2,560 research outputs found
A global view of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary
No full textThe lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary divides the rigid lid from the weaker mantle and is fundamental in plate tectonics. However, its depth and defining mechanism are not well known. We analyzed 15 years of global seismic data using P-to-S (Ps) converted phases and imaged an interface that correlates with tectonic environment, varying from 95 ± 4 kilometers beneath Precambrian shields and platforms to 81 ± 2 kilometers beneath tectonically altered regions and 70 ± 4 kilometers at oceanic island stations. High-frequency Ps observations require a sharp discontinuity; therefore, this interface likely represents a boundary in composition, melting, or anisotropy, not temperature alone. It likely represents the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary under oceans and tectonically altered regions, but it may constitute another boundary in cratonic regions where the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is thought to be much deeper
Seismic anisotropy indicates organised melt beneath the Mid-Atlantic Ridge aids seafloor spreading
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RESEARCH ARTICLE| AUGUST 04, 2023
Seismic anisotropy indicates organized melt beneath the Mid-Atlantic Ridge aids seafloor spreading
J.M. Kendall; D. Schlaphorst; C.A. Rychert; N. Harmon; M. Agius; S. Tharimena
Author and Article Information
Geology (2023) 51 (10): 968–972.
https://doi.org/10.1130/G51550.1
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Abstract
Lithospheric plates diverge at mid-ocean ridges and asthenospheric mantle material rises in response. The rising material decompresses, which can result in partial melting, potentially impacting the driving forces of the system. Yet the geometry and spatial distribution of the melt as it migrates to the ridge axis are debated. Organized melt fabrics can cause strong seismic anisotropy, which can be diagnostic of melt, although this is typically not found at ridges. We present anisotropic constraints from an array of 39 ocean-bottom seismometers deployed on 0–80 Ma lithosphere from March 2016 to March 2017 near the equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). Local and SKS measurements show anisotropic fast directions away from the ridge axis, which are consistent with strain and associated fabric caused by plate motions with short delay times, δt (<1.1 s). Near the ridge axis, we find several ridge-parallel fast splitting directions, φ, with SKS δt that are much longer (1.7–3.8 s). This is best explained by ridge-parallel sub-vertical orientations of sheet-like melt pockets. This observation is much different than anisotropic patterns observed at other ridges, which typically reflect fabric related to plate motions. One possibility is that thicker sub-ridge lithosphere with steep sub-ridge topography beneath slower spreading centers focuses melt into vertical, ridge-parallel melt bands, which effectively weakens the plate. Associated buoyancy forces elevate the sub-ridge plate, providing greater potential energy and enhancing the driving forces of the plates
Synthetic waveform modelling of SS precursors from anisotropic upper-mantle discontinuities
No full textSS precursors are a powerful tool for interrogating upper-mantle discontinuity structure. Some of these discontinuities may be defined fully or partially by a variation in anisotropy with depth. Therefore, a careful evaluation of SS precursor waveform predictions from anisotropic discontinuities is required. Here, we perform synthetic waveform modelling to evaluate the potential for using SS precursors to constrain anisotropic discontinuities. We investigate SS precursor amplitudes from models with azimuthally anisotropic discontinuities with assumed hexagonal symmetry. We demonstrate that SS precursor polarity variations are robust across a wide range of earthquake source polarizations for our anisotropic models. While polarity variations are not unique among all potential two-layer models with anisotropic discontinuities, other observables, such as the relative arrival time of the precursor and tectonic settings, may be used to constrain anisotropic structure. We discuss implications for previous imaging of upper-mantle discontinuities that may be anisotropic, such as the Lehmann discontinuity, and discontinuities in depth range of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary beneath the Pacific
Crustal and mantle shear velocity structure of Costa Rica and Nicaragua from ambient noise and teleseismic Rayleigh wave tomography
No full textThe Costa Rica–Nicaragua subduction zone shows systematic along strike variation in arc chemistry, geology, tectonics and seismic velocity and attenuation, presenting global extremes within a few hundred kilometres. In this study, we use teleseismic and ambient noise derived surface wave tomography to produce a 3-D shear velocity model of the region. We use the 48 stations of the TUCAN array, and up to 94 events for the teleseismic Rayleigh wave inversion, and 18 months of continuous data for cross correlation to estimate Green's functions from ambient noise. In the shallow crust (0–15?km) we observe low-shear velocities directly beneath the arc volcanoes (<3?km s–1) and higher velocities in the backarc of Nicaragua. The anomalies below the volcanoes are likely caused by heated crust, intruded by magma. We estimate crustal thickness by picking the depth to the 4?km s–1 velocity contour. We infer >40-km-thick crust beneath the Costa Rican arc and the Nicaraguan Highlands, thinned crust (?20?km) beneath the Nicaraguan Depression, and increasing crustal thickness in the backarc region, consistent with receiver function studies. The region of thinned, seismically slow and likely weakened crust beneath the arc in Nicaragua is not localizing deformation associated with oblique subduction. At mantle depths (55–120?km depth) we observe lower shear velocities (up to 3?per?cent) beneath the Nicaraguan arc and backarc than beneath Costa Rica. Our low-shear velocity anomaly beneath Nicaragua is in the same location as a low-shear velocity anomaly and displaced towards the backarc from the high VP/VS anomaly observed in body wave tomography. The lower shear velocity beneath Nicaragua may indicate higher melt content in the mantle perhaps due to higher volatile flux from the slab or higher temperature. Finally, we observe a linear high-velocity region at depths >120?km parallel to the trench, which is consistent with the subducting slab
