scholarly journals Crustal composition and mantle heat flow: Implications from surface heat flow and radiogenic heat production in the Variscan Erzgebirge (Germany)

2000 ◽  
Vol 105 (B12) ◽  
pp. 27917-27938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Förster ◽  
Hans-Jürgen Förster
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Radiogenic Heat ◽  
Crustal Composition ◽  
Radiogenic Heat Production ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Mantle Heat Flow

Thermal regime of the lithosphere in the Canadian ShieldThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Lithoprobe — parameters, processes, and the evolution of a continent.

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Perry ◽  
Carmen Rosieanu ◽  
Jean-Claude Mareschal ◽  
Claude Jaupart
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Generation ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Canadian Shield ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Seismic Velocities ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Mantle Heat Flow

Geothermal studies were conducted within the framework of Lithoprobe to systematically document variations of heat flow and surface heat production in the major geological provinces of the Canadian Shield. One of the main conclusions is that in the Shield the variations in surface heat flow are dominated by the crustal heat generation. Horizontal variations in mantle heat flow are too small to be resolved by heat flow measurements. Different methods constrain the mantle heat flow to be in the range of 12–18 mW·m–2. Most of the heat flow anomalies (high and low) are due to variations in crustal composition and structure. The vertical distribution of radioelements is characterized by a differentiation index (DI) that measures the ratio of the surface to the average crustal heat generation in a province. Determination of mantle temperatures requires the knowledge of both the surface heat flow and DI. Mantle temperatures increase with an increase in surface heat flow but decrease with an increase in DI. Stabilization of the crust is achieved by crustal differentiation that results in decreasing temperatures in the lower crust. Present mantle temperatures inferred from xenolith studies and variations in mantle seismic P-wave velocity (Pn) from seismic refraction surveys are consistent with geotherms calculated from heat flow. These results emphasize that deep lithospheric temperatures do not always increase with an increase in the surface heat flow. The dense data coverage that has been achieved in the Canadian Shield allows some discrimination between temperature and composition effects on seismic velocities in the lithospheric mantle.

scholarly journals Adjoint inversion of the thermal structure of Southeastern Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 219 (3) ◽  
pp. 1648-1659 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Mather ◽  
L Moresi ◽  
P Rayner
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Properties ◽  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Flow Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Curie Depth

SUMMARY The variation of temperature in the crust is difficult to quantify due to the sparsity of surface heat flow observations and lack of measurements on the thermal properties of rocks at depth. We examine the degree to which the thermal structure of the crust can be constrained from the Curie depth and surface heat flow data in Southeastern Australia. We cast the inverse problem of heat conduction within a Bayesian framework and derive its adjoint so that we can efficiently find the optimal model that best reproduces the data and prior information on the thermal properties of the crust. Efficiency gains obtained from the adjoint method facilitate a detailed exploration of thermal structure in SE Australia, where we predict high temperatures within Precambrian rocks of 650 °C due to relatively high rates of heat production (0.9–1.4 μW m−3). In contrast, temperatures within dominantly Phanerozoic crust reach only 520 °C at the Moho due to the low rates of heat production in Cambrian mafic volcanics. A combination of the Curie depth and heat flow data is required to constrain the uncertainty of lower crustal temperatures to ±73 °C. We also show that parts of the crust are unconstrained if either data set is omitted from the inversion.

scholarly journals Crustal heat production and estimate of terrestrial heat flow in central East Antarctica, with implications for thermal input to the East Antarctic ice sheet

