Lithosphere thermo-chemical heterogeneity in the European-North Atlantic region, Greenland and Anatolia

Author(s):  
Irina Artemieva ◽  
Alexey Shulgin

<p>We present a new model, EUNA-rho (Shulgin and Artemieva, 2019, JGR), for the density structure of the European and the North Atlantics upper mantle based on 3D tesseroid gravity modeling and a new regional model for the lithosphere thickness in Europe, Greenland, the adjacent off-shore regions (Artemieva, 2019ab, ESR), and Anatolia (Artemieva and Shulgin, 2019, Tectonics). On continent, there is no clear difference in lithosphere mantle (LM) density between the cratonic and Phanerozoic Europe, yet a ca. 300 km wide zone of a high-density LM along the Trans-European Suture Zone may image a paleosubduction. Kimberlite provinces of the Baltica and Greenland cratons have a low density mantle, while the correlation between LM density and the depth of sedimentary basins indicates an important role of eclogitization in basin subsidence, with the presence of 10-20% of eclogite in LM beneath the super-deep platform basins and the East Barents shelf. The Barents Sea has a sharp transition in lithosphere thickness from 120-150 km in the west to 175-230 km in the eastern Barents. Highly heterogeneous lithosphere structure of Anatolia is explained by the interplay of subduction systems of different ages. The block with 150 km thick lithosphere in the North Atlantics east of the Aegir paleo-spreading may represent a continental terrane. In the North Atlantics, south of the Charlie Gibbs fracture zone (CGFZ) bathymetry, heat flow and mantle density follows half-space cooling model with significant deviations at volcanic provinces. Strong low-density LM anomalies (<-3%) beneath the Azores and north of the CGFZ correlate with geochemical anomalies and indicate the presence of continental fragments and heterogeneous melting sources. Thermal anomalies in the upper mantle averaged down to the transition zone are 100-150<sup>o </sup>C at the Azores and can be detected seismically, while a <50<sup>o </sup>C anomaly around Iceland is at the limit of seismic resolution.</p><p>References:</p><ul><li>Artemieva I.M., 2019. The lithosphere structure of the European continent from thermal isostasy. Earth-Science Reviews, 188, 454-468.     </li> <li>Artemieva I.M., 2019. Lithosphere thermal thickness and geothermal heat flux in Greenland from a new thermal isostasy method. Earth-Science Reviews, 188, 469-481.</li> <li>Shulgin A. and Artemieva I.M., 2019. Thermochemical heterogeneity and density of continental and oceanic upper mantle in the European‐North Atlantic region. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 124, 1-33, doi: 10.1029/2018JB017025 (open access)       </li> <li>Artemieva I.M. and Shulgin A., 2019. Geodynamics of Anatolia: Lithosphere thermal structure and thickness. Tectonics, 38, 1-23, doi: 10.1029/2019TC005594</li> </ul>

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina M. Artemieva ◽  
◽  
Olga Barantseva ◽  
Hans Thybo ◽  
Alexey Shulgin ◽  
...  

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Amorosi ◽  
Paul C. Buckland ◽  
Kevin J. Edwards ◽  
Ingrid Mainland ◽  
Tom H. McGovern ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Mackay ◽  
Gill Plunkett ◽  
Britta Jensen ◽  
Thomas Aubry ◽  
Christophe Corona ◽  
...  

Abstract. The 852/3 CE eruption of Mount Churchill, Alaska, was one of the largest first millennium volcanic events, with a magnitude of 6.7 (VEI 6) and a tephra volume of 39.4–61.9 km3 (95 % confidence). The spatial extent of the ash fallout from this event is considerable and the cryptotephra (White River Ash east; WRAe) extends as far as Finland and Poland. Proximal ecosystem and societal disturbances have been linked with this eruption; however, wider eruption impacts on climate and society are unknown. Greenland ice-core records show that the eruption occurred in winter 852/3 ± 1 CE and that the eruption is associated with a relatively moderate sulfate aerosol loading, but large abundances of volcanic ash and chlorine. Here we assess the potential broader impact of this eruption using palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, historical records and climate model simulations. We also use the fortuitous timing of the 852/3 CE Churchill eruption and its extensively widespread tephra deposition of the White River Ash (east) (WRAe) to examine the climatic expression of the warm Medieval Climate Anomaly period (MCA; ca. 950–1250 CE) from precisely linked peatlands in the North Atlantic region. The reconstructed climate forcing potential of 852/3 CE Churchill eruption is moderate compared with the eruption magnitude, but tree-ring-inferred temperatures report a significant atmospheric cooling of 0.8 °C in summer 853 CE. Modelled climate scenarios also show a cooling in 853 CE, although the average magnitude of cooling is smaller (0.3 °C). The simulated spatial patterns of cooling are generally similar to those generated using the tree-ring-inferred temperature reconstructions. Tree-ring inferred cooling begins prior to the date of the eruption suggesting that natural internal climate variability may have increased the climate system’s susceptibility to further cooling. The magnitude of the reconstructed cooling could also suggest that the climate forcing potential of this eruption may be underestimated, thereby highlighting the need for greater insight into, and consideration of, the role of halogens and volcanic ash when estimating eruption climate forcing potential. Precise comparisons of palaeoenvironmental records from peatlands across North America and Europe, facilitated by the presence of the WRAe isochron, reveal no consistent MCA signal. These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that characterizes the MCA hydroclimate as time-transgressive and heterogeneous, rather than a well-defined climatic period. The presence of the WRAe isochron also demonstrates that no long-term (multidecadal) climatic or societal impacts from the 852/3 CE Churchill eruption were identified beyond areas proximal to the eruption. Historical evidence in Europe for subsistence crises demonstrate a degree of temporal correspondence on interannual timescales, but similar events were reported outside of the eruption period and were common in the 9th century. The 852/3 CE Churchill eruption exemplifies the difficulties of identifying and confirming volcanic impacts for a single eruption, even when it is precisely dated.


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