting oceanographic and atmospheric data objectively through data assimilation methods in their models. However, a similarly rigorous theoretical framework for merging EarthScope derived solid Earth data with geodynamic models has yet to be devised. Here we explore the feasibility of data assimilation in mantle convection studies in an attempt to fit global geodynamic model calculations explicitly to tomographic and tectonic constraints. This is an inverse problem not quite unlike the inverse problem of finding optimal seismic velocity structures faced by seismologists. We derive the generalized inverse of mantle convection from a variational approach and present the adjoint equations of mantle flow. The substantial computational burden associated with solutions to the generalized inverse problem of mantle convection is made feasible using a highly efficient finite element approach based on the 3-D spherical fully parallelized mantle dynamics code TERRA, implemented on a cost-effective topical PC-cluster (geowulf) dedicated specifically to large-scale geophysical simulations. This dedicated geophysical modeling computer allows us to investigate global inverse convection problems having a spatial discretization of less than 50 km throughout the mantle. We present a synthetic high-resolution modeling experiment to demonstrate that mid

Late Jurassic – early Cretaceous inversion of rift structures, and linkage of petroleum system elements across post-rift unconformity, U.S. Chukchi Shelf, arctic Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Houseknecht, David W.; Connors, Christopher D.

2015-01-01

Basin evolution of the U.S. Chukchi shelf involved multiple phases, including Late Devonian–Permian rifting, Permian–Early Jurassic sagging, Late Jurassic–Neocomian inversion, and Cretaceous–Cenozoic foreland-basin development. The focus of ongoing exploration is a petroleum system that includes sag-phase source rocks; inversion-phase reservoir rocks; structure spanning the rift, sag, and inversion phases; and hydrocarbon generation during the foreland-basin phase.

Using the virtual reality device Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment of visual processing capabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Foerster, Rebecca M; Poth, Christian H; Behler, Christian; Botsch, Mario; Schneider, Werner X

2016-11-21

Neuropsychological assessment of human visual processing capabilities strongly depends on visual testing conditions including room lighting, stimuli, and viewing-distance. This limits standardization, threatens reliability, and prevents the assessment of core visual functions such as visual processing speed. Increasingly available virtual reality devices allow to address these problems. One such device is the portable, light-weight, and easy-to-use Oculus Rift. It is head-mounted and covers the entire visual field, thereby shielding and standardizing the visual stimulation. A fundamental prerequisite to use Oculus Rift for neuropsychological assessment is sufficient test-retest reliability. Here, we compare the test-retest reliabilities of Bundesen's visual processing components (visual processing speed, threshold of conscious perception, capacity of visual working memory) as measured with Oculus Rift and a standard CRT computer screen. Our results show that Oculus Rift allows to measure the processing components as reliably as the standard CRT. This means that Oculus Rift is applicable for standardized and reliable assessment and diagnosis of elementary cognitive functions in laboratory and clinical settings. Oculus Rift thus provides the opportunity to compare visual processing components between individuals and institutions and to establish statistical norm distributions.

Imaging an off-axis volcanic field in the Main Ethiopian Rift using 3-D magnetotellurics

Science.gov (United States)

Huebert, J.; Whaler, K. A.; Fisseha, S.; Hogg, C.

2017-12-01

In active continental rifts, asthenospheric upwelling and crustal thinning result in the ascent of melt through the crust to the surface. In the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), most volcanic activity is located in magmatic segments in the rift centre, but there are areas of significant off-axis magmatism as well. The Butajira volcanic field is part of the Silti Debre Zeyt Fault (SDZF) zone in the western Main Ethiopian Rift. It is characterized by densely clustered volcanic vents (mostly scoria cones) and by limited seismic activity, which is mainly located along the big border faults that form the edge of a steep escarpment. Seismic P-Wave tomography reveals a crustal low velocity anomaly in this area. We present newly collected Magnetotelluric (MT) data to image the electrical conductivity structure of the area. We deployed 12 LMT instruments and 27 broadband stations in the western flank of the rift to further investigate the along-rift and depth extent of a highly conductive region under the SDZF which was previously identified by MT data collected on the central volcano Aluto and along a cross-rift transverse. This large conductor was interpreted as potential pathways for magma and fluid in the crust. MT Stations were positioned in five NW-SE running 50 km long profiles, covering overall 100km along the rift and providing good coverage for a 3-D inversion of the data to image this enigmatic area of the MER.

Atlas of the underworld: Slab remnants in the mantle, their sinking history, and a new outlook on lower mantle viscosity

Science.gov (United States)

van der Meer, Douwe G.; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.; Spakman, Wim

2018-01-01

Across the entire mantle we interpret 94 positive seismic wave-speed anomalies as subducted lithosphere and associate these slabs with their geological record. We document this as the Atlas of the Underworld, also accessible online at www.atlas-of-the-underworld.org, a compilation comprising subduction systems active in the past 300 Myr. Deeper slabs are correlated to older geological records, assuming no relative horizontal motions between adjacent slabs following break-off, using knowledge of global plate circuits, but without assuming a mantle reference frame. The longest actively subducting slabs identified reach the depth of 2500 km and some slabs have impinged on Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces in the deepest mantle. Anomously fast sinking of some slabs occurs in regions affected by long-term plume rising. We conclude that slab remnants eventually sink from the upper mantle to the core-mantle boundary. The range in subduction-age versus - depth in the lower mantle is largely inherited from the upper mantle history of subduction. We find a significant depth variation in average sinking speed of slabs. At the top of the lower mantle average slab sinking speeds are between 10 and 40 mm/yr, followed by a deceleration to 10-15 mm/yr down to depths around 1600-1700 km. In this interval, in situ time-stationary sinking rates suggest deceleration from 20 to 30 mm/yr to 4-8 mm/yr, increasing to 12-15 mm/yr below 2000 km. This corroborates the existence of a slab deceleration zone but we do not observe long-term (> 60 My) slab stagnation, excluding long-term stagnation due to compositional effects. Conversion of slab sinking profiles to viscosity profiles shows the general trend that mantle viscosity increases in the slab deceleration zone below which viscosity slowly decreases in the deep mantle. This is at variance with most published viscosity profiles that are derived from different observations, but agrees qualitatively with recent viscosity profiles suggested

