The Effect of Plate Motion History on the Longevity of Deep Mantle Heterogeneities
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Abstract Understanding the first-order dynamical structure and evolution of Earth's mantle is a fundamental goal in solid-earth geophysics. Tomographic observations reveal a lower mantle characterised by higher-than-average shear-wave speeds beneath Asia and encircling the Pacific, consistent with cold slabs beneath regions of ancient subduction, and lower-than-average shear-wave speeds in broad regional areas beneath Africa and the Central Pacific (termed LLSVPs). The LLSVPs are not well understood from a dynamical perspective and their origin and evolution remain enigmatic. Some numerical studies propose that the LLSVP beneath Africa is post-Pangean in origin, formed as a result of return flow in the mantle due to circum-Pangean subduction, countered by an older Pacific LLSVP, suggested to have formed during the break up of Rodinia. This propounds that, prior to the formation of Pangea, the lower mantle was dominated by a degree-1 convection pattern with a major upwelling centred close to the present-day Pacific LLSVP and subduction concentrated mainly in the antipodal hemisphere. In contrast, palaeomagnetic observations which proffer a link between the reconstructed eruption sites of Phanerozoic kimberlites and Large Igneous Provinces with regions on the margins of the present-day LLSVPs suggest that the anomalies may have remained stationary for at least the last 540 Myr and further that the anomalies were largely insensitive to the formation and subsequent break-up of Pangea. Here we investigate the evolution and long-term stability of LLSVP-like structures in Earth's mantle by integrating plate tectonics and numerical models of global thermochemical mantle dynamics. We explore the possibility that either one or both LLSVPs existed prior to the formation of Pangea and improve upon previous studies by using a new, true polar wander-corrected global plate model to impose surface velocity boundary conditions for a time interval that spans the amalgamation and subsequent break-up of the supercontinent. We find that, were only the Pacific LLSVP to exist prior to the formation of Pangea, the African LLSVP would not have been created within the lifetime of the supercontinent. We also find that, were the mantle to be dominated by two antipodal LLSVP-like structures prior to the formation of Pangea, the structures would remain relatively unchanged to the present day and would be insensitive to the formation and break-up of the supercontinent. Our results suggest that both the African and Pacific LLSVPs have remained close to their present-day positions for at least the past 410 Myr.Keywords:
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Seismic tomography studies indicate that the Earth's mantle structure is characterized by African and Pacific seismically slow velocity anomalies (i.e., superplumes) and circum‐Pacific seismically fast anomalies (i.e., a globally spherical harmonic degree 2 structure). However, the cause for and time evolution of the African and Pacific superplumes and the degree 2 mantle structure remain poorly understood with two competing proposals. First, the African and Pacific superplumes have remained largely unchanged for at least the last 300 Myr and possibly much longer. Second, the African superplume is formed sometime after the formation of Pangea (i.e., at 330 Ma) and the mantle in the African hemisphere is predominated by cold downwelling structures before and during the assembly of Pangea, while the Pacific superplume has been stable for the Pangea supercontinent cycle (i.e., globally a degree 1 structure before the Pangea formation). Here, we construct a proxy model of plate motions for the African hemisphere for the last 450 Myr since the Early Paleozoic using the paleogeographic reconstruction of continents constrained by paleomagnetic and geological observations. Coupled with assumed oceanic plate motions for the Pacific hemisphere, this proxy model for the plate motion history is used as time‐dependent surface boundary condition in three‐dimensional spherical models of thermochemical mantle convection to study the evolution of mantle structure, particularly the African mantle structure, since the Early Paleozoic. Our model calculations reproduce well the present‐day mantle structure including the African and Pacific superplumes and generally support the second proposal with a dynamic cause for the superplume structure. Our results suggest that while the mantle in the African hemisphere before the assembly of Pangea is predominated by the cold downwelling structure resulting from plate convergence between Gondwana and Laurussia, it is unlikely that the bulk of the African superplume structure can be formed before ∼230 Ma (i.e., ∼100 Myr after the assembly of Pangea). Particularly, the last 120 Myr plate motion plays an important role in generating the African superplume. Our models have implications for understanding the global‐scale magmatism, tectonics, mantle dynamics, and thermal evolution history for the Earth since the Early Paleozoic.
