Ghost plumes hidden beneath Earth’s continents

IF 4.8 1区 地球科学 Q1 GEOCHEMISTRY & GEOPHYSICS
Simone Pilia , Giampiero Iaffaldano , D. Rhodri Davies , Mohammad Ismaiel , Paolo A. Sossi , Scott Whattam , Dapeng Zhao , Hao Hu
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Abstract

Mantle plumes are hot, buoyant upwellings that rise from Earth’s core-mantle-boundary (CMB) at ∼2890 km depth to the surface. As they ascend towards the lithosphere – our planet’s rigid outermost shell – decompression melting results in surface volcanism. In continental interiors, a thicker lithosphere restricts plume ascent and associated decompression melting. However, it remains uncertain whether limited continental volcanism implies few sub-continental mantle plumes. Here, we present inter-disciplinary evidence revealing the first clear example of an amagmatic “ghost” plume in eastern Oman – the Dani plume. Despite lacking present-day surface volcanism, this plume is robustly imaged using P- and S-wave arrival-time residuals from distant earthquakes, recorded by a dense regional seismic network. A positive thermal anomaly is further corroborated by a ∼14 depression of the 410-km discontinuity and a ∼20 km upward deflection of the 660-km discontinuity. The imaged low-velocity structure is overlain by positive present-day residual topography in a region enigmatically uplifted since the late Eocene (∼40 Ma). Our analyses of kinematic reconstructions demonstrate that asthenospheric flow associated with the Dani plume modified Indian-plate motion in the late Eocene, allowing us to bound the likely arrival time of this plume beneath the lithosphere. Besides offering an approach to identify hidden continental plumes, both at the present-day and via Earth’s geological record, our study suggests that CMB heat-flux estimates should be revised upwards, with implications for thermal and core evolution models.
隐藏在大陆下面的幽灵羽状物
地幔柱是热的,有浮力的上升流,从地球的核心-地幔边界(CMB)上升到地表,深度约2890公里。当它们上升到岩石圈——我们星球最坚硬的外壳——减压融化导致表面火山活动。在大陆内部,较厚的岩石圈限制了羽流上升和随之而来的减压融化。然而,有限的大陆火山活动是否意味着很少的次大陆地幔柱仍不确定。在这里,我们提出了跨学科的证据,揭示了阿曼东部岩浆“幽灵”羽流的第一个明确例子-丹尼羽流。尽管缺乏当今的地表火山活动,但利用来自遥远地震的P波和s波到达时间残差(由密集的区域地震台网记录),对这一羽流进行了强有力的成像。410 km不连续的~ 14凹陷和660 km不连续的~ 20 km向上偏转进一步证实了正热异常。在始新世晚期(~ 40 Ma)以来神秘隆起的地区,低速构造成像被正向的现代残余地形覆盖。我们的运动学重建分析表明,与丹尼羽流相关的软流圈流在始新世晚期改变了印度板块的运动,使我们能够确定该羽流在岩石圈下可能到达的时间。我们的研究除了提供了一种方法来识别隐藏的大陆羽流,无论是在现代还是通过地球的地质记录,我们的研究表明,CMB的热通量估计应该向上修正,这对热模型和核心演化模型都有影响。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 地学-地球化学与地球物理
CiteScore
10.30
自引率
5.70%
发文量
475
审稿时长
2.8 months
期刊介绍: Earth and Planetary Science Letters (EPSL) is a leading journal for researchers across the entire Earth and planetary sciences community. It publishes concise, exciting, high-impact articles ("Letters") of broad interest. Its focus is on physical and chemical processes, the evolution and general properties of the Earth and planets - from their deep interiors to their atmospheres. EPSL also includes a Frontiers section, featuring invited high-profile synthesis articles by leading experts on timely topics to bring cutting-edge research to the wider community.
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