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1.
The C-region of the upper mantle has two transition regions 75 to 90 kilometers thick. In western North America these start at depths of 365 kilometers and 620 kilometers and involve velocity increases of about 9 to 10 percent. The locations of these transition regions, their general shape, and their thicknesses are consistent with, first, the transformation of magnesium-rich olivine to a spinel structure and, then, a further collapse of a material having approximately the properties of the component oxides. The velocity increases associated with each transition region are slightly less than predicted for the appropriate phase change. This can be interpreted in terms of an increasing fayalite content with depth. The location of the transition regions and the seismic velocities in their vicinity supply new information regarding the composition and temperature of the upper mantle. The depths of the transition regions are consistent with temperatures near 1500 degrees C at 365 kilometers and 1900 degrees C at 620 kilometers.  相似文献   

2.
Geophysical models show that electrical conductivity in Earth's mantle rises about two orders of magnitude through the transition zone in the depth range 410 to 660 kilometers. Impedance measurements obtained on Mg1.8Fe0.2SiO4 olivine, wadsleyite, and ringwoodite at up to 20 gigapascals and 1400 degreesC show that the electrical conductivities of wadsleyite and ringwoodite are similar and are almost two orders of magnitude higher than that of olivine. A conductivity-depth profile to 660 kilometers, based on these laboratory data, shows a conductivity increase of almost two orders of magnitude across the 410-kilometer discontinuity; such a profile favors a two-layer model for the upper mantle. Activation enthalpies of 1.2 to 1.7 electron volts permit appreciable lateral variations of conductivity with lateral temperature variations.  相似文献   

3.
Ultradeep (greater than 300 kilometers), ultramafic upper mantle xenoliths   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
Geophysical discontinuities in Earth's upper mantle and experimental data predict the structural transformation of pyroxene to garnet and the solid-state dissolution of pyroxene into garnet with increasing depth. These predictions are indirectly verified by omphacitic pyroxene exsolution in pyropic garnet-bearing xenoliths from a diamondiferous kimberlite. Conditions for silicon in octahedral sites in the original garnets are met at pressures greater than 130 kilobars, placing the origin of these xenoliths at depths of 300 to 400 kilometers. These ultradeep xenoliths support the theory that the 400-km seismic discontinuity is marked by a transition from peridotite to eclogite.  相似文献   

4.
Sen G  Jones RE 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1990,249(4973):1154-1157
The maximum depth at which large (>1000 km(3)) terrestrial mafic magma chambers can form has generally been thought to be the Moho, which occurs at a mean depth of about 35 kilometers beneath the continents and 8 kilometers beneath ocean basins. However, the presence of layers of cumulus magnesium-rich spinel and olivine and intercumulus garnet in an unusual mantle xenolith from Oahu, Hawaii, suggests that this rock is a fragment of a large magma chamber that formed at a depth of about 90 kilometers; Hawaiian shield-building magmas may pond and fractionate in such magma chambers before continuing their ascent. This depth is at or near the base of the 90-million-year-old lithosphere beneath Oahu; thus, rejuvenated stage alkalic magmas containing mantle xenoliths evidently also originate below the lithosphere.  相似文献   

5.
Mineral properties in Earth's lower mantle are affected by iron electronic states, but representative pressures and temperatures have not yet been probed. Spin states of iron in lower-mantle ferropericlase have been measured up to 95 gigapascals and 2000 kelvin with x-ray emission in a laser-heated diamond cell. A gradual spin transition of iron occurs over a pressure-temperature range extending from about 1000 kilometers in depth and 1900 kelvin to 2200 kilometers and 2300 kelvin in the lower mantle. Because low-spin ferropericlase exhibits higher density and faster sound velocities relative to the high-spin ferropericlase, the observed increase in low-spin (Mg,Fe)O at mid-lower mantle conditions would manifest seismically as a lower-mantle spin transition zone characterized by a steeper-than-normal density gradient.  相似文献   

