Plate tectonics II: Earths structure and plate

boundaries

Important: This chapter follows mainly:

Chap. 1 in Turcotte and Schubert
Chap. 2 in Fowler.
 Earth structure: The main units

Compositional:
Crust
Mantle
Core

Rheological:
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Mesosphere
 Earth structure: The main units

Crust versus mantle: The crust is a product of mantle melting. Typical mantle rocks
have a higher magnesium to iron ratio, and a smaller portion of silicon and aluminum
than the crust.

Lithosphere versus asthenosphere: While the lithosphere behaves as a rigid body over
geologic time scales, the asthenosphere deforms in ductile fashion. The lithosphere is
fragmented into tectonic plates, which move relative to one another. There are two types
of lithosphere: oceanic and continental.

Upper versus lower mantle: Together the lithosphere and the asthenosphere form the
upper mantle. The mesosphere, extending between the 660 boundary and the outer
core, corresponds to the lower mantle. The region between 410 and 660 km is referred
to as the transition zone.
 Earth structure: Mantle phase changes

410 km: Above this depth the Mg, Fe, Si

and O are primarily within olivine and
pyroxene. Below this depth the olivine is
no longer stable and is replaced by a
higher density polymorph - spinel. The
material has a similar overall composition
but the minerals have a more compact
structure.
660 km: Below this depth the spinel gives
way to the minerals Mg-perovskite and
Mg-wustite. (In fact, Mg-perovskite is
probably the most abundant solid of the
earth since it appears to be stable through
much of the mantle.)
 Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities

Moho: The dept at which the

P-wave velocity exceeds 8.1
Km/S is referred to as the
moho (after the seismologist
Mohorovicic). The moho is
both a seismic and a
compositional boundary,
marking the transition
between crust and mantle
materials.

Low Velocity Zone (LVZ):

The low velocity is more
strongly visible for S-waves
than for P-waves. It marks the
boundary between the
lithosphere and the
asthenosphere.
 Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities

Thickness of the Earth's

crust (by the USGS). Since
the Moho is at the base of
the crust this map also
shows depth to Moho.
 Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities

The LVZ is deeper under

shield and platforms,
than it is under oceanic
basins and continental
rifts.
 Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities

D: There is evidence of a seismic

discontinuity about 200 km above the
core-mantle boundary (CMB). This is
known as the D" discontinuity, and while
we don't know much about it, it appears to
be ubiquitous, although its position varies
from less than 100 km to over 300 km
above the CMB.
 Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities

Tomographic images of the P

and S velocity perturbation,
averaged vertically over the
deepest 1000 km of the mantle,
reveal structures with vertical
continuity over that depth range.
Negative (reddish) anomalies
indicate the presence of lower
mantle plumes.

Figure from Montelli et al., 2006

 Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities

Seismic images suggesting that

some mantle plumes originate at
the D.

Figure from Montelli et al., 2004

Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities
 Earth structure: Seismic discontinuities

It has been suggested,

based on tomography (i.e.,
seismic imaging), that the D
is a slab graveyard and/or
plume factory

Figure from:
http://www.avh.de/kosmos/titel/2002_011.htm
 Earth structure: Core

The shadow zones

 Earth structure: Core

Does Earths inner core rotate slower, faster or at the same rate
as the rest of the plant?

see animation on:

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events/scientists-confirm-earths-inner-core-rotating-faster-than-rest-planet
 Plate boundaries: MOR

Lithospheric plates are

created at ocean ridges.
The two plates on either
side of an ocean ridge move
away from each other with
near constant velocities of a
few tens of millimeters per
year.
As the two plates diverge,
hot mantle rock flows
upward to fill the gap.
The upwelling mantle rock
cools by conductive heat
loss to the surface.
The cooling rock accretes to
the base of the spreading
plates, becoming part of
them
 Plate boundaries: MOR

As the plates move away

from the ocean ridge, they
continue to cool and the
lithosphere thickens.

As the lithosphere cools, it

becomes more dense; as a
result it sinks downward into
the underlying mantle rock.

The topographic elevation

of the ridge is due to the
greater buoyancy of the
thinner, hotter lithosphere
near the axis of accretion at
the ridge crest.
 Plate boundaries: MOR

The elevation of the ocean

ridge also provides a body
force that causes the plates
to move away from the ridge
crest.

A component of the
gravitational body force on
the elevated lithosphere
drives the lithosphere away
from the accretional
boundary.

This force on the

lithosphere is known as
ridge push and is a form of
gravitational sliding.
 Plate boundaries: MOR

The volcanism at ocean ridges

is caused by pressure-release
melting.

As the two adjacent plates

move apart, hot mantle rock
ascends to fill the gap.

The temperature of the

ascending rock is nearly
constant, but its pressure
decreases.

