Constraints on chemical heterogeneities in the upper mantle may be derived from studying the seismically observable impedance contrasts that they produce. Away from subduction zones, several causal mechanisms are possible to explain the intermittently observed X‐discontinuity (X) at 230–350 km depth: the coesite‐stishovite phase transition, the enstatite to clinoenstatite phase transition, and/or carbonated silicate melting, all requiring a local enrichment of basalt. Africa hosts a broad range of terranes, from Precambrian cores to Cenozoic hotspots with or without lowermost mantle origins. With the absence of subduction below the margins of the African plate for >0.5 Ga, Africa presents an ideal study locale to explore the origins of the X. Traditional receiver function (RF) approaches used to map seismic discontinuities, such as common conversion‐point stacking, ignore slowness information crucial for discriminating converted upper mantle phases from surface multiples. By manually assessing depth and slowness stacks for 1° radius overlapping bins, normalized vote mapping of RF stacks is used to robustly assess the spatial distribution of converted upper mantle phases. The X is mapped beneath Africa at 233–340 km depth, revealing patches of heterogeneity proximal to mantle upwellings in Afar, Canaries, Cape Verde, East Africa, Hoggar, and Réunion with further observations beneath Cameroon, Madagascar, and Morocco. There is a lack of an X beneath southern Africa and strikingly, the magmatic eastern rift branch of the southern East African Rift. With no relationships existing between depth and amplitudes of observed X and estimated mantle temperatures, multiple causal mechanisms are required across a range of continental geodynamic settings.
This content will become publicly available on June 9, 2024
Mantle plumes are thought to recycle material from the Earth's deep interior. One constraint on the nature and quantity of this recycled material comes from the observation of seismic discontinuities. The detection of the X‐discontinuity beneath Hawaii, interpreted as the coesite‐stishovite transition, requires the presence of at least 40% basalt. However, previous geodynamic models have predicted that plumes cannot carry more than 15%–20% of high‐density basaltic material. We propose this contradiction can be resolved by taking into account the length scale of chemical heterogeneities. While previous modeling studies assumed mechanical mixing on length scales smaller than the model resolution, we here model basaltic heterogeneities with length scales of 30–40 km, allowing for their segregation relative to the pyrolitic background plume material. Our models show that larger basalt fractions than previously thought possible—exceeding 40%—can temporarily accumulate within plumes at the depth of the X‐discontinuity. Two key mechanisms facilitate this process: (a) The random distribution of basaltic heterogeneities induces large temporal variations in the basalt fraction with cyclical highs and lows. (b) The high density contrast between basalt and pyrolite below the coesite‐stishovite transition causes ponding and accumulation of basalt within the rising plume at that depth. Because the statistical effect dominates, large values of 35%–40% basalt are only sustained temporarily. These results further constrain the chemical composition of the Hawaiian plume. Beyond that, they provide a geodynamic mechanism that explains the seismologic detection of the X‐discontinuity and highlights how recycled material is carried toward the surface.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 1925677
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10426708
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
- Volume:
- 128
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 2169-9313
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
more » « less
Abstract -
more » « less
Abstract The timing and rate of decompression melting of a compositionally heterogeneous mantle during continental rifting are assessed with a new one‐dimensional geodynamic code, MELT1D. MELT1D computes pressure and temperature in the extending lithosphere and rising asthenosphere and calculates the resulting melt fraction and eruption rates for different lithologies. A series of models simulate syn‐rift melt production from (a) dry and wet depleted lherzolite similar to the mantle that underlies most mid‐ocean ridges, (b) dry and wet relatively fertile ultramafic compositions representing plume or primitive mantle material, (c) pyroxenite representing recycled ultramafic oceanic crust or magmatic metasomes, and (d) basalt representing recycled mafic crust or metasomes. The models predict sequential melting of the different compositions that is broadly consistent with basalt eruption histories in many Phanerozoic rifts. Results show a progressive transition in magma sources as the lithosphere thins, beginning with melting of wet mantle and compositionally fertile mafic components near the lithosphere‐asthenosphere boundary during the earliest stages of extension. This transitions to magmatism dominated by melting of relatively fertile ultramafic components (pyrolitic and pyroxenitic compositions) as extension progresses, and finally to melting of ambient lherzolite asthenosphere as lithosphere thinning approaches breakup. Mantle composition, pre‐rift lithosphere thickness, and mantle temperature exert the greatest controls on the timing and volumes of magmas produced from each lithology. In general, a cool or thick lithosphere has a greater capacity to sequester fertile lithologies than thin or warm lithosphere, and thus has a greater capacity to produce early syn‐rift magmas without requiring a hot mantle plume.
-
more » « less
Abstract Determining the fate of subducted oceanic crust is critical for understanding material cycling through Earth’s deep interior and sources of mantle heterogeneity. A key control on the distribution of subducted slabs over long timescales is the bridgmanite to post-perovskite phase transition in the lowermost mantle, thought to cause rheological weakening. Using high-resolution computational models, we show that the ubiquitous presence of weak post-perovskite at the core-mantle boundary can facilitate or prevent the accumulation of basaltic oceanic crust, depending on the amount of weakening and the crustal thickness. Moderately weak post-perovskite ( ~ 10–100× weaker) facilitates segregation of crust from subducted slabs, increasing basalt accumulation in dense piles. Conversely, very weak post-perovskite (more than 100× weaker) promotes vigorous plumes that entrain more crustal material, decreasing basalt accumulation. Our results reconcile the contradicting conclusions of previous studies and provide insights into the accumulation of subducted crust in the lowermost mantle throughout Earth’s history.