6.
Rates of cation diffusion (magnesium, iron, and nickel) have been determined in olivine and its high-pressure polymorph, wadsleyite, at 9 to 15 gigapascals and 1100 degrees to 1400 degreesC for compositions that are relevant to Earth's mantle. Diffusion in olivine becomes strongly dependent on composition at high pressure. In wadsleyite, diffusion is one to two orders of magnitude faster than in olivine, depending on temperature. Homogenization of mantle heterogeneities (chemical mixing) and mineral transformations involving a magnesium-iron exchange will therefore occur considerably faster in the transition zone than at depths of less than 410 kilometers.  相似文献   

7.
The single-crystal elastic moduli of the modified spinel structure (beta phase) of magnesium orthosilicate (Mg(2)SiO(4)) have been measured by Brillouin spectroscopy under ambient conditions. Single crystals with dimensions up to 500 micrometers were grown at 22 gigapascals and 2000 degrees C over a period of 1 hour. Growth of crystals larger than 100 micrometers was achieved only when the pressure was within 5 percent of the pressure of the phase boundary separating the beta- and gamma-phase stability fields. A comparison of the elastic properties of the modified spinel phase with those of the olivine phase suggests that the 400-kilometer seismic discontinuity in the earth's mantle can be described by a mantle with 40 percent olivine. These results confirm that the 400-kilometer discontinuity can be due to the transition from olivine to modified spinel. The amount of olivine that must be present is less than that in a pyrolite model, although the results do not exclude pyrolite as a possible mantle model.  相似文献   

8.
Serpentine stability to mantle depths and subduction-related magmatism   总被引:14,自引:0,他引:14  
Results of high-pressure experiments on samples of hydrated mantle rocks show that the serpentine mineral antigorite is stable to approximately 720 degrees C at 2 gigapascals, to approximately 690 degrees C at 3 gigapascals, and to approximately 620 degrees C at 5 gigapascals. The breakdown of antigorite to forsterite plus enstatite under these conditions produces 13 percent H(2)O by weight to depths of 150 to 200 kilometers in subduction zones. This H(2)O is in an ideal position for ascent into the hotter, overlying mantle where it can cause partial melting in the source region for calc-alkaline magmas at a depth of 100 to 130 kilometers and a temperature of approximately 1300 degrees C. The breakdown of antigorite in hydrated mantle produces an order of magnitude more H(2)O than does the dehydration of altered oceanic crust.  相似文献   

9.
San Carlos olivine crystals under laboratory conditions of 26 gigapascals and 973 to 1473 kelvin (conditions typical of subducted slabs at a depth of 720 kilometers) for periods of a few minutes to 19 hours transformed to the phase assemblage of perovskite and magnesiowustite in two stages: (i) the oxygen sublattice transformed into a cubic close-packed lattice, forming a metastable spinelloid, and (ii) at higher temperatures or longer run durations, this spinelloid broke down to perovskite and magnesiowustite by redistributing silicon and magnesium while maintaining the general oxygen framework. The breakdown was characterized by a blocking temperature of 1000 kelvin, below which olivine remained metastable, and by rapid kinetics once the reaction was activated.  相似文献   

10.
High-resolution seismic tomographic models of the upper mantle provide powerful new constraints on theories of plate tectonics and hotspots. Midocean ridges have extremely low seismic velocities to a depth of 100 kilometers. These low velocities imply partial melting. At greater depths, low-velocity and high-velocity anomalies record, respectively, previous positions of migrating ridges and trenches. Extensional, rifting, and hotspot regions have deep (> 200 kilometers) low-velocity anomalies. The upper mantle is characterized by vast domains of high temperature rather than small regions surrounding hotspots; the asthenosphere is not homogeneous or isothermal. Extensive magmatism requires a combination of hot upper mantle and suitable lithospheric conditions. High-velocity regions of the upper 200 kilometers of the mantle correlate with Archean cratons.  相似文献   