Effects of iron on the lattice thermal conductivity of Earth's deep mantle and implications for mantle dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Wen-Pin; Deschamps, Frédéric; Okuchi, Takuo; Lin, Jung-Fu

2018-04-17

Iron may critically influence the physical properties and thermochemical structures of Earth's lower mantle. Its effects on thermal conductivity, with possible consequences on heat transfer and mantle dynamics, however, remain largely unknown. We measured the lattice thermal conductivity of lower-mantle ferropericlase to 120 GPa using the ultrafast optical pump-probe technique in a diamond anvil cell. The thermal conductivity of ferropericlase with 56% iron significantly drops by a factor of 1.8 across the spin transition around 53 GPa, while that with 8-10% iron increases monotonically with pressure, causing an enhanced iron substitution effect in the low-spin state. Combined with bridgmanite data, modeling of our results provides a self-consistent radial profile of lower-mantle thermal conductivity, which is dominated by pressure, temperature, and iron effects, and shows a twofold increase from top to bottom of the lower mantle. Such increase in thermal conductivity may delay the cooling of the core, while its decrease with iron content may enhance the dynamics of large low shear-wave velocity provinces. Our findings further show that, if hot and strongly enriched in iron, the seismic ultralow velocity zones have exceptionally low conductivity, thus delaying their cooling.

From polar wander to dynamic planet: A tribute to Keith Runcorn

Science.gov (United States)

Girdler, R.W.

1998-01-01

The evolution of Keith Runcorn's ideas from the static, elastic Earth of Jeffreys to a dynamic, convecting planet are presented based on discussions as his colleague over 25 years from 1963 to his retirement in 1988. Keith reached the concept of a dynamic planet by way of polar wander and continental drift using palaeomagnetism with great zeal. It took some time for Keith to convince himself of the reality of continental drift. Once convinced, he became an evangelist converting others and enthusiastically pursuing possible mechanisms for explaining it, homing in on mantle convection. To establish the nature and history of mantle convection his interests ranged from the world rift system and satellite gravity anomalies to the radiometric age peaks. A great step forward occurred when we realised that a region of uprising convection was not necessary under all the rifts as had been commonly advocated in the 1960s and that the mid-Atlantic, African and Indian Ocean rifts could be equally well explained by one large region of upwelling mantle convection. It was also realised that the plate convergence zones (island arcs, trenches and deep focus earthquakes) were much better correlated with the satellite gravity anomalies and it was much easier to locate the possible regions of downwelling mantle convection. Now, seismic tomography helps to establish the nature of mantle convection and it appears that relations among the Earth's surface features, the geoid anomalies and peturbations of mantle seismic velocities are near to being established. In the next few years a far better and accurate picture of the geometry of mantle convection so enthusiastically advocated by Keith Runcorn is likely to be seen.

Primitive off-rift basalts from Iceland and Jan Mayen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debaille, Vinciane; Trønnes, Reidar G.; Brandon, Alan D.

2009-01-01

to a hybrid mixture between the depleted-MORB mantle and the enriched Iceland mantle plume, itself resulting from mixing between recycled oceanic crust and depleted lower mantle. This hybrid accounts for the high 3He/4He (28 Ra), high 143Nd/144Nd (0.5132), high 187Os/188Os (0.14) and low 87Sr/86Sr (0...

Heat and mass transfer from the mantle: heat flow and He-isotope constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. G. Polyak

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Terrestrial heat flow density, q, is inversely correlated with the age, t, of tectono-magmatic activity in the Earth's crust (Polyak and Smirnov, 1966; etc.. «Heat flow-age dependence» indicates unknown temporal heat sources in the interior considered a priori as the mantle-derived diapirs. The validity of this hypothesis is demonstrated by studying the helium isotope ratio, 3He/4He = R, in subsurface fluids. This study discovered the positive correlation between the regionally averaged (background estimations of R- and q-values (Polyak et al., 1979a. Such a correlation manifests itself in both pan-regional scales (Norhtern Eurasia and separate regions, e.g., Japan (Sano et al., 1982, Eger Graben (Polyak et al., 1985 Eastern China rifts (Du, 1992, Southern Italy (Italiano et al., 2000, and elsewhere. The R-q relation indicates a coupled heat and mass transfer from the mantle into the crust. From considerations of heat-mass budget this transfer can be provided by the flux consisting of silicate matter rather than He or other volatiles. This conclusion is confirmed by the correlation between 3He/ 4He and 87Sr/86Sr ratios in the products of the volcanic and hydrothermal activity in Italy (Polyak et al., 1979b; Parello et al., 2000 and other places. Migration of any substance through geotemperature field transports thermal energy accumulated within this substance, i.e. represents heat and mass transfer. Therefore, only the coupled analysis of both material and energy aspects of this transfer makes it possible to characterise the process adequately and to decipher an origin of terrestrial heat flow observed in upper parts of the earth crust. An attempt of such kind is made in this paper.

