Geodynamics of the Yellowstone hotspot and mantle plume: Seismic and GPS imaging, kinematics, and mantle flow

Mantle plume-lithosphere interactions modulated by surface processes across extensional tectonic settings give rise to outstanding topographies and sedimentary basins. However, the nature of these interactions and the mechanisms through which they control the evolution of continental rifts are still elusive. Basal lithospheric shearing due to plume-related mantle flow leads to extensional lithospheric rupturing and associated magmatism, rock exhumation, and topographic uplift away from the plume axis by a distance inversely proportional to the lithospheric elastic thickness. When moisturized air encounters a topographic barrier, it rises, decompresses, and saturates, leading to enhanced erosion on the windward side of the uplifted terrain. Orographic precipitation and asymmetric erosional unloading facilitate strain localization and lithospheric rupturing on the wetter and more eroded side of an extensional system. This simple model is validated against petro-thermo-mechanical numerical experiments where a rheologically stratified lithosphere above a mantle plume is subject to fluvial erosion proportional to stream power during extension. These findings are consistent with Eocene mantle upwelling and flood basalts in Ethiopia synchronous with distal initiation of lithospheric stretching in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden as well as asymmetric topography and slip along extensional structures where orography sets an erosional gradient in the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER). I conclude that, although inherently related to the lithosphere rheology, the evolution of continental rifts is even more seriously conditioned by the mantle and surface dynamics than previously thoughts.

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Comments on the paper “Is the track of the Yellowstone hotspot driven by a deep mantle plume? — Review of volcanism, faulting, and uplift in light of new data” by Kenneth Pierce and Lisa Morgan [J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res. 188 (2009), 1–25]

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research ◽

10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2011.01.005 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 202 (3-4) ◽

pp. 262-263 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert Hershler ◽

Hsiu-Ping Liu

Keyword(s):

Mantle Plume ◽

Yellowstone Hotspot ◽

Deep Mantle

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Lower-mantle plume beneath the Yellowstone hotspot revealed by core waves

Nature Geoscience ◽

10.1038/s41561-018-0075-y ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 280-284 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Peter L. Nelson ◽

Stephen P. Grand

Keyword(s):

Mantle Plume ◽

Lower Mantle ◽

Yellowstone Hotspot

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Mantle flow, melting, and dehydration of the Iceland mantle plume

Earth and Planetary Science Letters ◽

10.1016/s0012-821x(98)00216-7 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 165 (1) ◽

pp. 81-96 ◽

Cited By ~ 148

Author(s):

Garrett Ito ◽

Yang Shen ◽

Greg Hirth ◽

Cecily J. Wolfe

Keyword(s):

Mantle Plume ◽

Mantle Flow

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Linking Lithospheric Structure, Mantle Flow and Intra-Plate Volcanism

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1023 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas Duvernay ◽

Rhodri Davies ◽

Christopher Mathews ◽

Angus Gibson ◽

Stephan Kramer

Keyword(s):

Numerical Investigation ◽

Mantle Plume ◽

Temporal Distribution ◽

Mantle Flow ◽

Mantle Plumes ◽

Heterogeneous Distribution ◽

Passive Margins ◽

Lithospheric Thickness ◽

Isolated Points ◽

Spatio Temporal

Several of Earth's intra-plate volcanic provinces cannot be explained solely through the classical mantle plume hypothesis. Instead, they are believed to be generated by shallower processes that involve the interplay between uppermost mantle flow and the base of Earth's heterogeneous lithosphere. The mechanisms most commonly invoked are edge-driven convection (EDC) and shear-driven upwelling (SDU), both of which act to focus upwelling flow, and the associated decompression melting, adjacent to steps in lithospheric thickness.In this study, we first undertake a systematic numerical investigation, in both 2-D and 3-D, to quantify the sensitivity of EDC, SDU and their associated melting to several key controlling parameters, in the absence of mantle plumes. Our simulations demonstrate that the spatial and temporal characteristics of EDC are sensitive to the geometry and material properties of the lithospheric step, in addition to the depth-dependence of upper mantle viscosity. These simulations also indicate that asthenospheric shear can either enhance or reduce upwelling velocities and predicted melt volumes, depending upon the magnitude and orientation of flow relative to the lithospheric step. When combined, such sensitivities explain why step changes in lithospheric thickness, which are common along cratonic edges and passive margins, only produce volcanism at isolated points in space and time. Our predicted trends of melt production suggest that, in the absence of potential interactions with mantle plumes, EDC and SDU are viable mechanisms only for Earth's shorter-lived, low-volume intra-plate volcanic provinces.To complement the results from our first numerical investigation, we subsequently explore how the upwelling of a mantle plume within our 3-D domain modifies the occurrence of melting, both in terms of spatio-temporal distribution and intensity. Preliminary results indicate that edges close to the location of plume impingement have their melting shut off as a result of the intense flow generated through sub-lithospheric spreading. Additionally, the heterogeneous distribution of continental lithosphere thickness constrains plume material spreading and results in melting patterns that do not directly reflect the path of the plume relative to the lithosphere, as described by classical mantle plume theory.