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 491-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Goodge
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Terrestrial Heat Flow ◽  
Production Values ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Abstract. Terrestrial heat flow is a critical first-order factor governing the thermal condition and, therefore, mechanical stability of Antarctic ice sheets, yet heat flow across Antarctica is poorly known. Previous estimates of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica come from inversion of seismic and magnetic geophysical data, by modeling temperature profiles in ice boreholes, and by calculation from heat production values reported for exposed bedrock. Although accurate estimates of surface heat flow are important as an input parameter for ice-sheet growth and stability models, there are no direct measurements of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica coupled to either subglacial sediment or bedrock. As has been done with bedrock exposed along coastal margins and in rare inland outcrops, valuable estimates of heat flow in central East Antarctica can be extrapolated from heat production determined by the geochemical composition of glacial rock clasts eroded from the continental interior. In this study, U, Th, and K concentrations in a suite of Proterozoic (1.2–2.0 Ga) granitoids sourced within the Byrd and Nimrod glacial drainages of central East Antarctica indicate average upper crustal heat production (Ho) of about 2.6  ±  1.9 µW m−3. Assuming typical mantle and lower crustal heat flux for stable continental shields, and a length scale for the distribution of heat production in the upper crust, the heat production values determined for individual samples yield estimates of surface heat flow (qo) ranging from 33 to 84 mW m−2 and an average of 48.0  ±  13.6 mW m−2. Estimates of heat production obtained for this suite of glacially sourced granitoids therefore indicate that the interior of the East Antarctic ice sheet is underlain in part by Proterozoic continental lithosphere with an average surface heat flow, providing constraints on both geodynamic history and ice-sheet stability. The ages and geothermal characteristics of the granites indicate that crust in central East Antarctica resembles that in the Proterozoic Arunta and Tennant Creek inliers of Australia but is dissimilar to other areas like the Central Australian Heat Flow Province that are characterized by anomalously high heat flow. Age variation within the sample suite indicates that central East Antarctic lithosphere is heterogeneous, yet the average heat production and heat flow of four age subgroups cluster around the group mean, indicating minor variation in the thermal contribution to the overlying ice sheet from upper crustal heat production. Despite these minor differences, ice-sheet models may favor a geologically realistic input of crustal heat flow represented by the distribution of ages and geothermal characteristics found in these glacial clasts.

scholarly journals Crustal heat production and estimate of terrestrial heat flow in central East Antarctica, with implications for thermal input to the East Antarctic ice sheet

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Goodge
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
East Antarctica ◽  
Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Terrestrial Heat Flow ◽  
Production Values ◽  
East Antarctic Ice Sheet

Abstract. Terrestrial heat flow is a critical first-order factor governing the thermal condition and, therefore, mechanical stability of Antarctic ice sheets, yet heat flow across Antarctica is poorly known. Previous estimates of terrestrial heat flow come from inversion of seismic and magnetic geophysical data, by modeling temperature profiles in ice boreholes, and by calculation from heat production values reported for exposed bedrock. Although accurate estimates of surface heat flow are important as an input parameter for ice-sheet growth and stability models, there are no direct measurements of terrestrial heat flow in East Antarctica coupled to either subglacial sediment or bedrock. Bedrock outcrop is limited to coastal margins and rare inland exposures, yet valuable estimates of heat flow in central East Antarctica can be extrapolated from heat production determined by the geochemical composition of glacial rock clasts eroded from the continental interior. In this study, U, Th and K concentrations in a suite of Proterozoic (1.2–2.0 Ga) granitoids sourced within the Byrd and Nimrod glacial drainages of central East Antarctica indicate average upper crustal heat production (Ho) of about 2.6 ± 1.9 μW m-3. Assuming typical mantle and lower crustal heat flux for stable continental shields, and a length scale for the distribution of heat production in the upper crust, the heat production values determined for individual samples yield estimates of surface heat flow (qo) ranging from 33–84 mW m-2 and an average of 48.0 ± 13.6 mW m-2. Estimates of heat production obtained for this suite of glacially-sourced granitoids therefore indicate that the interior of the East Antarctic ice sheet is underlain in part by Proterozoic continental lithosphere with average surface heat flow, providing constraints on both geodynamic history and ice-sheet stability. The ages and geothermal characteristics of the granites indicate that crust in central East Antarctica resembles that in the Proterozoic Arunta and Tenant Creek inliers of Australia, but is dissimilar to other areas characterized by anomalously high heat flow in the Central Australian Heat Flow Province. Age variation within the sample suite indicates that central East Antarctic lithosphere is heterogeneous, yet the average heat production and heat flow of four age subgroups cluster around the group mean, indicating minor variation in thermal contribution to the overlying ice sheet from upper crustal heat production. Despite their minor differences, ice-sheet models may favor a geologically realistic model of crustal heat flow represented by such a distribution of ages and geothermal characteristics.