Deep structure of Porcupine Basin and nature of the Porcupine Median Ridge from seismic refraction tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Watremez, L.; Chen, C.; Prada, M.; Minshull, T. A.; O'Reilly, B.; Reston, T. J.; Wagner, G.; Gaw, V.; Klaeschen, D.; Shannon, P.

2015-12-01

The Porcupine Basin is a narrow V-shaped failed rifted basin located offshore SW Ireland. It is of Permo-Triassic to Cenozoic age, with the main rifting phase in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Porcupine Basin is a key study area to learn about the processes of continental extension and to understand the thermal history of this rifted basin. Previous studies show increasing stretching factors, from less than 1.5 to the North to more than 6 to the South. A ridge feature, the Porcupine Median Ridge, has been identified in the middle of the southernmost part of the basin. During the last three decades, this ridge has been successively interpreted as a volcanic structure, a diapir of partially serpentinized mantle, or a block of continental crust. Its nature still remains debated today. In this study, we use arrival times from refractions and wide-angle reflections in the sedimentary, crustal and mantle layers to image the crustal structure of the thinnest part of the basin, the geometry of the continental thinning from margin to margin, and the Porcupine Median Ridge. The final velocity model is then compared with coincident seismic reflection data. We show that (1) the basin is asymmetric, (2) P-wave velocities in the uppermost mantle are lower than expected for unaltered peridotites, implying upper-mantle serpentinisation, (3) the nature of Porcupine Median Ridge is probably volcanic, and (4) the amount of thinning is greater than shown in previous studies. We discuss the thermal implications of these results for the evolution of this rift system and the processes leading to the formation of failed rifts. This project is funded by the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme Group 4.

The mantle cells lymphoma: a proposed treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chavez Martinez, Marlene Elizabeth

2012-01-01

A literature review was performed on mantle cells lymphoma in the therapeutic schemes. The literature that has been used is published in journals of medicine specializing in hematology, oncology, radiation therapy, molecular biology and internal medicine. The literature review was performed to propose a scheme of treatment according to Costa Rica. Epigenetic alterations have been revealed in patients with mantle lymphoma on current researches. The mantle lymphoma pathology has been described in various forms of clinical and histological presentation, stressing the importance of detailing the different methods and diagnostic reports. Working groups have proposed and developed various chemotherapy regimens and concluded that CHOP alone is without effect in mantle cell lymphoma unlike R-hyper-CVAD, CHOP / DHAP, high-dose Ara-C. Researchers have tried to develop new treatments based vaccines, use of modified viruses, specific monoclonal antibodies. The classic treatment has been triple intrathecal therapy. The central nervous system has been one of the most momentous sites of mantle cell lymphoma infiltration because poorer patient prognosis [es

[Cytostructure of the mantle zone in lymphatic tissue].

Science.gov (United States)

Bednár, B

1993-04-01

Four cellular layers of the follicular mantle zone in palatine tonsil lymphatic tissue were studied by electron microscopy after simultaneous immunophenotypical investigation. The first layer of the mantle zone consisting of small blastic cells was analogous to the small (centrocytoid) blastic layer of germinal centres. The second B monocytoid layer was lacking analogy in basic series of lymphocytes and seemed to be an independent morphological and probably functional unit. Plasmacytoid and clarocellular elements in outer layers of follicular mantle zone were in a way similar to T plasmacytoid and clarocellular components of Sézary syndrome infiltrates but considering transitional forms they had a local origin from incompletely transformed elements of B monocytoid layer. Inner follicular mantle zone was discussed as a source of incompletely transformed B lymphocytes for further mantle layers where their immunophenotypical modulation is taking place according to actual need. Outer mantle layers are aggressive against damaged epithelial and litoral structures and may be instrumental in a common reaction of B and T components.

Phanerozoic Rifting Phases And Mineral Deposits

Science.gov (United States)

Hassaan, Mahmoud

2016-04-01

In North Africa occur Mediterranean and Red Sea metallogenic provinces. In each province distribute 47 iron- manganese- barite and lead-zinc deposits with tectonic-structural control. The author presents in this paper aspects of position of these deposits in the two provinces with Phanerozoic rifting . The Mediterranean Province belongs to two epochs, Hercynian and Alpine. The Hercynian Epoch manganese deposits in only Moroccoa- Algeria belong to Paleozoic tectonic zones and Proterozoic volcanics. The Alpine Epoch iron-manganese deposits are of post-orogenic exhalative-sedimentary origin. Manganese deposits in southern Morocco occur in Kabil-Rief quartz-chalcedony veins controlled by faults in andesitic sheets and in bedded pelitic tuffs, strata-form lenses and ore veins, in Precambrian schist and in Triassic and Cretaceous dolomites. Disseminated manganese with quartz and barite and effusive hydrothermal veins are hosted in Paleocene volcanics. Manganese deposits in Algeria are limited and unrecorded in Tunisia. Strata-form iron deposits in Atlas Heights are widespread in sub-rift zone among Jurassic sediments inter-bedding volcanic rocks. In Algeria, Group Beni-Saf iron deposits are localized along the Mediterranean coast in terrigenous and carbonate rocks of Jurassic, Cretaceous and Eocene age within faults and bedding planes. In Morocco strata-form hydrothermal lead-zinc deposits occur in contact zone of Tertiary andesite inter-bedding Cambrian shale, Lias dolomites and Eocene andesite. In both Algeria and Tunisia metasomatic Pb-Zn veins occur in Campanian - Maastrichtian carbonates, Triassic breccia, Jurassic limestone, Paleocene sandstones and limestone and Neogene conglomerates and sandstones. The Red Sea metallogenic province belongs to the Late Tertiary-Miocene times. In Wadi Araba hydrothermal iron-manganese deposits occur in Cretaceous sediments within 320°and 310 NW faults related to Tertiary basalt. Um-Bogma iron-manganese deposits are closely