11.
The transition zone of Earth's mantle is delineated by globally observed discontinuities in seismic properties at depths of about 410 and 660 kilometers. Here, we investigate the detailed structure between 410 and 660 kilometers depth, by making use of regional stacks of precursors to the SS phase. The previously observed discontinuity at about 520 kilometers depth is confirmed in many regions, but is found to be absent in others. There are a number of regions in which we find two discontinuities at about 500 and 560 kilometers depth, an effect which can be interpreted as a "splitting" of the 520 kilometer discontinuity. These observations provide seismic constraints on the sharpness and observability of mineralogical phase transitions in the mantle transition zone.  相似文献   

12.
The pressure dependence of the elastic wave velocities for hot-pressed, elastically isotropic polycrystals of the beta (modified spinel) phase of magnesium orthosilicate (Mg(2)SiO(4)) has been determined at room temperature to 3 gigapascals (GPa) by ultrasonic pulse interferometry. Pressure derivatives of the bulk (dK/dP = 4.8) and shear (dG/dP = 1.7) moduli derived from the travel times of the compressional (P) and shear (S) waves clearly demonstrate that the velocity contrast between the olivine and beta phases of Mg(2)SiO(4) decreases with increasing pressure. When combined with plausible values for the (as yet unmeasured) temperature derivatives, these new data can be used to calculate the contrast in P and S wave velocities across an olivine-beta phase transformation occuaring at pressure-temperature conditions corresponding to about 400 kilometers depth in the earth. The seismologically observed contrasts DeltaV in both P and S wave velocities constrain the percentage of orthosilicate in a model mantle of uniform chemical composition for appropriate relative magnitudes of the temperature (T) derivatives of the bulk and shear moduli for the beta phase. Allowed combinations of orthosilicate content (percent), dK/dT, and dG/dT (both in gigapascals per Kelvin) for a pair of recent seismological models with DeltaV(p) = DeltaV(s) 4.6% include (65, -0.018, -0.020), (55, -0.015, -0.018), and (45, -0.012, -0.016).  相似文献   

13.
H Thybo  E Perchuc 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1997,275(5306):1626-1629
Strong, scattered reflections beyond 8 degrees (8degrees) offset are characteristic features of all high-resolution seismic sections from the continents. The reflections identify a low-velocity zone below approximately 100 kilometers depth beneath generally stratified mantle. This zone may be caused by partial melting, globally initiated at equal depth in the continental mantle. Solid state is again attained at the Lehmann discontinuity in cold, stable areas, whereas the zone extends to near the 400-kilometer discontinuity in hot, tectonically active areas. Thus, the depth to the Lehmann discontinuity may be an indicator of the thermal state of the continental mantle.  相似文献   

14.
Seismic methods are now being used to determine not only Earth's elastic properties, but also by how much it departs from a perfectlyelastic body. The seismic anelasticity (Q) varies by several orders of magnitude throughout the mantle, the main feature being an extremely dissipative zone in the upper mantle above 400 kilometers. Recent determinations of viscosity by McConnell show a similar trend. The two sets of data indicate that the ratio of viscosity to Q is roughly a constant, at least in the upper mantle of Earth. On the assumption that this relation is valid for the rest of Earth, viscosities are estimated in regions that are inaccessible for direct measurement. The implied presence of a low-viscosity zone in the upper mantle, overlying a more viscous, less deformable, lower mantle, reconciles viscosites calculated from the shape of Earth and from postglacial uplift. The mismatch of the deformational characteristics at various levels in Earth, coupled with the changing rate of rotation, may be pertinent to the rate of release of seismic energy as a function of depth.  相似文献   

15.
Using high-resolution stacks of precursors to the seismic phase SS, we investigated seismic discontinuities associated with mineralogical phase changes approximately 410 and 660 kilometers (km) deep within Earth beneath South America and the surrounding oceans. Detailed maps of phase boundary topography revealed deep 410- and 660-km discontinuities in the down-dip direction of subduction, inconsistent with purely isochemical olivine phase transformation in response to lowered temperatures. Mechanisms invoking chemical heterogeneity within the mantle transition zone were explored to explain this feature. In some regions, multiple reflections from the discontinuities were detected, consistent with partial melt near 410-km depth and/or additional phase changes near 660-km depth. Thus, the origin of upper mantle heterogeneity has both chemical and thermal contributions and is associated with deeply rooted tectonic processes.  相似文献   