When the temperature of the

ascending mantle rock equals
the solidus temperature,
melting occurs.
 Plate boundaries: MOR

In some localities slices of

oceanic crust and underlying
mantle have been brought to
the surface. These are known
as ophiolites; they occur in
such locations as Cyprus,
Newfoundland, Oman, and
New Guinea.

Field studies of ophiolites

have provided a detailed
understanding of the oceanic
crust and underlying mantle.
 Plate boundaries: MOR

Layer 1 is composed of
sediments that are deposited
on the volcanic rocks of layers
2 and 3. The thickness of
sediments increases with
distance from the ridge crest;
a typical thickness is 1 km.

Layers 2 and 3 are composed

of basaltic rocks of nearly
uniform composition.
 Plate boundaries: MOR

Layer 2 of the oceanic crust is

composed of extrusive
volcanic flows that have
interacted with the seawater
to form pillow lavas and
intrusive flows primarily in the
form of sheeted dikes.

A typical thickness for layer 2

is 1.5 km.
Plate boundaries: MOR
 Plate boundaries: MOR

Layer 3 is made up of gab-

bros and related cumulate
rocks that crystallized directly
from the magma chamber.
Gabbros are coarse-grained
basalts; the larger grain size is
due to slower cooling rates at
greater depths.

The thickness of layer 3 is

typically 4.5 km.
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

The negative buoyancy of the dense rocks of the descending lithosphere

results in a downward body force. Because the lithosphere behaves
elastically, it can transmit stresses and acts as a stress guide. The body
force acting on the descending plate is transmitted to the surface plate,
which is pulled toward the ocean trench. This is one of the important forces
driving plate tectonics and continental drift. It is known as slab pull.

Deriving forces:
Ridge push
Slab pull
Resisting Forces:
Viscous traction
Frictional resistance
Additional forces:
Slab suction
Fig from Heki and Mitsui, EPSL, 2013
Elastic bending
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

Since the gravitational body force on

the subducted lithosphere is
downward, it would be expected that
the subduction dip angle would be 90.

In fact, the typical dip angle for a

subduction zone is near 45.

One explanation is that the subducted The dip of a subducting

slab is supported by the induced flow
above the slab. The descending
lithosphere induces a corner flow in
the mantle wedge above it.
lithosphere is a direct
consequence of the balance
between the gravitational torque
and the lifting pressure torque,
i.e. the slab suction.
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

In some trench systems a

secondary accretionary
plate margin lies be- hind
the volcanic line.

This back-arc spreading is

very similar to the seafloor
spreading that is occurring
at ocean ridges.
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

A number of explanations have been given for back-arc spreading:

Option 1, the descending lithosphere induces a secondary convection cell
(panel-a).
Option 2, the ocean trench migrates away from an adjacent continent
because due to the sinking of the descending lithosphere, and the back-arc
spreading is required to fill the gap (panel-b).
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

Isotherms in a lithosphere descending at an angle of 45 into

the mantle
As the subducted lithosphere
descends into the mantle,
frictional heating occurs at its
upper boundary.

The effect of frictional heating

gives rise to the isotherms in
the slab.
The low temperatures in the descending
lithosphere cause it to have a higher density
than the surrounding mantle. The higher density
results in a body force driving the descending
lithosphere downward.
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

An additional downward body force on the descending slab is provided by

the distortion of the olivinespinel phase boundary in the slab.

The olivinespinel phase

boundary is elevated in the
descending lithosphere as
compared with its position in
the surrounding mantle
because the pressure at which
the phase change occurs
depends on temperature.

P
spinel
Sketch of the Clapeyron curve, which gives the
olivine pressures and temperatures at which two phases of the
same material, such as olivine and spinel, are in
T equilibrium.
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

The same approach can also be

applied to the transition of spinel
to perovskite. In this case the
slope of the Clapeyron curve is
negative and the transition
occurs at a deeper depth (higher
pressure) in the slab.

P
post-spinel

spinel

T
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

The phase change from

spinel to perovskite could act
to deter penetration of the
descending lithosphere.

Shallow subduction
earthquakes generally
indicate extensional stresses
where as the deeper
earthquakes indicate
compressional stresses. This
is also an indication of a
resistance to subduction.

Fig. from: Wolfgang, Meschede and Blake

 Plate boundaries: Subduction

Earthquakes terminate at a
depth of about 660 km, but
termination of seismicity does
not imply cessation of
subduction.

Fig. from: Wolfgang, Meschede and Blake

 Plate boundaries: Subduction

The fate of the descending plate has important implications regarding mantle
convection.

Figure from Fukao et al., 2001

Blue = fast anomaly = dense = cold

Red = slow anomaly = buoyant = hot
 Plate boundaries: Subduction

Currently, it seems that the

answer to this fundamental
question is in the eye of the
beholder. (learn more at:
http://www.mantleplumes.org/T
omographyProblems.html
)

Figure from Zhao et al., 2004

 Plate boundaries: Subduction

The remaining of the Farallon

plate underneath N. America?
Plate boundaries: Subduction