Mantle properties and the MOR process: a new and versatile model for mid-ocean ridges

Science.gov (United States)

Osmaston, Miles

2014-05-01

the walls bulge inward and make contact at the PC level, forcing open the crack along strike. This, alternating along strike, induces flow into the crack intermittently and also creates the suction that we will show is required by plate dynamics. The solid-state recrystallization mechanism gives our MOR model >10-fold greater ridge-push than the divergent flow models, and the plate is thick enough to transmit it without crumpling. Structural dependence on spreading rate. (A) Medium rate, e.g. MAR. The push-apart PC is the gt-sp (a) at ~90km depth. Above that the walls are laterally unsupported, normal faulting occurs and a rift valley is formed. The volume increase at PC depth is partly and intermittently relieved upward to uplift the valley sides and create the rugged flank topography. (B) Fast, e.g. EPR. The high rate results in high temperature around the crest, so the sp-plag PC is involved in push-apart at shallow depth, little or no rift faulting occurs and the flanks have the rounded abyssal hill topography. (C) Ultraslow, e.g. Gakkel, SWIR. The low rate at which mantle is drawn into the crack means melting is insufficient for the log-jam mechanism to work, so there is no segregated basalt, negligible crust, but wide peridotite extrusion (very wide crack), laced with melt veins, appears at surface. Again, because melting in the crack is so low, the two wall-accretion consequences (axis straightness and orthogonal segmentation; seismic anisotropy by crystallization from melt) are weak or absent. Push-apart force is highest for ultraslow because of the near-solidity of the material involved in the push-apart action. Other properties. (i) Axis curvature at ridge-transform intersections (RTIs). The differential wall-accretion we propose as responsible for axial straightness actually orients the crack perpendicular to the lateral cooling gradient. At RTIs, additional cooling is coming from the older plate across the transform. (ii) Offset spreading centres (OSCs

Length-scales of Slab-induced Asthenospheric Deformation from Geodynamic Modeling, Mantle Deformation Fabric, and Synthetic Shear Wave Splitting

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Jadamec, M. A.; MacDougall, J.; Fischer, K. M.

2017-12-01

The viscosity structure of the Earth's interior is critically important, because it places a first order constraint on plate motion and mantle flow rates. Geodynamic models using a composite viscosity based on experimentally derived flow laws for olivine aggregates show that lateral viscosity variations emerge in the upper mantle due to the subduction dynamics. However, the length-scale of this transition is still not well understood. Two-dimensional numerical models of subduction are presented that investigate the effect of initial slab dip, maximum yield stress (slab strength), and viscosity formulation (Newtonian versus composite) on the emergent lateral viscosity variations in the upper-mantle and magnitude of slab-driven mantle flow velocity. Significant viscosity reductions occur in regions of large flow velocity gradients due to the weakening effect of the dislocation creep deformation mechanism. The dynamic reductions in asthenospheric viscosity (less than 1018 Pa s) occur within approximately 500 km from driving force of the slab, with peak flow velocities occurring in models with a lower yield stress (weaker slab) and higher stress exponent. This leads to a sharper definition of the rheological base of the lithosphere and implies lateral variability in tractions along the base of the lithosphere. As the dislocation creep mechanism also leads to mantle deformation fabric, we then examine the spatial variation in the LPO development in the asthenosphere and calculate synthetic shear wave splitting. The models show that olivine LPO fabric in the asthenosphere generally increases in alignment strength with increased proximity to the slab, but can be transient and spatially variable on small length scales. The vertical flow fields surrounding the slab tip can produce shear-wave splitting variations with back-azimuth that deviate from the predictions of uniform trench-normal anisotropy, a result that bears on the interpretation of complexity in shear

Large Eddy Simulation of turbulence induced secondary flows in stationary and rotating straight square ducts

Science.gov (United States)

Sudjai, W.; Juntasaro, V.; Juttijudata, V.

2018-01-01

The accuracy of predicting turbulence induced secondary flows is crucially important in many industrial applications such as turbine blade internal cooling passages in a gas turbine and fuel rod bundles in a nuclear reactor. A straight square duct is popularly used to reveal the characteristic of turbulence induced secondary flows which consists of two counter rotating vortices distributed in each corner of the duct. For a rotating duct, the flow can be divided into the pressure side and the suction side. The turbulence induced secondary flows are converted to the Coriolis force driven two large circulations with a pair of additional vortices on the pressure wall due to the rotational effect. In this paper, the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of turbulence induced secondary flows in a straight square duct is performed using the ANSYS FLUENT CFD software. A dynamic kinetic energy subgrid-scale model is used to describe the three-dimensional incompressible turbulent flows in the stationary and the rotating straight square ducts. The Reynolds number based on the friction velocity and the hydraulic diameter is 300 with the various rotation numbers for the rotating cases. The flow is assumed fully developed by imposing the constant pressure gradient in the streamwise direction. For the rotating cases, the rotational axis is placed perpendicular to the streamwise direction. The simulation results on the secondary flows and the turbulent statistics are found to be in good agreement with the available Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data. Finally, the details of the Coriolis effects are discussed.

