Global mantle flow and the development of seismic anisotropy : differences between the oceanic and continental upper mantle

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 112 (2007): B07317, doi:10.1029/2006JB004608.Viscous shear in the asthenosphere accommodates relative motion between Earth's surface plates and underlying mantle, generating lattice-preferred orientation (LPO) in olivine aggregates and a seismically anisotropic fabric. Because this fabric develops with the evolving mantle flow field, observations of seismic anisotropy can constrain asthenospheric flow patterns if the contribution of fossil lithospheric anisotropy is small. We use global viscous mantle flow models to characterize the relationship between asthenospheric deformation and LPO and compare the predicted pattern of anisotropy to a global compilation of observed shear wave splitting measurements. For asthenosphere >500 km from plate boundaries, simple shear rotates the LPO toward the infinite strain axis (ISA, the LPO after infinite deformation) faster than the ISA changes along flow lines. Thus we expect the ISA to approximate LPO throughout most of the asthenosphere, greatly simplifying LPO predictions because strain integration along flow lines is unnecessary. Approximating LPO with the ISA and assuming A-type fabric (olivine a axis parallel to ISA), we find that mantle flow driven by both plate motions and mantle density heterogeneity successfully predicts oceanic anisotropy (average misfit 13°). Continental anisotropy is less well fit (average misfit 41°), but lateral variations in lithospheric thickness improve the fit in some continental areas. This suggests that asthenospheric anisotropy contributes to shear wave splitting for both continents and oceans but is overlain by a stronger layer of lithospheric anisotropy for continents. The contribution of the oceanic lithosphere is likely smaller because it is thinner, younger, and less deformed than its continental counterpart.NSF grants EAR-0509882 (M.D.B. and C.P.C.), EAR-0609590 (C.P.C.), and EAR- 0215616 (P.G.S.

Crustal Azimuthal Anisotropy Beneath the Central North China Craton Revealed by Receiver Functions

To characterize crustal anisotropy beneath the central North China Craton (CNCC), we apply a recently developed deconvolution approach to effectively remove near-surface reverberations in the receiver functions recorded at 200 broadband seismic stations and subsequently determine the fast orientation and the magnitude of crustal azimuthal anisotropy by fitting the sinusoidal moveout of the P to S converted phases from the Moho and intracrustal discontinuities. The magnitude of crustal anisotropy is found to range from 0.06 s to 0.54Â s, with an average of 0.25 ± 0.08Â s. Fault-parallel anisotropy in the seismically active Zhangjiakou-Penglai Fault Zone is significant and could be related to fluid-filled fractures. Historical strong earthquakes mainly occurred in the fault zone segments with significant crustal anisotropy, suggesting that the measured crustal anisotropy is closely related to the degree of crustal deformation. The observed spatial distribution of crustal anisotropy suggests that the northwestern terminus of the fault zone probably ends at about 114°E. Also observed is a sharp contrast in the fast orientations between the western and eastern Yanshan Uplifts separated by the North-South Gravity Lineament. The NW-SE trending anisotropy in the western Yanshan Uplift is attributable to fossil crustal anisotropy due to lithospheric extension of the CNCC, while extensional fluid-saturated microcracks induced by regional compressive stress are responsible for the observed ENE-WSW trending anisotropy in the eastern Yanshan Uplift. Comparison of crustal anisotropy measurements and previously determined upper mantle anisotropy implies that the degree of crust-mantle coupling in the CNCC varies spatially

Magnetohydrodynamic rotating flow of a generalized burgers' fluid in a porous medium with hall current

This study concentrates on the unsteady magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) rotating flow of an incompressible generalized Burgers's fluid past a suddenly moved plate through a porous medium. Modified Darcy's law for generalized Burgers's fluid in a rotating frame has been used to model the governing flow problem. The closed form solution of the governing flow problem has been obtained by employing Laplace transform technique. The integral appearing in the inverse Laplace transform has been evaluated numerically. The influence of various parameters on the velocity profile has been delineated through several graphs and discussed in detail. It was found that the fluid is decelerated with increasing Hartmann number M and porosity parameter K. However, for large Hall parameter m, the real part of velocity decreases and the imaginary part of velocity increases

Crustal and uppermost mantle structure variation beneath La R?union hotspot track