Temperature structure of the Andean subduction zone as derived from the 3D geometry of crustal and upper mantle discontinuities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Tassara ◽  
Joaquín Julve ◽  
Iñigo Echeverría ◽  
Ingo Stotz
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Thermal Parameters ◽  
Continental Lithosphere ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Surface Heat Flow ◽  
Input Model

<p>The distribution of temperature inside active continental margins plays a fundamental role on regulating first order geodynamic processes as the isostatic balance, rheologic behavior of crust and mantle, magmagenesis, volcanism and seismogenesis. In spite of these major implications, well-constrained 3D thermal models are known for few regions of the world (Europe, Western USA, China) where large geophysical databases have been integrated into compositional and structural models of crust and lithospheric mantle from which a thermal model is derived. Here we present a three-dimensional representation of the distribution of temperature underneath the Andean active margin of South America (10°-45°S) that is based on a geophysically-constrained model for the geometry of the subducted slab, continental lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), Moho discontinuity and an intracrustal discontinuity (ICD). This input model was constructed by forward modelling the satellite gravity anomaly under the constraint of most of the seismic information published for this region. We use analytical expressions of 1D conductive continental geotherms with adequate boundary conditions that consider the compositional stratification of crust and mantle included in the input model, and the advective thermal effect of slab subduction. The 1D geotherms are assembled into a 3D volume defining the thermal structure of the study region. We test the influence of several thermal parameters and structural configurations of the Andean lithosphere by comparing the resulting surface heat flow distribution of these different models against a database containing heat flow measurements that we compile from the literature. Our results show that the thermal structure and derived surface heat flow is dominantly controlled by the geometry of the thermal boundary layer at the base of the lithosphere, i.e. the slab upper surface below the forearc and LAB inland. Variations on the modeled configuration of the continental lithosphere (i.e. the way on which the geometry of the continental Moho and ICD are considered into the definition of a space-variable thermal conductivity or the length scale for radiogenic heat production) have an effect on surface heat flow that is lower than the average uncertainty of the measurements and therefore can be considered as second-order. The simplicity of our analytical approach allows us to compute hundreds of different models in order to test the sensitivity of results to changes on thermal parameters (conductivity, heat production, mantle potential temperature, etc), which provides a tool for discussing their possible range of values in the context of a subduction margin. We will also show how variations of these models impact on the Moho temperature and therefore in the expected mechanical behavior of crust and mantle in this geotectonic context</p>

New heat flow density and radiogenic heat production data in the Canadian Shield and the Quebec Appalachians

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 845-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Mareschal ◽  
C. Pinet ◽  
C. Gariépy ◽  
C. Jaupart ◽  
G. Bienfait ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Flow Density ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Heat Flow Density ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Radiogenic Heat ◽  
Radiogenic Heat Production ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Reduced Heat Flow

New heat flow density (HFD) measurements were performed at 10 sites in Quebec. For five of the sites located in the Superior Province, the heat flow density varies between 24 and 35 mW/m2 (26 and 37 mW/m2 after adjustment for Pleistocene climatic variations). In the Grenville Province, the values obtained range between 25 and 28 mW/m2 (29 and 31 mW/m2 after adjustment). For two nearby sites in the Gaspé region (Appalachians), the heat flow density is 47 mW/m2 (48 mW/m2 after adjustment). Radiogenic heat production was also measured. At the sites located in the meta-volcano-sedimentary sequences of the Superior Province, the heat production is low (0.1–0.6 μW/m3) and it does not always correlate with the surface heat flow. In the Grenville Province, the HFD is close to (slightly higher than) the reduced heat flow of the Superior. The higher HFD in the Appalachians is partly explained by the higher crustal heat production, and partly by higher deep heat flow.

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