Magmatic architecture within a rift segment: Articulate axial magma storage at Erta Ale volcano, Ethiopia

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wenbin; Rivalta, Eleonora; Li, Xing

2017-10-01

Understanding the magmatic systems beneath rift volcanoes provides insights into the deeper processes associated with rift architecture and development. At the slow spreading Erta Ale segment (Afar, Ethiopia) transition from continental rifting to seafloor spreading is ongoing on land. A lava lake has been documented since the twentieth century at the summit of the Erta Ale volcano and acts as an indicator of the pressure of its magma reservoir. However, the structure of the plumbing system of the volcano feeding such persistent active lava lake and the mechanisms controlling the architecture of magma storage remain unclear. Here, we combine high-resolution satellite optical imagery and radar interferometry (InSAR) to infer the shape, location and orientation of the conduits feeding the 2017 Erta Ale eruption. We show that the lava lake was rooted in a vertical dike-shaped reservoir that had been inflating prior to the eruption. The magma was subsequently transferred into a shallower feeder dike. We also find a shallow, horizontal magma lens elongated along axis inflating beneath the volcano during the later period of the eruption. Edifice stress modeling suggests the hydraulically connected system of horizontal and vertical thin magmatic bodies able to open and close are arranged spatially according to stresses induced by loading and unloading due to topographic changes. Our combined approach may provide new constraints on the organization of magma plumbing systems beneath volcanoes in continental and marine settings.

Temperature Profile of the Upper Mantle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, O.L.

1980-01-01

Following the procedure outlined by Magnitsky [1971], thermal profiles of the upper mantle are computed by deriving the thermal gradient from the seismic data given as dv/sub s//drho used along with the values of (dv/sub s//dT9/sub p/ and (dv/sub s//dP)/sub T/ of selected minerals, measured at high temperature. The resulting values of dT/dZ are integrated from 380 km upward toward the surface, where the integrating constant is taken from Akagi and Akimoto's work, T=1400 0 C at 380 km. The resulting geotherms for minerals are used to derive geotherms for an eclogite mantle and a lherzolite mantle, with and without partial melting in the low-velocity zone. The geotherms are all subadiabatic, and some are virtually isothermal in the upper mantle. Some are characterized by a large thermal hump at the lithosphere boundary

Coupled petrological-geodynamical modeling of a compositionally heterogeneous mantle plume

Science.gov (United States)

Rummel, Lisa; Kaus, Boris J. P.; White, Richard W.; Mertz, Dieter F.; Yang, Jianfeng; Baumann, Tobias S.

2018-01-01

Self-consistent geodynamic modeling that includes melting is challenging as the chemistry of the source rocks continuously changes as a result of melt extraction. Here, we describe a new method to study the interaction between physical and chemical processes in an uprising heterogeneous mantle plume by combining a geodynamic code with a thermodynamic modeling approach for magma generation and evolution. We pre-computed hundreds of phase diagrams, each of them for a different chemical system. After melt is extracted, the phase diagram with the closest bulk rock chemistry to the depleted source rock is updated locally. The petrological evolution of rocks is tracked via evolving chemical compositions of source rocks and extracted melts using twelve oxide compositional parameters. As a result, a wide variety of newly generated magmatic rocks can in principle be produced from mantle rocks with different degrees of depletion. The results show that a variable geothermal gradient, the amount of extracted melt and plume excess temperature affect the magma production and chemistry by influencing decompression melting and the depletion of rocks. Decompression melting is facilitated by a shallower lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and an increase in the amount of extracted magma is induced by a lower critical melt fraction for melt extraction and/or higher plume temperatures. Increasing critical melt fractions activates the extraction of melts triggered by decompression at a later stage and slows down the depletion process from the metasomatized mantle. Melt compositional trends are used to determine melting related processes by focusing on K2O/Na2O ratio as indicator for the rock type that has been molten. Thus, a step-like-profile in K2O/Na2O might be explained by a transition between melting metasomatized and pyrolitic mantle components reproducible through numerical modeling of a heterogeneous asthenospheric mantle source. A potential application of the developed method

Historical volcanism and the state of stress in the East African Rift System

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Geoffrey Wadge

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Crustal extension at the East African Rift System (EARS should, as a tectonic ideal, involve a stress field in which the direction of minimum horizontal stress is perpendicular to the rift. A volcano in such a setting should produce dykes and fissures parallel to the rift. How closely do the volcanoes of the EARS follow this? We answer this question by studying the 21 volcanoes that have erupted historically (since about 1800 and find that 7 match the (approximate geometrical ideal. At the other 14 volcanoes the orientation of the eruptive fissures/dykes and/or the axes of the host rift segments are oblique to the ideal values. To explain the eruptions at these volcanoes we invoke local (non-plate tectonic variations of the stress field caused by: crustal heterogeneities and anisotropies (dominated by NW structures in the Protoerozoic basement, transfer zone tectonics at the ends of offset rift segments, gravitational loading by the volcanic edifice (typically those with 1-2 km relief and magmatic pressure in central reservoirs. We find that the more oblique volcanoes tend to have large edifices, large eruptive volumes and evolved and mixed magmas capable of explosive behaviour. Nine of the volcanoes have calderas of varying ellipticity, 6 of which are large, reservoir-collapse types mainly elongated across rift (e.g. Kone and 3 are smaller, elongated parallel to the rift and contain active lava lakes (e.g. Erta Ale, suggesting different mechanisms of formation and stress fields. Nyamuragira is the only EARS volcano with enough sufficiently well-documented eruptions to infer its long-term dynamic behaviour. Eruptions within 7 km of the volcano are of relatively short duration (<100 days, but eruptions with more distal fissures tend to have greater obliquity and longer durations, indicating a changing stress field away from the volcano. There were major changes in long-term magma extrusion rates in 1977 (and perhaps in 2002 due to major along-rift

