Pervasive seismic low-velocity zones within stagnant plates in the mantle transition zone: Thermal or compositional origin? - Archive ouverte HAL Access content directly
Journal Articles Earth and Planetary Science Letters Year : 2017

Pervasive seismic low-velocity zones within stagnant plates in the mantle transition zone: Thermal or compositional origin?

Seongryong Kim
B. L. N. Kennett
  • Function : Author

Abstract

We exploit conversions between P and S waves for large-scale, high-resolution imaging of the mantle transition zone beneath Northwest Pacific and the margin of Eastern Asia. We find pervasive reflectivity concentrated in two bands with apparent wave-speed reduction of -2% to -4% about 50 km thick at the top of the transition zone and 100 km thick at the bottom. This negative reflectivity associated with the scattered-waves at depth is interpreted jointly with larger-scale mantle tomographic images, and is shown to delineate the stagnant portions of the subducted Pacific plate in the transition zone, with largely positive shear-wave velocity contrasts. The upper reflectivity zone connects to broad low-velocity regions below major intra-plate volcanoes, whereas the lower zone coincides locally with the occurrence of deep-focus earthquakes along the East Asia margin. Similar reflectivity is found in Pacific Northwest of the USA. We demonstrate that the thermal signature of plates alone is not sufficient to explain such features. Alternative explanations for these reflective zones include kinetic effects on olivine phase transitions (meta-stability), compositional heterogeneities within and above stagnant plates, complex wave-propagation effects in the heterogeneous slab structure, or a combination of such factors. We speculate that part of the negative reflectivity is the signature of compositional heterogeneities, as revealed by numerous other studies of seismic scattering throughout the mantle, and that such features could be widespread across the globe.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
1-s2.0-S0012821X17304454-main.pdf (6.83 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origin : Publisher files allowed on an open archive

Dates and versions

hal-02328793 , version 1 (16-09-2021)

Licence

Attribution - CC BY 4.0

Identifiers

Cite

Benoît Tauzin, Seongryong Kim, B. L. N. Kennett. Pervasive seismic low-velocity zones within stagnant plates in the mantle transition zone: Thermal or compositional origin?. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2017, 477, pp.1--13. ⟨10.1016/j.epsl.2017.08.006⟩. ⟨hal-02328793⟩
35 View
23 Download

Altmetric

Share

Gmail Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More