Interactive comment on “The deep Earth origin of the Iceland plume and its effects on regional surface uplift and subsidence” by N. Barnett-Moore et al.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Koptev
Keyword(s):  
Surface Uplift ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
Iceland Plume

scholarly journals The deep Earth origin of the Iceland plume and its effects on regional surface uplift and subsidence

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Barnett-Moore ◽  
R. Hassan ◽  
N. Flament ◽  
R. D. Müller
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Flow Model ◽  
Mantle Flow ◽  
Seismic Structure ◽  
Dynamic Topography ◽  
The North ◽  
Deep Mantle ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Iceland Plume

Abstract. The present-day seismic structure of the mantle under the North Atlantic indicates that the Iceland hotspot represents the surface expression of a deep mantle plume, which is thought to have erupted in the North Atlantic during the Paleocene. The spatial and temporal evolution of the plume since its eruption is still highly debated, and little is known about its deep mantle history. Here, a paleogeographically constrained global mantle flow model is used to investigate the evolution of deep Earth flow and surface dynamic topography in the North Atlantic since the Jurassic. The model shows that over the last ~ 100 Myr a remarkably stable pattern of convergent flow has prevailed in the lowermost mantle near the tip of the African Large Low-Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP), making it an ideal plume nucleation site. The present-day location of the model plume is ~ 10° southeast from the inferred present-day location of the Iceland plume. We apply a constant surface rotation to the model through time, derived from correcting for this offset at present-day. A comparison between the rotated model dynamic topography evolution and available offshore geological and geophysical observations across the region confirms that a widespread episode of Paleocene transient uplift followed by early Eocene anomalous subsidence can be explained by the mantle-driven effects of a plume head ~ 2000 km in diameter, arriving beneath central western Greenland during the Paleocene. The rotated model plume eruption location beneath Western Greenland is compatible with previous models. The mantle flow model underestimates the magnitude of observed anomalous subsidence during the Paleocene in some parts of the North Atlantic by as much as several hundred meters, which we attribute to upper mantle convection processes, not captured by the model.

Water Gas May Not Shift in Deep Earth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nore Stolte ◽  
Junting Yu ◽  
Zixin Chen ◽  
Dimitri A. Sverjensky ◽  
Ding Pan
Keyword(s):  
Formic Acid ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Free Energy Calculations ◽  
Water Gas Shift ◽  
Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Water Gas Shift Reaction ◽  
Carbon Carrier ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
Shift Reaction ◽  
Water Gas

The water-gas shift reaction is a key reaction in Fischer-Tropsch-type synthesis, which is widely believed to generate hydrocarbons in the deep carbon cycle, but is little known at extreme pressure-temperature conditions found in Earth’s upper mantle. Here, we performed extensive ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations to study the water-gas shift reaction. We found the direct formation of formic acid out of CO and supercritical water at 10∼13 GPa and 1400 K without any catalyst. Contrary to the common assumption that formic acid or formate is an intermediate product, we found that HCOOH is thermodynamically more stable than the products of the water-gas shift reaction above 3 GPa and at 1000∼1400 K. Our study suggests that the water-gas shift reaction may not happen in Earth’s upper mantle, and formic acid or formate may be an important carbon carrier, participating in many geochemical processes in deep Earth.<br>

Evolution of Orogenic Plateaus at Subduction Zones - Sinking and raising the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Fernández-Blanco
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Subduction Zones ◽  
Inversion Tectonics ◽  
High Discharge ◽  
Anatolian Plateau ◽  
Surface Uplift ◽  
Southern Margin ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Forearc Basins ◽  
Orogenic Plateaus

Orogenic plateaus have raised abundant attention amongst geoscientists during the last decades, offering unique opportunities to better understand the relationships between tectonics and climate, and their expression on the Earth’s surface.Orogenic plateau margins are key areas for understanding the mechanisms behind plateau (de)formation. Plateau margins are transitional areas between domains with contrasting relief and characteristics; the roughly flat elevated plateau interior, often with internally drained endorheic basins, and the external steep areas, deeply incised by high-discharge rivers. This thesis uses a wide range of structural and tectonic approaches to investigate the evolution of the southern margin of the Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP), studying an area between the plateau interior and the Cyprus arc. Several findings are presented here that constrain the evolution, timing and possible causes behind the development of this area, and thus that of the CAP. After peneplanation of the regional orogeny, abroad regional subsidence took place in Miocene times in the absence of major extensional faults, which led to the formation of a large basin in the northeast Mediterranean. Late Tortonian and younger contractional structures developed in the interior of the plateau, in its margin and offshore, and forced the inversion tectonics that fragmented the early Miocene basin into the different present-day domains. The tectonic evolution of the southern margin of the CAP can be explained based on the initiation of subduction in south Cyprus and subsequent thermo-mechanical behavior of this subduction zone and the evolving rheology of the Anatolian plate. The Cyprus slab retreat and posterior pull drove subsidence first by relatively minor stretching of the crust and then by its flexure. The growth by accretion and thickening of the upper plate, and that of the associated forearc basins system, caused by accreting sediments, led to rheological changes at the base of the crust that allowed thermal weakening, viscous deformation, driving subsequent surface uplift and raising the modern Taurus Mountains. This mechanism could be responsible for the uplifted plateau-like areas seen in other accretionary margins. ISBN: 978-90-9028673-0