Macrocrystic corundum and Fe–Ti oxide minerals entrained in alkali basalts from the Eger (Ohře) Rift: Mg−Fe.sup.3+./sup.-rich ilmenite as tracer of an oxidized upper mantle

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Seifert, W.; Rhede, D.; Förster, H.-J.; Naumann, R.; Thomas, R.; Ulrych, Jaromír

2014-01-01

Roč. 108, č. 5 (2014), s. 645-662 ISSN 0930-0708 Institutional support: RVO:67985831 Keywords : corundum * basalts * Eger (Ohře Rift) Subject RIV: DB - Geology ; Mineralogy Impact factor: 1.349, year: 2014

Implementing real-time GNSS monitoring to investigate continental rift initiation processes

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, J. R.; Stamps, D. S.; Wauthier, C.; Daniels, M. D.; Saria, E.; Ji, K. H.; Mencin, D.; Ntambila, D.

2017-12-01

Continental rift initiation remains an elusive, yet fundamental, process in the context of plate tectonic theory. Our early work in the Natron Rift, Tanzania, the Earth's archetype continental rift initiation setting, indicates feedback between volcanic deformation and fault slip play a key role in the rift initiation process. We found evidence that fault slip on the Natron border fault during active volcanism at Ol Doniyo Lengai in 2008 required only 0.01 MPa of Coulomb stress change. This previous study was limited by GPS constraints 18 km from the volcano, rather than immediately adjacent on the rift shoulder. We hypothesize that fault slip adjacent to the volcano creeps, and without the need for active eruption. We also hypothesize silent slip events may occur over time-scales less than 1 day. To test our hypotheses we designed a GNSS network with 4 sites on the flanks of Ol Doinyo Lengai and 1 site on the adjacent Natron border fault with the capability to calculate 1 second, 3-5 cm precision positions. Data is transmitted to UNAVCO in real-time with remote satellite internet, which we automatically import to the EarthCube building block CHORDS (Cloud Hosted Real-time Data Services for the Geosciences) using our newly developed method. We use CHORDS to monitor and evaluate the health of our network while visualizing the GNSS data in real-time. In addition to our import method we have also developed user-friendly capabilities to export GNSS positions (longitude, latitude, height) with CHORDS assuming the data are available at UNAVCO in NMEA standardized format through the Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (NTRIP). The ability to access the GNSS data that continuously monitors volcanic deformation, tectonics, and their interactions on and around Ol Doinyo Lengai is a crucial component in our investigation of continental rift initiation in the Natron Rift, Tanzania. Our new user-friendly methods developed to access and post-process real-time GNSS

Tomography of core-mantle boundary and lowermost mantle coupled by geodynamics: joint models of shear and compressional velocity

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Gaia Soldati

2015-03-01

Full Text Available We conduct joint tomographic inversions of P and S travel time observations to obtain models of delta v_P  and delta v_S in the entire mantle. We adopt a recently published method which takes into account the geodynamic coupling between mantle heterogeneity and core-mantle boundary (CMB topography by viscous flow, where sensitivity of the seismic travel times to the CMB is accounted for implicitly in the inversion (i.e. the CMB topography is not explicitly inverted for. The seismic maps of the Earth's mantle and CMB topography that we derive can explain the inverted seismic data while being physically consistent with each other. The approach involved scaling P-wave velocity (more sensitive to the CMB to density anomalies, in the assumption that mantle heterogeneity has a purely thermal origin, so that velocity and density heterogeneity are proportional to one another. On the other hand, it has sometimes been suggested that S-wave velocity might be more directly sensitive to temperature, while P heterogeneity is more strongly influenced by chemical composition. In the present study, we use only S-, and not P-velocity, to estimate density heterogeneity through linear scaling, and hence the sensitivity of core-reflected P phases to mantle structure. Regardless of whether density is more closely related to P- or S-velocity, we think it is worthwhile to explore both scaling approaches in our efforts to explain seismic data. The similarity of the results presented in this study to those obtained by scaling P-velocity to density suggests that compositional anomaly has a limited impact on viscous flow in the deep mantle.

OPTIMISATION OF MANTLE TANKS FOR LOW FLOW SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shah, Louise Jivan; Furbo, Simon

1996-01-01

A model, describing the heat transfer coefficients in the mantle of a mantle tank has been developed. The model is validated by means of measurements with varying operational conditions for different designed mantle tanks. The model has been implemented in an existing detailed mathematical...... with the programme and by means of tests of three SDHW systems with different designed mantle tanks. Based on the investigations design rules for mantle tanks are proposed. The model, describing the heat transfer coefficients in the mantle is approximate. In addition, the measurements have revealed...... that a temperature stratification in the hot water tank, above the mantle is built up. This phenomenon may be important, but it is not taken into calculation in the programme. Therefore, theoretical and practical work is continuing in order to make a more precise model for the whole mantle tank....