-
null (Ed.)Walvis Ridge (WR) is a long-lived hotspot track that began with a continental flood basalt event at ~132 Ma during the initial opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. WR stretches ~3300 km to the active volcanic islands of Tristan da Cunha and Gough, and it was originally paired with Rio Grande Rise (RGR) oceanic plateau. Because of the duration of its volcanism and the length of its track, the Tristan-Gough hotspot forms the most pronounced bathymetric anomaly of all Atlantic hotspots. Its age progression, chemistry, and connection to flood basalts point to a lower mantle plume source, projected to be the hypothesized plume generation zone at the margin of the African large low shear-wave velocity province. The hotspot interacted with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) during its early history, producing WR and RGR through plume-ridge interaction. Valdivia Bank, a WR plateau paired with the main part of RGR, represents heightened hotspot output and may have formed with RGR around a microplate, disrupting the expected hotspot age progression. After producing a relatively uniform composition from ~120 to ~70 Ma, WR split into three seamount chains with distinct isotopic compositions at about the time that the plume and MAR separated. With ~70 My spatial zonation, the hotspot displays the longest-lived geochemical zonation known. Currently at ~400 km width with young volcanic islands at both ends, the hotspot track is far wider than other major hotspot tracks. Thus, WR displays global extremes with respect to (1) width of its hotspot track, (2) longevity of zonation, (3) division into separate chains, and (4) plume-ridge interaction involving a microplate, raising questions about the geodynamic evolution of this hotspot track. Understanding WR is critical for knowledge of the global spectrum of plume systems. To test hypotheses about mantle plume zonation, plume activity around a microplate, and hotspot drift, we propose coring at six locations along the older ridge to recover successions of basaltic lava flows ranging in age from ~59 to 104 Ma. Samples will help us trace the evolution of geochemical and isotopic signatures as the hotspot track became zoned, offering vital clues about compositional changes of the plume source and important implications for understanding the origin of hotspot zonation. Dating will show the age progression of volcanism both at individual sites and along the ridge, testing whether WR formed as a strictly age-progressive hotspot track and whether Valdivia Bank formed as a plume pulse, extended volcanism around a microplate, or possibly even a continental fragment. Paleomagnetic data will track paleolatitude changes of the hotspot, testing whether hotspot drift or true polar wander, or both, explain changes in paleolatitude.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Continental arcs in Cordilleran orogenic systems display episodic changes in magma production rate, alternating between flare ups (70–90 km3 km 1 Myr 1) and lulls (< 20 km3 km 1 Myr 1) on timescales of tens of millions of years. Arc segments or individual magmatic suites may have even higher rates, up several 100 s of km3 km 1 Myr 1, during flare ups. These rates are largely determined by estimating volumes of arc crust, but do not reflect melt production from the mantle. The bulk of mantle-derived magmas are recycled back into the mantle by delamination of arc roots after differentiation in the deep crust. Mantle-derived melt production rates for continental arcs are estimated to be 140–215 km3 km 1 Myr 1 during flare ups and ≤ 15 km3 km 1 Myr 1 during lulls. Melt production rates averaged over multiple magmatic cycles are consistent with independent estimates for partial melting of the mantle wedge in subduction zones, however, the rates during flare ups and lulls are both anomalously high and anomalously low, respectively. The difference in mantle-derived melt production between flare ups and lulls is larger than predicted by petrologic and numerical models that explore the range of globally observed subduction parameters (e.g., convergence rate, height of the mantle wedge). This suggests that other processes are required to increase magmatism during flare ups and suppress magmatism during lulls. There are many viable explanations, but one possibility is that crystallized melts from the asthenospheric mantle wedge are temporarily stored in the deep lithosphere during lulls and then remobilized during flare ups. Basaltic melts may stall in the mantle lithosphere in inactive parts of the arc system, like the back-arc, refertilizing the mantle lithosphere and suppressing melt delivery to the lower crust. Subsequent landward arc migration (i.e., toward the interior of the continent) may encounter such refertilized mantle lithosphere magma source regions, contributing to magmatic activity during a flare up. A review of continental arcs globally suggests that flare ups commonly coincide with landward arc migration and that this migration may start tens of millions of years before the flare up occurs. The region of magmatic activity, or arc width, can also expand significantly during a flare up. Arc migration or expansion into different mantle source regions and across lithospheric and crustal boundaries can cause temporal shifts in the radiogenic isotopic composition of magmatism. In the absence of arc migration, temporal shifts are more muted. Isotopic studies of mantle xenoliths and exposures of deep arc crust suggest that that primary, mantle-derived magmas generated during flare ups reflect substantial contributions from the subcontinental mantle lithosphere. Arc migration may be caused by a variety of mechanisms, including slab anchoring or slab folding in the mantle transition zone that could generate changes in slab dip. Episodic slab shallowing is associated with many tectonic processes in Cordilleran orogenic systems, like alternations between shortening and extension in the upper plate. Studies of arc migration may help to link irregular magmatic production in continental arcs with geodynamic models for orogenic cyclicity.more » « less