scholarly journals Water–Gas Shift Reaction Produces Formate at Extreme Pressures and Temperatures in Deep Earth Fluids

2021 ◽  
pp. 4292-4298
Author(s):  
Nore Stolte ◽  
Junting Yu ◽  
Zixin Chen ◽  
Dimitri A. Sverjensky ◽  
Ding Pan
Keyword(s):  
Water Gas Shift ◽  
Water Gas Shift Reaction ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
Shift Reaction ◽  
Water Gas

scholarly journals Diamond formation in an electric field under deep Earth conditions

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. eabb4644
Author(s):  
Yuri N. Palyanov ◽  
Yuri M. Borzdov ◽  
Alexander G. Sokol ◽  
Yuliya V. Bataleva ◽  
Igor N. Kupriyanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fields ◽  
Lithospheric Mantle ◽  
Isotope Fractionation ◽  
Diamond Formation ◽  
Mantle Minerals ◽  
Electrochemical Processes ◽  
Mantle Mineral ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
Diamond Crystallization ◽  
Global Carbon

Most natural diamonds are formed in Earth’s lithospheric mantle; however, the exact mechanisms behind their genesis remain debated. Given the occurrence of electrochemical processes in Earth’s mantle and the high electrical conductivity of mantle melts and fluids, we have developed a model whereby localized electric fields play a central role in diamond formation. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a diamond crystallization mechanism that operates under lithospheric mantle pressure-temperature conditions (6.3 and 7.5 gigapascals; 1300° to 1600°C) through the action of an electric potential applied across carbonate or carbonate-silicate melts. In this process, the carbonate-rich melt acts as both the carbon source and the crystallization medium for diamond, which forms in assemblage with mantle minerals near the cathode. Our results clearly demonstrate that electric fields should be considered a key additional factor influencing diamond crystallization, mantle mineral–forming processes, carbon isotope fractionation, and the global carbon cycle.

scholarly journals Post-collisional mantle delamination in the Dinarides implied from staircases of Oligo-Miocene uplifted marine terraces

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Balling ◽  
Christoph Grützner ◽  
Bruno Tomljenović ◽  
Wim Spakman ◽  
Kamil Ustaszewski
Keyword(s):  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Receiver Functions ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Slab Geometry ◽  
Surface Uplift ◽  
River Incision ◽  
Marine Terraces ◽  
Convergence System ◽  
Internal Dinarides

AbstractThe Dinarides fold-thrust belt on the Balkan Peninsula resulted from convergence between the Adriatic and Eurasian plates since Mid-Jurassic times. Under the Dinarides, S-wave receiver functions, P-wave tomographic models, and shear-wave splitting data show anomalously thin lithosphere overlying a short down-flexed slab geometry. This geometry suggests a delamination of Adriatic lithosphere. Here, we link the evolution of this continental convergence system to hitherto unreported sets of extensively uplifted Oligocene–Miocene (28–17 Ma) marine terraces preserved at elevations of up to 600 m along the Dinaric coastal range. River incision on either side of the Mediterranean-Black Sea drainage divide is comparable to the amounts of terrace uplift. The preservation of the uplifted terraces implies that the most External Dinarides did not experience substantial deformation other than surface uplift in the Neogene. These observations and the contemporaneous emplacement of igneous rocks (33–22 Ma) in the internal Dinarides suggest that the Oligo-Miocene orogen-wide uplift was driven by post-break-off delamination of the Adriatic lithospheric mantle, this was followed by isostatic readjustment of the remaining crust. Our study details how lithospheric delamination exerts an important control on crustal deformation and that its crustal signature and geomorphic imprint can be preserved for millions of years.

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