Waveform tomography reveals channeled flow at the base of the oceanic asthenosphere

Science. 2013 Oct 11;342(6155):227-30. doi: 10.1126/science.1241514. Epub 2013 Sep 5.

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between different scales of convection that drive plate motions and hotspot volcanism still eludes geophysicists. Using full-waveform seismic tomography, we imaged a pattern of horizontally elongated bands of low shear velocity, most prominent between 200 and 350 kilometers depth, which extends below the well-developed low-velocity zone. These quasi-periodic fingerlike structures of wavelength ~2000 kilometers align parallel to the direction of absolute plate motion for thousands of kilometers. Below 400 kilometers depth, velocity structure is organized into fewer, undulating but vertically coherent, low-velocity plumelike features, which appear rooted in the lower mantle. This suggests the presence of a dynamic interplay between plate-driven flow in the low-velocity zone and active influx of low-rigidity material from deep mantle sources deflected horizontally beneath the moving top boundary layer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.