C.A. Parker's Store
No full textPhotograph - A dog team and a loaded sled on Strathcona Street in front of C.A. Parker's store, Athabasca, Albert
Strong along-arc variations in attenuation in the mantle wedge beneath Costa Rica and Nicaragua
No full textAttenuation structure in the Central American subduction zone was imaged using local events recorded by the Tomography Under Costa Rica and Nicaragua array, a 20-month-long deployment (July 2004 until March 2006) of 48 seismometers that spanned the fore-arc, arc, and back-arc regions of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. P and S waveforms were inverted separately for the corner frequency and moment of each event and for the path-averaged attenuation operator (t*) of each event-station pair, assuming attenuation is slightly frequency-dependent ( = 0.27). Then, tomographic inversions were performed for S and P attenuation (Q S ?1 and Q P ?1). Since P wave amplitudes reflect both shear and the bulk moduli, tomographic inversions were also performed to determine shear and bulk attenuation (Q S ?1 and Q ?1), the loss of energy per cycle owing to shearing and uniform compression, respectively. Damping and other inversion tomographic parameters were systematically varied. As is typical in subduction zone attenuation studies, a less attenuating slab, upper plate, and wedge corner and a more attenuating mantle wedge were imaged. In addition, first-order differences between the mantles beneath Nicaragua and Costa Rica were observed. The slab in Nicaragua is more attenuating than the slab in Costa Rica. A larger zone of higher shear attenuation also characterizes the Nicaraguan mantle wedge. Within the wedge, maximum attenuation values at 1 Hz correspond to Qs = 38–73 beneath Nicaragua and Qs = 62–84 beneath Costa Rica, and average values are Qs = 76–78 and Qs = 84–88, respectively. Attenuation variations correlate with along-arc trends in geochemical indicators that suggest that melting beneath Nicaragua occurs at more hydrated conditions, and possibly to greater extents and depths, relative to northern Costa Rica. Shear attenuation dominates over bulk attenuation in the well-resolved regions of the wedge. The more extensive zones of greater shear attenuation observed in the Nicaraguan wedge could be explained by higher temperatures and/or greater hydration, but comparison with petrological data suggests that hydration variations play a larger role. Average wedge attenuation values are comparable to estimates for the Andes and Japan, greater than those for Alaska, and less than those for Tonga-Lau. <br/
Eigen schuld van de architect
No full textRede, uitgesproken bij het afscheid als buitengewoon hoogleraar in het bouw- en woning recht aan de Technische Hogeschool Delft op vrijdag 21 februari 1986 door prof.mr C.A. Adriaansens.Architectur
Variation in upper plate crustal and lithospheric mantle structure in the greater and lesser antilles from ambient noise tomography
No full textThe crust and upper mantle structure of the Greater and Lesser Antilles Arc provides insights into key subduction zone processes in a unique region of slow convergence of old slow-spreading oceanic lithosphere. We use ambient noise tomography gathered from island broadband seismic stations and the temporary ocean bottom seismometer network installed as part of the Volatile Recycling in the Lesser Antilles experiment to map crustal and upper mantle shear-wave velocity of the eastern Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles Arc. Taking the depth to the 2.0 km/s contour as a proxy, we find sediment thickness up to 15 km in the south in the Grenada and Tobago basins and thinner sediments near the arc and to the north. We observe thicker crust, based on the depth to the 4.0 km/s velocity contour, beneath the arc platforms with the greatest crustal thickness of around 30 km, likely related to crustal addition from arc volcanism through time. There are distinct low velocity zones (4.2–4.4 km/s) in the mantle wedge (30–50 km depth), beneath the Mona Passage, Guadeloupe-Martinique, and the Grenadines. The Mona passage mantle anomaly may be related to ongoing extension there, while the Guadeloupe-Martinique and Grenadine anomalies are likely related to fluid flux, upwelling, and/or partial melt related to nearby slab features. The location of the Guadeloupe-Martinique anomaly is slightly to the south of the obliquely subducted fracture zones. This feature could be explained by either three-dimensional mantle flow, a gap in the slab, variable slab hydration, and/or melt dynamics including ponding and interactions with the upper plate
C.A. McGill, March 23, 1918
No full textPortrait of C.A. McGill. Written on verso: With love from C.A. McGill Monrovia, Liberia, March 23rd, 1918.The Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library acknowledges the generous support of the National Endowment for Humanities - Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Implementation Project Grant in supporting the processing and digitization of a number of its major archival collections as part of the project: Spreading the Word: Expanding Access to African American Religious Archival Collections at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library.</em
Erratum: Future temperature extremes will be more harmful: A new critical factor for improved forecasts (Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16 (20), 4015)
No full textThe authors would like to correct the names and surnames of both authors of their previous paper [1] as follows: Costas A. Varotsos1,2,* and Yuri A. Mazei2 Therefore, to cite this paper please use the correct reference as follows: Varotsos, C.A.; Mazei,Y.A. Future Temperature Extremes Will Be More Harmful: A New Critical Factor for Improved Forecasts. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16 (20), 4015. © 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
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