The Piton de la Fournaise basaltic volcano, on La Réunion Island in the western Indian Ocean, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. This volcano is classically considered as the surface expression of an upwelling mantle plume and its activity is continuously monitored, providing detailed information on its superficial dynamics and on the edifice structure. Deeper crustal and upper mantle structure under La Réunion Island is surprisingly poorly constrained, motivating this study. We used receiver function techniques to determine a shear wave velocity profile through the crust and uppermost mantle beneath La Réunion, but also at other seismic stations located on the hotspot track, to investigate the plume and lithosphere interaction and its evolution through time. Receiver functions (RFs) were computed at permanent broad-band seismic stations from the GEOSCOPE network (on La Réunion and Rodrigues), at IRIS stations MRIV and DGAR installed on Mauritius and Diego Garcia islands, and at the GEOFON stations KAAM and HMDM on the Maldives. We performed non-linear inversions of RFs through modelling of P-to-S conversions at various crustal and upper mantle interfaces. Joint inversion of RF and surface wave dispersion data suggests a much deeper Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho) beneath Mauritius (~21 km) compared to La Réunion (~12 km). A magmatic underplated body may be present under La Réunion as a thin layer (≤3 km thick), as suggested by a previous seismic refraction study, and as a much thicker layer beneath other stations located on the hotspot track, suggesting that underplating is an important process resulting from the plume-lithosphere interaction. We find evidence for a strikingly low velocity layer starting at about 33 km depth beneath La Réunion that we interpret as a zone of partial melt beneath the active volcano. We finally observe low velocities below 70 km beneath La Réunion and below 50 km beneath Mauritius that could represent the base of the oceanic lithosphere

Crustal and upper-most mantle seismic structure beneath the Middle-east using surface-wave tomography

We have constructed a 3-D shear-wave velocity model for the crust and upper most mantle beneath the Middle-East by analysis of Rayleigh wave records obtained from ambient-noise correlation and regional earthquakes. We combined one decade of data collected from more than 850 permanent and temporary broadband stations in the region in order to calculate group velocity dispersion curves. We have in total >60000 ray paths giving reliable group velocity measurements for periods between 5 and 100 seconds. The group velocities calculated at different periods along individual ray paths were inverted for 2-D group-velocity maps. Due to the heterogeneous ray coverage, we pursue an adaptive parametrization for the group velocity tomography inversion. We then inverted the dispersion curves extracted at grid points of the 2-D group-velocity maps for 1-D shear-wave velocity profiles beneath each grid. The S-wave velocity model shows regions of low-velocities at shallow depths (5-10 km) beneath the Mesopotamian foredeep, south Caspian basin, eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. These low velocity regions coincide with the thick sedimentary basins. Shallow high-velocity anomalies are observed in the regions with magmatic outcrops such as the Arabian Shield and NW Iran. In the upper crustal depth range (10-20 km), we clearly observe a band of high-velocity anomalies (> 4.0 km/s) along the Red Sea, indicating the presence of the upper mantle rocks in this depth range. Low velocity regions are observed beneath the Mesopotamian foredeep and Zagros implying the effect of thick sedimentary rocks comprising the upper crust. Our 3-D velocity model exhibits high velocities in the depth range 25-40 km beneath the western Arabia, south Caspian basin, eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea indicating a relatively thin crust beneath these regions, whereas the Zagros, NW Iran, the easternmost Anatolian plateau and Lesser Caucasus are characterized by low velocities at these depths. At least some of these anomalies may be related to thick crustal roots that support the high topography of these regions. In the upper mantle depth range, high-velocity anomalies are obtained beneath the Arabian Platform, southern Zagros and eastern Mediterranean and low velocities beneath Red Sea, Arabian Shield, Afar depression, Central Iran and eastern Turkey

Crustal seismic anisotropy in central Tibet: Implications for deformational style and flow in the crust

located near the Bangong-Nujiang suture in central Tibet display a weak Moho signal and strong P to S conversions within the first 5 s that vary systematically with backazimuth. A single station with representative azimuthal variations located at the sharp onset of strong SKS splitting, is modeled for both dipping layers and seismic anisotropy by using a global minimization technique. Inversion results indicate strong anisotropy (>10%) near the surface and in the middle crust separated by a south-dipping ( 25°) layer, possibly related to the earlier phase of crustal shortening. Near-surface anisotropy has a fabric dipping steeply southward and trending WNW-ESE that correlates with the suture and younger strike-slip faults. In contrast, midcrustal anisotropy occurs in a low-velocity zone and has a fabric dipping gently ( 18°) northward that might be related to a well-developed near-horizontal rock fabric induced by crustal flow. INDEX TERMS: 7205 Seismology