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Kumar A, Cacace M, Scheck-Wenderoth M. Thermodynamics of continental deformation. Sci Rep 2023; 13:19920. [PMID: 37963946 PMCID: PMC10646047 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47054-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Continental deformation is known to be controlled by the interplay between tectonic and gravitational forces modulated by thermal relaxation-controlled lithospheric strength leading to oscillations around an equilibrium state, or to runaway extension. Using data-driven thermomechanical modelling of the Alpine Himalayan Collision Zone, we demonstrate how deviations from an equilibrium between mantle dynamics, plate-boundary forces, and the thermochemical configuration of the lithosphere control continental deformation. We quantify such balance between the internal energy of the plate and tectonic forces in terms of a critical crustal thickness, that match the global average of present-day continental crust. It follows that thicker intraplate domains than the critical crust (orogens) must undergo weakening due to their increased internal energy, and, in doing so, they dissipate the acquired energy within a diffused zone of deformation, unlike the localized deformation seen along plate boundaries. This evolution is controlled by a dissipative thermodynamic feedback loop between thermal and mechanical relaxation of the driving energy in the orogenic lithosphere. Exponentially growing energy states, leading to runaway extension are efficiently dampened by enhanced dissipation from radioactive heat sources. This ultimately drives orogens with their thickened radiogenic crust towards a final equilibrium state. Our results suggest a genetic link between the thermochemical state of the crust and the tectonic evolution of silicate Earth-like planets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ajay Kumar
- GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Mauro Cacace
- GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Magdalena Scheck-Wenderoth
- GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
- Faculty of Georesources and Materials Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
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Transmogrification of ocean into continent: implications for continental evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2122694119. [PMID: 35377785 PMCID: PMC9169811 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2122694119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This study proposes a geological mechanism for creating continental crust and lithosphere. When continents collide, the typical embayments and protrusions along their rifted margins make it likely that fragments of seafloor will be trapped within the growing mountain belt. These become preferential centers of sedimentation that eventually convert former seafloor into a unique form of continental crust and lithosphere, leading to characteristic temporal changes in the relative strength and uplift/subsidence of these regions. The Alpine–Himalayan mountain chain in Eurasia shows several stages of this process, which we further explore with a one-dimensional thermal-rheological model. In Asia, this process appears to have created a characteristic paired-mountain belt geomorphology (Himalaya/Tibet + Tian Shan) that has greatly strengthened the East Asian Monsoon. When continents collide, the typical embayments and protrusions along their rifted margins make it likely that fragments of seafloor will be trapped within the growing orogenic belt. These trapped seafloor fragments become preferential depocenters for marine and terrestrial sedimentation. After ∼0.5 Gy, the high radioactivity of their thick terrigenous sediment pile converts former seafloor into a unique form of continental crust and underlying lithosphere. We call this process transmogrification. Initially strong and low-lying basins that act as mechanically stronger blocks in the collisional orogeny will eventually warm, weaken, and thermoisostatically rise and will eventually transform into preferred sites for future continental rifting. In modern Asia, transmogrifying basins have induced the characteristic paired-mountain belt geomorphology associated with the assembly of this supercontinent, for example, the Himalaya/Tibet + Tian Shan surrounding the Tarim Basin that has greatly strengthened the East Asian Monsoon. The time-dependent temperature, uplift, and strength changes associated with transmogrification are relevant for improving our understanding of continental evolution, basin modeling, paleoclimate studies, and natural resources prospection.
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Lower-crustal earthquakes in southern Tibet are linked to eclogitization of dry metastable granulite. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3483. [PMID: 30154406 PMCID: PMC6113232 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05964-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Southern Tibet is the most active orogenic region on Earth where the Indian Plate thrusts under Eurasia, pushing the seismic discontinuity between the crust and the mantle to an unusual depth of ~80 km. Numerous earthquakes occur in the lower portion of this thickened continental crust, but the triggering mechanisms remain enigmatic. Here we show that dry granulite rocks, the dominant constituent of the subducted Indian crust, become brittle when deformed under conditions corresponding to the eclogite stability field. Microfractures propagate dynamically, producing acoustic emission, a laboratory analog of earthquakes, leading to macroscopic faults. Failed specimens are characterized by weak reaction bands consisting of nanometric products of the metamorphic reaction. Assisted by brittle intra-granular ruptures, the reaction bands develop into shear bands which self-organize to form macroscopic Riedel-like fault zones. These results provide a viable mechanism for deep seismicity with additional constraints on orogenic processes in Tibet. The triggering mechanism of deep seismicity in Tibet remains unclear. Here the authors use experiments to show that granulite when deformed becomes brittle as it passes into the ecologite stability field developing macroscopic riedel fault zones thus providing an explanation for deep seismicity in Southern Tibet.