Mantle structure and tectonic history of SE Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Robert; Spakman, Wim

2015-09-01

Seismic travel-time tomography of the mantle under SE Asia reveals patterns of subduction-related seismic P-wave velocity anomalies that are of great value in helping to understand the region's tectonic development. We discuss tomography and tectonic interpretations of an area centred on Indonesia and including Malaysia, parts of the Philippines, New Guinea and northern Australia. We begin with an explanation of seismic tomography and causes of velocity anomalies in the mantle, and discuss assessment of model quality for tomographic models created from P-wave travel times. We then introduce the global P-wave velocity anomaly model UU-P07 and the tectonic model used in this paper and give an overview of previous interpretations of mantle structure. The slab-related velocity anomalies we identify in the upper and lower mantle based on the UU-P07 model are interpreted in terms of the tectonic model and illustrated with figures and movies. Finally, we discuss where tomographic and tectonic models for SE Asia converge or diverge, and identify the most important conclusions concerning the history of the region. The tomographic images of the mantle record subduction beneath the SE Asian region to depths of approximately 1600 km. In the upper mantle anomalies mainly record subduction during the last 10 to 25 Ma, depending on the region considered. We interpret a vertical slab tear crossing the entire upper mantle north of west Sumatra where there is a strong lateral kink in slab morphology, slab holes between c.200-400 km below East Java and Sumbawa, and offer a new three-slab explanation for subduction in the North Sulawesi region. There is a different structure in the lower mantle compared to the upper mantle and the deep structure changes from west to east. What was imaged in earlier models as a broad and deep anomaly below SE Asia has a clear internal structure and we argue that many features can be identified as older subduction zones. We identify remnants of slabs

THE STRUCTURE OF THE LITHOSPHERIC MANTLE OF THE SIBERAIN CRATON AND SEISMODYNAMICS OF DEFORMATION WAVES IN THE BAIKAL SEISMIC ZONE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Stepashko

2013-01-01

mantle lense (Fig 6, A; it is one of four main tectonical units that compose the basement of the Siberian craton [Mironyuk, Zagruzina, 1983]. As evidenced by the zonal composition of the mantle lense, the centre of the lense is highly dense, and this explains the location of a seismic anomaly there (Fig. 6, B which is determined to a depth of about 50–60 km [Pavlenkova G.A., Pavlenkova N.I., 2006]. The high-velocity root located in this segment of the craton is traced by seismic tomography [Koulakov, Bushenkova, 2010] to a depth of about 600 km (Fig. 7. The southward-stretching edge of the sub-cratonic mantle has played a major role in the evolution of the Central Asian orogenic belt. In the Paleozoic, the position and the configuration of the accretional margin of the Siberian paleocontinent were determined by the hidden boundary of the craton (Fig. 8, A. Along the craton’s boundary, rifting zones of various ages are located, and intrusions are concentrated, which genesis was related to extension settings (Fig. 8, B. The Cenozoic sedimentary basins are located above the hidden edge of the Siberian craton, which gives evidence of involvement of the deep lithospheric structure in the formation of the recent destruction zone. The basin of Lake Baikal is located along the mantle edge of the Siberian craton, and the basin’s crescent shape accentuates the strike of the mantle edge.In the region under study, the wave nature of seismicity is most evidently manifested by the cyclicity of the strongest earthquakes in the Baikal zone (Table 2. Three seismic cycles are distinguished as follows: (1 at the turn of the 20th century (earthquakes in the period from 1885 to 1931, M=6.6–8.2, (2 the middle of the 20th century (earthquakes from 1950 to 1967, M=6.8–8.1, and (3 at the turn of the 21st century (earthquakes from 1991 to 2012, M=6.3–7.3. While moving in the mantle, the deformation front collapses with the craton’s basement, partially releases its energy to the

Hf isotope evidence for a hidden mantle reservoir

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bizzarro, Martin; Simonetti, A.; Stevenson, R.K.

2002-01-01

High-precision Hf isotopic analyses and U-Pb ages of carbonatites and kimberlites from Greenland and eastern North America, including Earth's oldest known carbonatite (3 Ga), indicate derivation from an enriched mantle source. This previously unidentified mantle reservoir-marked by an unradiogenic...... Hf isotopic composition and preserved in the deep mantle for at least 3 b.y.-may account for the mass imbalance in Earth's Hf-Nd budget. The Hf isotopic data presented here support a common mantle source region and genetic link between carbonatite and some oceanic-island basalt volcanoes....

Inference of viscosity jump at 670 km depth and lower mantle viscosity structure from GIA observations

Science.gov (United States)

Nakada, Masao; Okuno, Jun'ichi; Irie, Yoshiya

2018-03-01

A viscosity model with an exponential profile described by temperature (T) and pressure (P) distributions and constant activation energy (E_{{{um}}}^{{*}} for the upper mantle and E_{{{lm}}}^* for the lower mantle) and volume (V_{{{um}}}^{{*}} and V_{{{lm}}}^*) is employed in inferring the viscosity structure of the Earth's mantle from observations of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). We first construct standard viscosity models with an average upper-mantle viscosity ({\\bar{η }_{{{um}}}}) of 2 × 1020 Pa s, a typical value for the oceanic upper-mantle viscosity, satisfying the observationally derived three GIA-related observables, GIA-induced rate of change of the degree-two zonal harmonic of the geopotential, {\\dot{J}_2}, and differential relative sea level (RSL) changes for the Last Glacial Maximum sea levels at Barbados and Bonaparte Gulf in Australia and for RSL changes at 6 kyr BP for Karumba and Halifax Bay in Australia. Standard viscosity models inferred from three GIA-related observables are characterized by a viscosity of ˜1023 Pa s in the deep mantle for an assumed viscosity at 670 km depth, ηlm(670), of (1 - 50) × 1021 Pa s. Postglacial RSL changes at Southport, Bermuda and Everglades in the intermediate region of the North American ice sheet, largely dependent on its gross melting history, have a crucial potential for inference of a viscosity jump at 670 km depth. The analyses of these RSL changes based on the viscosity models with {\\bar{η }_{{{um}}}} ≥ 2 × 1020 Pa s and lower-mantle viscosity structures for the standard models yield permissible {\\bar{η }_{{{um}}}} and ηlm (670) values, although there is a trade-off between the viscosity and ice history models. Our preferred {\\bar{η }_{{{um}}}} and ηlm (670) values are ˜(7 - 9) × 1020 and ˜1022 Pa s, respectively, and the {\\bar{η }_{{{um}}}} is higher than that for the typical value of oceanic upper mantle, which may reflect a moderate laterally heterogeneous upper-mantle