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Abstract The large low shear‐wave velocity provinces (LLSVP) are thermochemical anomalies in the deep Earth's mantle, thousands of km wide and ∼1800 km high. This study explores the hypothesis that the LLSVPs are compositionally subdivided into two domains: a primordial bottom domain near the core‐mantle boundary and a basaltic shallow domain that extends from 1100 to 2300 km depth. This hypothesis reconciles published observations in that it predicts that the two domains have different physical properties (bulk‐sound versus shear‐wave speed versus density anomalies), the transition in seismic velocities separating them is abrupt, and both domains remain seismically distinct from the ambient mantle. We here report underside reflections from the top of the LLSVP shallow domain, supporting a compositional origin. By exploring a suite of two‐dimensional geodynamic models, we constrain the conditions under which well‐separated “double‐layered” piles with realistic geometry can persist for billions of years. Results show that long‐term separation requires density differences of ∼100 kg/m 3 between LLSVP materials, providing a constraint for origin and composition. The models further predict short‐lived “secondary” plumelets to rise from LLSVP roofs and to entrain basaltic material that has evolved in the lower mantle. Long‐lived, vigorous “primary” plumes instead rise from LLSVP margins and entrain a mix of materials, including small fractions of primordial material. These predictions are consistent with the locations of hot spots relative to LLSVPs, and address the geochemical and geochronological record of (oceanic) hot spot volcanism. The study of large‐scale heterogeneity within LLSVPs has important implications for our understanding of the evolution and composition of the mantle.
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Supercontinent
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Supercontinent
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Mantle plume
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geodynamics
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Abstract This review discusses the thermal evolution of the mantle following large-scale tectonic activities such as continental collision and continental rifting. About 300 myr ago, continental material amalgamated through the large-scale subduction of oceanic seafloor, marking the termination of one or more oceanic basins (e.g. Wilson cycles) and the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea. The present day location of the continents is due to the rifting apart of Pangaea, with the dispersal of the supercontinent being characterized by increased volcanic activity linked to the generation of deep mantle plumes. The discussion presented here investigates theories regarding the thermal evolution of the mantle (e.g. mantle temperatures and sub-continental plumes) following the formation of a supercontinent. Rifting, orogenesis and mass eruptions from large igneous provinces change the landscape of the lithosphere, whereas processes related to the initiation and termination of oceanic subduction have a profound impact on deep mantle reservoirs and thermal upwelling through the modification of mantle flow. Upwelling and downwelling in mantle convection are dynamically linked and can influence processes from the crust to the core, placing the Wilson cycle and the evolution of oceans at the forefront of our dynamic Earth.
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[1] The thermal heterogeneity of the Earth's mantle under the drifting continents during a supercontinent cycle is a controversial issue in earth science. Here, a series of numerical simulations of mantle convection are performed in 3-D spherical-shell geometry, incorporating drifting deformable continents and self-consistent plate tectonics, to evaluate the subcontinental mantle temperature during a supercontinent cycle. Results show that the laterally averaged temperature anomaly of the subcontinental mantle remains within several tens of degrees (±50°C) throughout the simulation time. Even after the formation of the supercontinent and the development of subcontinental plumes due to the subduction of the oceanic plates, the laterally averaged temperature anomaly of the deep mantle under the continent is within +10°C. This implies that there is no substantial temperature difference between the subcontinental and suboceanic mantles during a supercontinent cycle. The temperature anomaly immediately beneath the supercontinent is generally positive owing to the thermal insulation effect and the active upwelling plumes from the core-mantle boundary. In the present simulation, the formation of a supercontinent causes the laterally averaged subcontinental temperature to increase by a maximum of 50°C, which would produce sufficient tensional force to break up the supercontinent. The regular periodicity of the supercontinent cycles observed in previous 2-D and 3-D simulation models with rigid nondeformable continents and without self-consistent plate tectonics is not confirmed.
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Abstract Several mantle convection studies analyzing the effects of supercontinent formation and dispersal show that the genesis of subcontinental plumes results from the formation of subduction zones at the edges of the supercontinent rather than from the effect of continental thermal insulation or thermochemical piles. However, the influence of subduction zone location on the position of subcontinental plumes has received little attention. This study analyzes 2‐D and 3‐D numerical models of supercontinent formation (in an isochemical mantle) to assess the role of subduction and mantle viscosity contrast in the generation of subcontinental mantle plumes. We find that once a critical supercontinent width is reached, plumes do not form under the center of a supercontinent. In studies featuring a low viscosity lower mantle, the surface positions of the initial plumes (arriving within 90 Myr of supercontinent assembly) become locked beneath the continent at a distance 2000–3000 km from the continental margin. However, the broad downwellings in simulations that feature a high‐viscosity lower mantle trigger plumes at a greater distance from the continental margin subduction. For all mantle viscosity profiles, subcontinental plumes show dependence on the location of supercontinent margin subduction. As theories differ on the role of core‐mantle boundary chemical piles in plume formation, it is significant that our isochemical models show that the formation of subduction zones at the margins of a supercontinent has a profound effect on subcontinental mantle dynamics. Our results may help to explain what determined the eruption sites of past (and future) large igneous provinces.
Supercontinent
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Mantle plume
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Continental drift
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