Seismic imaging of thickened lithosphere resulting from plume pulsing beneath Iceland
Seismic imaging of thickened lithosphere resulting from plume pulsing beneath Iceland
Ocean plates conductively cool and subside with seafloor age. Plate thickening with age is also predicted, and hotspots may cause thinning. However, both are debated and depend on the way the plate is defined. Determining the thickness of the plates along with the process that governs it has proven challenging. We use S‐to‐P (Sp) receiver functions to image a strong, persistent LAB beneath Iceland where the mid‐Atlantic Ridge interacts with a plume with hypothesized pulsating thermal anomaly. The plate is thickest, up to 84 ± 6 km, beneath lithosphere formed during times of hypothesized hotter plume temperatures and as thin as 61 ± 6 km beneath regions formed during colder intervals. We performed geodynamic modeling to show that these plate thicknesses are inconsistent with a thermal lithosphere. Instead, periods of increased plume temperatures likely increased the melting depth, causing deeper depletion and dehydration, and creating a thicker plate. This suggests plate thickness is dictated by the conditions of plate formation.
Rychert, Catherine
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Harmon, Nicholas
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Armitage, John
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Rychert, Catherine
70cf1e3a-58ea-455a-918a-1d570c5e53c5
Harmon, Nicholas
10d11a16-b8b0-4132-9354-652e72d8e830
Armitage, John
7fd8780f-3267-427b-a8f8-3252f73bb197
Rychert, Catherine, Harmon, Nicholas and Armitage, John
(2018)
Seismic imaging of thickened lithosphere resulting from plume pulsing beneath Iceland.
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.
(doi:10.1029/2018GC007501).
Abstract
Ocean plates conductively cool and subside with seafloor age. Plate thickening with age is also predicted, and hotspots may cause thinning. However, both are debated and depend on the way the plate is defined. Determining the thickness of the plates along with the process that governs it has proven challenging. We use S‐to‐P (Sp) receiver functions to image a strong, persistent LAB beneath Iceland where the mid‐Atlantic Ridge interacts with a plume with hypothesized pulsating thermal anomaly. The plate is thickest, up to 84 ± 6 km, beneath lithosphere formed during times of hypothesized hotter plume temperatures and as thin as 61 ± 6 km beneath regions formed during colder intervals. We performed geodynamic modeling to show that these plate thicknesses are inconsistent with a thermal lithosphere. Instead, periods of increased plume temperatures likely increased the melting depth, causing deeper depletion and dehydration, and creating a thicker plate. This suggests plate thickness is dictated by the conditions of plate formation.
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Rychert_et_al-2018-Geochemistry%2C_Geophysics%2C_Geosystems
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Accepted/In Press date: 4 May 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 May 2018
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Local EPrints ID: 421423
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/421423
ISSN: 1525-2027
PURE UUID: 85d98b1f-1e7c-4748-9e7c-4257e27af0df
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Date deposited: 11 Jun 2018 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:01
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Author:
John Armitage
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