Constraints Imposed by Rift Inheritance on the Compressional Reactivation of a Hyperextended Margin: Mapping Rift Domains in the North Iberian Margin and in the Cantabrian Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Cadenas, P.; Fernández-Viejo, G.; Pulgar, J. A.; Tugend, J.; Manatschal, G.; Minshull, T. A.

2018-03-01

The Alpine Pyrenean-Cantabrian orogen developed along the plate boundary between Iberia and Europe, involving the inversion of Mesozoic hyperextended basins along the southern Biscay margin. Thus, this margin represents a natural laboratory to analyze the control of structural rift inheritance on the compressional reactivation of a continental margin. With the aim to identify former rift domains and investigate their role during the subsequent compression, we performed a structural analysis of the central and western North Iberian margin, based on the interpretation of seismic reflection profiles and local constraints from drill-hole data. Seismic interpretations and published seismic velocity models enabled the development of crustal thickness maps that helped to constrain further the offshore and onshore segmentation. Based on all these constraints, we present a rift domain map across the central and western North Iberian margin, as far as the adjacent western Cantabrian Mountains. Furthermore, we provide a first-order description of the margin segmentation resulting from its polyphase tectonic evolution. The most striking result is the presence of a hyperthinned domain (e.g., Asturian Basin) along the central continental platform that is bounded to the north by the Le Danois High, interpreted as a rift-related continental block separating two distinctive hyperextended domains. From the analysis of the rift domain map and the distribution of reactivation structures, we conclude that the landward limit of the necking domain and the hyperextended domains, respectively, guide and localize the compressional overprint. The Le Danois block acted as a local buttress, conditioning the inversion of the Asturian Basin.

The Late Jurassic Panjeh submarine volcano in the northern Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, northwest Iran: Mantle plume or active margin?

Science.gov (United States)

Azizi, Hossein; Lucci, Federico; Stern, Robert J.; Hasannejad, Shima; Asahara, Yoshihiro

2018-05-01

The tectonic setting in which Jurassic igneous rocks of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SaSZ) of Iran formed is controversial. SaSZ igneous rocks are mainly intrusive granodiorite to gabbroic bodies, which intrude Early to Middle Jurassic metamorphic basement; Jurassic volcanic rocks are rare. Here, we report the age and petrology of volcanic rocks from the Panjeh basaltic-andesitic rocks complex in the northern SaSZ, southwest of Ghorveh city. The Panjeh magmatic complex consists of pillowed and massive basalts, andesites and microdioritic dykes and is associated with intrusive gabbros; the overall sequence and relations with surrounding sediments indicate that this is an unusually well preserved submarine volcanic complex. Igneous rocks belong to a metaluminous sub-alkaline, medium-K to high-K calc-alkaline mafic suite characterized by moderate Al2O3 (13.7-17.6 wt%) and variable Fe2O3 (6.0-12.6 wt%) and MgO (0.9-11.1 wt%) contents. Zircon U-Pb ages (145-149 Ma) define a Late Jurassic (Tithonian) age for magma crystallization and emplacement. Whole rock compositions are enriched in Th, U and light rare earth elements (LREEs) and are slightly depleted in Nb, Ta and Ti. The initial ratios of 87Sr/86Sr (0.7039-0.7076) and εNd(t) values (-1.8 to +4.3) lie along the mantle array in the field of ocean island basalts and subcontinental metasomatized mantle. Immobile trace element (Ti, V, Zr, Y, Nb, Yb, Th and Co) behavior suggests that the mantle source was enriched by fluids released from a subducting slab (i.e. deep-crustal recycling) with some contribution from continental crust for andesitic rocks. Based the chemical composition of Panjeh mafic and intermediate rocks in combination with data for other gabbroic to dioritic bodies in the Ghorveh area we offer two interpretations for these (and other Jurassic igneous rocks of the SaSZ) as reflecting melts from a) subduction-modified OIB-type source above a Neo-Tethys subduction zone or b) plume or rift tectonics involving

The Earth's heterogeneous mantle a geophysical, geodynamical, and geochemical perspective

CERN Document Server

Khan, Amir

2015-01-01

This book highlights and discusses recent developments that have contributed to an improved understanding of observed mantle heterogeneities and their relation to the thermo-chemical state of Earth's mantle, which ultimately holds the key to unlocking the secrets of the evolution of our planet. This series of topical reviews and original contributions address 4 themes. Theme 1 covers topics in geophysics, including global and regional seismic tomography, electrical conductivity and seismic imaging of mantle discontinuities and heterogeneities in the upper mantle, transition zone and lower mantle. Theme 2 addresses geochemical views of the mantle including lithospheric evolution from analysis of mantle xenoliths, composition of the deep Earth and the effect of water on subduction-zone processes. Theme 3 discusses geodynamical perspectives on the global thermo-chemical structure of the deep mantle. Theme 4 covers application of mineral physics data and phase equilibrium computations to infer the regional-scale ...

SEM investigation of incandescent lamp mantle structure on durability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)