16.
Lunar seismic data from artificial impacts recorded at three Apollo seismometers are interpreted to determine the structure of the moon's interior to a depth of about 100 kilomneters. In the Fra Mauro region of Oceanus Procellarum, the moon has a layered crust 65 kilometers thick. The seismic velocities in the upper 25 kilometers are consistent with those in lunar basalts. Between 25 and 65 kilometers, the nearly constant velocity (6.8 kilometers per second) corresponds to velocities in gabbroic and anorthositic rocks. The apparent velocity is high (about 9 kilometers per second) in the lunar mantle immediately below the crust.  相似文献   

17.
An anomalous topographic high located close to the intersection of the Owen Fracture Zone with the Mid-Indian Ridge exposes exclusively ultramafic rocks for a thickness of more than 2 kilometers. The rocks, consisting of partly serpentinized spinel lherzolites, with minor harzburgites and dunites, display protogranular to porphyroclastic fabrics, but no cumulate textures. The chemistry of olivine, ortho-and clinopyroxene, and spinel crystals suggests that the rocks originated at a depth of at least 25 kilometers in the oceanic lithosphere and were partially reequilibrated and recrystallized during subsequent upwelling. Thus, field, textural, and mineral chemistry data indicate the presence of an uplifted block of upper mantle. The considerable vertical uplift can be explained by a two-stage process: mantle upwelling in the axial zone of plate accretion, followed by vertical tectonic uplift along the fracture zone. The rate of uplift in the fracture zone was of the order of 1 millimeter per year.  相似文献   

18.
Geodynamic evidence for a chemically depleted continental tectosphere   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
Forte AM  Perry HK 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2000,290(5498):1940-1944
The tectosphere, namely the portions of Earth's mantle lying below cratons, has a thermochemical structure that differs from average suboceanic mantle. The tectosphere is thought to be depleted in its basaltic components and to have an intrinsic buoyancy that balances the mass increase associated with its colder temperature relative to suboceanic mantle. Inversions of a large set of geodynamic data related to mantle convection, using tomography-based mantle flow models, indicate that the tectosphere is chemically depleted and relatively cold to 250 kilometers depth below Earth's surface. The approximate equilibrium between thermal and chemical buoyancy contributes to cratonic stability over geological time.  相似文献   

19.
Rocks containing high-pressure mineral assemblages derived from the mantle transition zone between depths of about 400 and 670 kilometers occur as xenoliths and megacrysts on the island of Malaita in the southwest Pacific on the Ontong Java Plateau. Observed ultrahigh pressure mineral chemistries include majorite, calcium- and magnesium-perovskite, aluminous silicate phases, and microdiamond. Based on an empirical barometer, majoritic garnets in these xenoliths record pressures of up to 22 gigapascal. The occurrence of material with perovskite chemistry and several enigmatic aluminous phases indicates pressures of up to 27 gigapascal. Samples were brought to the surface at about 34 million years ago by potassic ultramafic magmas, which evidently originated in the lower mantle.  相似文献   

20.
Results from in situ x-ray diffraction experiments with a DIA-type cubic anvil apparatus (SAM 85) reveal that MgSiO(3) perovskite transforms from the orthorhombic Pbnm symmetry to another perovskite-type structure above 600 kelvin (K) at pressures of 7.3 gigapascals; the apparent volume increase across the transition is 0.7%. Unit-cell volume increased linearly with temperature, both below (1.44 x 10(-5) K(-1)) and above (1.55 x 10(-5) K(-1)) the transition. These results indicate that the physical properties measured on the Pbnm phase should be used with great caution because they may not be applicable to the earth's lower mantle. A density analysis based on the new data yields an iron content of 10.4 weight percent for a pyrolite composition under conditions corresponding to the lower mantle. All current equation-of-state data are compatible with constant chemical composition in the upper and lower mantle; thus, these data imply that a chemically layered mantle is unnecessary, and whole-mantle convection is possible.  相似文献   

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