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Tearing of Indian mantle lithosphere from high-resolution seismic images and its implications for lithosphere coupling in southern Tibet. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:8296-8300. [PMID: 30061398 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1717258115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
What happened to the Indian mantle lithosphere (IML) during the Indian-Eurasian collision and what role it has played on the plateau growth are fundamental questions that remain unanswered. Here, we show clear images of the IML from high-resolution P and S tomography, which suggest that the subducted IML is torn into at least four pieces with different angles and northern limits, shallower and extending further in the west and east sides while steeper in the middle. Intermediate-depth earthquakes in the lower crust and mantle are located almost exclusively in the high-velocity (and presumably strong) part of the Indian lithosphere. The tearing of the IML provides a unified mechanism for Late Miocene and Quaternary rifting, current crustal deformation, and intermediate-depth earthquakes in the southern and central Tibetan Plateau and suggests that the deformations of the crust and the mantle lithosphere are strongly coupled.
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Jamtveit B, Ben-Zion Y, Renard F, Austrheim H. Earthquake-induced transformation of the lower crust. Nature 2018; 556:487-491. [PMID: 29695846 PMCID: PMC5935234 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0045-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2017] [Accepted: 02/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The structural and metamorphic evolution of the lower crust has first order effects on the lithospheric response to plate tectonic processes involved in orogeny, including subsidence of sedimentary basins, stability of deep mountain roots, and extension of high topography regions. Recent research shows that prior to orogeny most of the lower crust is dry, impermeable, and mechanically strong1. During an orogenic event, the evolution of the lower crust is controlled by infiltration of fluids along localized shear or fracture zones. In the Bergen Arcs of Western Norway, shear zones initiate as faults generated by lower crustal earthquakes. Seismic slip in the dry lower crust requires stresses at a level that can only be sustained over short timescales or local weakening mechanisms. However, regular earthquake activity in the seismogenic zone produces stress pulses that drive aftershocks in the lower crust2. Here, we show that the volume of lower crust affected by such aftershocks is very significant and that fluids driving associated metamorphic and structural transformations of the lower crust follow in the wake of these earthquakes. This provides a novel ‘top-down’ effect on crustal geodynamics and connects processes operating at very different time scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bjørn Jamtveit
- Physics of Geological Processes (PGP), The Njord Centre, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Yehuda Ben-Zion
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - François Renard
- Physics of Geological Processes (PGP), The Njord Centre, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.,Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, IRD, IFSTTAR, ISTerre, Grenoble, France
| | - Håkon Austrheim
- Physics of Geological Processes (PGP), The Njord Centre, Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Précigout J, Prigent C, Palasse L, Pochon A. Water pumping in mantle shear zones. Nat Commun 2017; 8:15736. [PMID: 28593947 PMCID: PMC5472755 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2016] [Accepted: 04/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Water plays an important role in geological processes. Providing constraints on what may influence the distribution of aqueous fluids is thus crucial to understanding how water impacts Earth's geodynamics. Here we demonstrate that ductile flow exerts a dynamic control on water-rich fluid circulation in mantle shear zones. Based on amphibole distribution and using dislocation slip-systems as a proxy for syn-tectonic water content in olivine, we highlight fluid accumulation around fine-grained layers dominated by grain-size-sensitive creep. This fluid aggregation correlates with dislocation creep-accommodated strain that localizes in water-rich layers. We also give evidence of cracking induced by fluid pressure where the highest amount of water is expected. These results emphasize long-term fluid pumping attributed to creep cavitation and associated phase nucleation during grain size reduction. Considering the ubiquitous process of grain size reduction during strain localization, our findings shed light on multiple fluid reservoirs in the crust and mantle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacques Précigout
- Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans (ISTO), CNRS-UMR 7327, Université d'Orléans, Campus Géosciences, 1A rue de la Férollerie, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France
| | - Cécile Prigent
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, ISTerre, F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Laurie Palasse
- Bruker Nano Analytics, Am Studio 2D, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Anthony Pochon
- Géosciences Rennes, UMR 6118, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes, France
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Dewey JF. A harbinger of plate tectonics: a commentary on Bullard, Everett and Smith (1965) 'The fit of the continents around the Atlantic'. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2015; 373:rsta.2014.0227. [PMID: 25750142 PMCID: PMC4360082 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2014.0227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
In the 1960s, geology was transformed by the paradigm of plate tectonics. The 1965 paper of Bullard, Everett and Smith was a linking transition between the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. They showed, conclusively, that the continents around the Atlantic were once contiguous and that the Atlantic Ocean had grown at rates of a few centimetres per year since the Early Jurassic, about 160 Ma. They achieved fits of the continental margins at the 500 fathom line (approx. 900 m), not the shorelines, by minimizing misfits between conjugate margins and finding axes, poles and angles of rotation, using Euler's theorem, that defined the unique single finite difference rotation that carried congruent continents from contiguity to their present positions, recognizing that the real motion may have been more complex around a number of finite motion poles. Critically, they were concerned only with kinematic reality and were not restricted by considerations of the mechanism by which continents split and oceans grow. Many of the defining features of plate tectonics were explicit or implicit in their reconstructions, such as the torsional rigidity of continents, Euler's theorem, closure of the Tethyan ocean(s), major continental margin shear zones, the rapid rotation of small continental blocks (Iberia) around nearby poles, the consequent opening of small wedge-shaped oceans (Bay of Biscay), and misfit overlaps (deltas and volcanic piles) and underlaps (stretched continental edges). This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