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Seismic evidence for a tilted mantle plume and north–south mantle flow beneath Iceland

Earth and Planetary Science Letters ◽

10.1016/s0012-821x(02)00494-6 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 197 (3-4) ◽

pp. 261-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

Yang Shen ◽

Sean C. Solomon ◽

Ingi Th. Bjarnason ◽

Guust Nolet ◽

W.Jason Morgan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mantle Plume ◽

Mantle Flow

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Mantle plume dynamics at the rear of a retreating slab

Geophysical Journal International ◽

10.1093/gji/ggaa222 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 222 (2) ◽

pp. 1146-1163 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Catherine A Mériaux ◽

Dave A May ◽

John Mansour ◽

Owen Kaluza

Keyword(s):

Mantle Plume ◽

Source Region ◽

Flux Ratio ◽

Buoyancy Flux ◽

Mantle Flow ◽

Preferential Direction ◽

Direction Parallel ◽

Slab Width ◽

Mantle Layer ◽

Two Stages

SUMMARY In this paper, we present 3-D numerical simulations in which a compositional mantle plume rises through a shallow mantle layer at the rear of a retreating slab. The slab–plume buoyancy flux ratio Bs/Bp is varied from 3 to 30 over nine slab–plume simulations. The plume causes an overall decrease of the slab retreat rate from 15 to 7 % in the corresponding range $B_s/B_p=[3,30]$. The retreat rate decrease occurs in two stages: the first decrease occurs remotely when plume and slab are hundreds of kilometres apart; the second decrease is linked to the slab–plume-head impact. Continuous tracking of key positions along the plume head and conduit together with velocity profiling further shows a very close interplay between the conduit and plume head dynamics. In particular, the combination of the slab– and plume(head)–induced flows at the rear of the slab increases the advection and tilt of the conduit and causes its flaring with height in the direction parallel to the trench. As a result, the conduit source slowly drifts away from the slab by hundreds of kilometres and flares by one and a half times its original radius over 30 Myr of plume head spreading. The conduit tilt and flaring result in an increasingly unbalanced azimuthal distribution of the incoming plume flux from the feeding conduit into the head. These changes in the feeding conditions coupled with the mantle flow at the level of the plume head lead to the asymmetric spreading of plume material beneath the plate in the preferential direction that is parallel to the trench. Upon its arrival against the slab, it can be a front of buoyant material set to subduct along the slab width that has widened up to two and a half times its initial dimension. In nature, it is expected to extend from hundreds to thousands of kilometres depending on the slab–plume buoyancy flux ratio. To our knowledge, this study is the first to highlight the inter-relationships between a plume head and its feeding conditions in the plume source region.

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Capture of the Canary mantle plume material by the Gibraltar arc mantle wedge during slab rollback

Geophysical Journal International ◽

10.1093/gji/ggv120 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 201 (3) ◽

pp. 1717-1721 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

C.A. Mériaux ◽

J.C. Duarte ◽

S.S. Duarte ◽

W.P. Schellart ◽

Z. Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mantle Plume ◽

Mantle Wedge ◽

Gravity Current ◽

Separation Distance ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Return Flow ◽

Mantle Flow ◽

Scaled Model ◽

Slab Rollback ◽

Subduction System

Abstract Recent evidence suggests that a portion of the Canary plume travelled northeastwards below the lithosphere of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa towards the Alboran domain and was captured ∼10 Ma ago by the Gibraltar subduction system in the Western Mediterranean. The capture would have been associated with the mantle return flow induced by the westward-retreating slab that would have dragged and trapped a portion of the plume material in the mantle wedge of the Gibraltar subduction zone. Such material eventually contaminated the subduction related volcanism in the Alboran region. In this work, we use scaled analogue models of slab–plume interaction to investigate the plausibility of the plume capture. An upper-mantle-scaled model combines a narrow (400 km) edge-fixed subduction plate with a laterally offset compositional plume. The subduction dominated by slab rollback and toroidal mantle flow is seen to increasingly impact on the plume dynamics as the area of influence of the toroidal flow cells at the surface is up to 500 × 1350 km2. While the plume head initially spreads axisymmetrically, it starts being distorted parallel to the plate in the direction of the trench as the slab trench approaches the plume edge at a separation distance of about 500 km, before getting dragged towards mantle wedge. When applied to the Canary plume–Gibraltar subduction system, our model supports the observationally based conceptual model that mantle plume material may have been dragged towards the mantle wedge by slab rollback-induced toroidal mantle flow. Using a scaling argument for the spreading of a gravity current within a channel, we also show that more than 1500 km of plume propagation in the sublithospheric Atlas corridor is dynamically plausible.

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Mantle Convection and Possible Mantle Plumes beneath Antarctica - Insights from Geodynamic Models and Implications for Topography

Geological Society London Memoirs ◽

10.1144/m56-2020-2 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. M56-2020-2

Author(s):

Eva Bredow ◽

Bernhard Steinberger

Keyword(s):

Mantle Plume ◽

Seismic Tomography ◽

Mantle Convection ◽

Large Scale ◽

Shear Velocity ◽

Mantle Flow ◽

Mantle Plumes ◽

Dynamic Topography ◽

West Antarctica ◽

Geodynamic Models

AbstractThis chapter describes the large-scale mantle flow structures beneath Antarctica as derived from global seismic tomography models of the present-day state. In combination with plate reconstructions, the time-dependent pattern of paleosubduction can be simulated and is also shown from the rarely seen Antarctic perspective. Furthermore, a dynamic topography model demonstrates which kind and scales of surface manifestations can be expected as a direct and observable result of mantle convection. The last section of the chapter features an overview of the classical concept of deep-mantle plumes from a geodynamic point of view and how recent insights, mostly from seismic tomography, have changed the understanding of plume structures and dynamics over the past decades. The long-standing and controversial hypothesis of a mantle plume beneath West Antarctica is summarised and addressed with geodynamic models, which estimate the excess heat flow of a potential plume at the bedrock surface. However, the predicted heatflow is small while differences in surface heat flux estimates are large, therefore the results are not conclusive with regard to the existence of a West Antarctic mantle plume. Finally, it is shown that global mantle flow would cause tilting of whole-mantle plume conduits beneath West Antarctica such that their base is predicted to be displaced about northward relative to the surface position, closer to the southern margin of the Pacific Large Low Shear Velocity Province.

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