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Lundgren P, Hetland EA, Liu Z, Fielding EJ. Southern San Andreas-San Jacinto fault system slip rates estimated from earthquake cycle models constrained by GPS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar observations. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1029/2008jb005996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Mehl L, Hirth G. Plagioclase preferred orientation in layered mylonites: Evaluation of flow laws for the lower crust. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1029/2007jb005075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Monsalve G, Sheehan A, Schulte-Pelkum V, Rajaure S, Pandey MR, Wu F. Seismicity and one-dimensional velocity structure of the Himalayan collision zone: Earthquakes in the crust and upper mantle. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2005jb004062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Regenauer-Lieb K, Weinberg RF, Rosenbaum G. The effect of energy feedbacks on continental strength. Nature 2006; 442:67-70. [PMID: 16823450 DOI: 10.1038/nature04868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2005] [Accepted: 05/05/2006] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The classical strength profile of continents is derived from a quasi-static view of their rheological response to stress--one that does not consider dynamic interactions between brittle and ductile layers. Such interactions result in complexities of failure in the brittle-ductile transition and the need to couple energy to understand strain localization. Here we investigate continental deformation by solving the fully coupled energy, momentum and continuum equations. We show that this approach produces unexpected feedback processes, leading to a significantly weaker dynamic strength evolution. In our model, stress localization focused on the brittle-ductile transition leads to the spontaneous development of mid-crustal detachment faults immediately above the strongest crustal layer. We also find that an additional decoupling layer forms between the lower crust and mantle. Our results explain the development of decoupling layers that are observed to accommodate hundreds of kilometres of horizontal motions during continental deformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Regenauer-Lieb
- Institut für Geowissenschaften, Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz 55099, Germany.
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Drukpa D, Velasco AA, Doser DI. Seismicity in the Kingdom of Bhutan (1937-2003): Evidence for crustal transcurrent deformation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2004jb003087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dowchu Drukpa
- Geological Sciences; University of Texas at El Paso; El Paso Texas USA
| | - Aaron A. Velasco
- Geological Sciences; University of Texas at El Paso; El Paso Texas USA
| | - Diane I. Doser
- Geological Sciences; University of Texas at El Paso; El Paso Texas USA
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Lamb S. Shear stresses on megathrusts: Implications for mountain building behind subduction zones. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2005jb003916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Freed AM, Bürgmann R, Calais E, Freymueller J, Hreinsdóttir S. Implications of deformation following the 2002 Denali, Alaska, earthquake for postseismic relaxation processes and lithospheric rheology. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1029/2005jb003894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Fay NP, Humphreys ED. Fault slip rates, effects of elastic heterogeneity on geodetic data, and the strength of the lower crust in the Salton Trough region, southern California. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1029/2004jb003548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Noah P. Fay
- Department of Geological Sciences; University of Oregon; Eugene Oregon USA
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Dimanov A. Rheology of synthetic anorthite-diopside aggregates: Implications for ductile shear zones. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1029/2004jb003431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Pérez-Gussinyé M, Lowry AR, Watts AB, Velicogna I. On the recovery of effective elastic thickness using spectral methods: Examples from synthetic data and from the Fennoscandian Shield. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2003jb002788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Anthony R. Lowry
- Department of Physics; University of Colorado; Boulder Colorado USA
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Fialko Y. Evidence of fluid-filled upper crust from observations of postseismic deformation due to the 1992Mw7.3 Landers earthquake. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2004jb002985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Fialko
- Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; University of California San Diego; La Jolla California USA
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Parsons T. Recalculated probability ofM≥ 7 earthquakes beneath the Sea of Marmara, Turkey. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1029/2003jb002667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 188] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tom Parsons
- U.S. Geological Survey; Menlo Park California USA
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Savage JC, Svarc JL, Prescott WH. Near-field postseismic deformation associated with the 1992 Landers and 1999 Hector Mine, California, earthquakes. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2003. [DOI: 10.1029/2002jb002330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J. C. Savage
- U.S. Geological Survey; Menlo Park California USA
| | - J. L. Svarc
- U.S. Geological Survey; Menlo Park California USA
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Lucazeau F. Dynamic interactions between the Gulf of Guinea passive margin and the Congo River drainage basin: 2. Isostasy and uplift. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2003. [DOI: 10.1029/2002jb001928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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