Cooling of the continental plate during flat-slab subduction

Most flat-slab subduction regions are marked by an absence of arc volcanism, which is consistent with closure of the hot mantle wedge as the subducting plate flattens below the continent. Farther inland, low surface heat flow is observed, which is generally attributed to cooling of the continent by the underlying flat slab. However, modern flat slabs have only been in place for <20 Ma, and it is unclear whether there has been sufficient time for cooling to occur. We use numerical models to assess temporal variations in continental thermal structure during flat-slab subduction. Our models show that the flat slab leads to continental cooling on timescales of tens of millions of years. Cool slab temperatures must diffuse through the continental lithosphere, resulting in a delay between slab emplacement and surface cooling. Therefore, the timescales primarily depend on the flat-slab depth with shallower slabs resulting in shorter timescales. The magnitude of cooling increases for a shallow or long-lived flat slab, old subducting plate, and fast convergence rates. For regions with flat slabs at 45–70 km depth (e.g., Mexico and Peru), shallow continental cooling initiates 5–10 Ma after slab emplacement, and low surface heat flow in these regions is largely explained by the presence of the flat slab. However, for the Pampean region in Chile, with an ~100-km-deep slab, our models predict that conductive cooling has not yet affected the surface heat flow. The low heat flow observed requires additional processes such as advective cooling from the infiltration of fluids released through dehydration of the flat slab.

Subsurface temperature from seismic reflection data: application to the post break up sequence offshore Namibia

Accurate estimations of present-day subsurface temperatures are of critical importance to the energy industry, in particular with regards to geothermal energy and petroleum exploration. This paper uses seismic reflection observations of bottom-simulating reflections and subsurface velocities coupled with an empirical velocity to thermal conductivity transform to estimate subsurface temperature in a process dubbed reflection seismic thermometry. The case study is a frontier passive margin extending from the shelf edge to deep water in the central Lüderitz Basin, offshore Namibia. The bottom simulating reflector is used to derive surface heat flow. The thermal conductivity model was applied to seismic processing velocities to determine the subsurface thermal conductivity. Knowledge of surface heat flow and thermal conductivity structure allowed us to estimate subsurface temperatures across the study area. The results suggest the Lüderitz Basin has a working hydrocarbon system with the inferred Aptian Kudu source interval within the gas generation window.

New Insights into Crust and upper Mantle Structure in Guangdong Province, China and Its Geothermal Implications

Southeast Asia contains significant natural geothermal resources. However, the mechanism for generating geothermal anomalies by the crust–mantle structure still needs to define. In this study, we focused on Guangdong Province, China. We conducted three magnetotelluric profiles to interpret the crust and upper mantle structure beneath the Guangdong Province and its geothermal implications. Based on data analysis results, a two-dimension inversion was conducted on the dataset. The inversion model revealed that there is a presence of upwelling channels, and some channels are connected with shallow crustal fault zone; the thickness of crust and lithosphere in Guangdong Province is relatively thin. Such a special crust and upper mantle structure form high surface heat flow. Merged with previous research, our results imply that massive Late Mesozoic granites, which contain high radioactive heat generating elements, are distributed on the surface and underground of Guangdong Province. Based on the correlation between high radioactive Late Mesozoic granites, crust-upper mantle structure, surface heat flow, and locations of natural hot springs, we established a geothermal conceptual model to visualize the origin of a current geophysical and geothermal anomaly in Guangdong Province.

Extreme variability of Tibetan thermal lithosphere

<p>We present a thermal model for the lithosphere in Tibet and adjacent regions based on the new thermal isostasy method and our compilation of the Moho depth based on published seismic models. The predicted surface heat flow is in agreement with the few available, reliable borehole measurements. Cratonic-type cold and thick lithosphere (200-240 km) with a surface heat flow of 40-50 mW/m<sup>2</sup> typifies the Tarim craton, the north-western Yangtze craton, and most of the Lhasa Block that is possibly refrigerated by underthrusting Indian lithosphere. The thick lithosphere of the Lhasa block extends further north in its western and eastern segments than in its central section. We identify a North Tibet anomaly with a thin (<80 km) lithosphere and high surface heat flow (>80-100 mW/m<sup>2</sup>), possibly associated with the removal of lithospheric mantle and asthenospheric upwelling. Other parts of Tibet have an intermediate lithosphere thickness of 120-160 km and a surface heat flow of 45-60 mW/m<sup>2</sup>, with a patchy style in eastern Tibet. In the Qaidam deep sedimentary basin the lithosphere is about 100-120 km thick. The heterogeneous thermal lithosphere beneath Tibet suggests an interplay of several mechanisms as the driver of the observed uplift.</p>

Bayesian inversion of surface heat flow in subduction zones: a framework to refine geodynamic models based on observational constraints

SUMMARY Surface heat flow has been widely used to constrain the thermal structure of subduction zones. However, the forward modelling approaches in previous geodynamic studies have only provided limited information on the model parameters controlling the thermal structure, which makes model validation difficult. Here we apply a probabilistic inversion technique based on Bayes’ theorem to surface heat flow data from Tohoku in Japan and Cascadia to simultaneously infer five model parameters that appear to have the greatest influence on the thermal structure of subduction zones. The surface heat flow is predicted via 2-D steady-state thermomechanical modelling. The Metropolis algorithm is used to obtain the posterior probability distributions. A comparison of our results with previous estimates indicates that our activation energy for the shear viscosity of dislocation creep is lower in both regions, and our radiogenic heat production rate in the upper continental crust is lower in Cascadia. These findings suggest that our geodynamic models cannot explain the surface heat flow observations with the acceptable ranges of model parameter values. We therefore need to refine the models by including, for example, the effects of recent backarc extension, vigorous thermal convection beneath the overriding plate and fluid circulation in the uppermost part of the oceanic crust. The approach presented here also allows us to determine trade-offs between the parameters. This study provides a framework to validate and refine geodynamic models based on various types of observations.

Towards a global lithospheric thermal model

<p>Temperature and heat flow are key parameters for understanding the potential for source rock maturation in sedimentary basins. Knowledge of the thermal structure of the lithosphere in both a regional and local context can provide important constraints for modelling basin evolution through time.</p><p>In recent years, global coverage of heat flow data constraints have enhanced scientific understanding of the thermal state of the lithosphere. However, sample bias and variability in sampling methods continues to be a major obstacle to heat flow-derived isotherm prediction, particularly in frontier areas where data are often sparse or poorly constrained. Consideration and integration of alternative approaches to predict temperature at depth may allow interpolation of surface heat flow in such data poor areas.   </p><p>We have attempted to integrate three independent approaches to modelling temperature with depth. The first approach is based on heat flow observations, in which a 1D steady-state model of the lithosphere is constructed from quality-assessed surface heat flow data, crustal thickness estimates and associated lithospheric thermal properties. The second approach is based on terrestrial (airborne, ground and shipborne) magnetic data, in which the maximum depth of magnetisation within the lithosphere is estimated using a de-fractal method and used as a proxy for Curie temperature depth. The third approach is based on satellite magnetic data and estimates the thickness of the magnetic layer within the lithosphere based on the varying amplitudes of satellite magnetic data, accounting for global variations in crustal magnetisation. Curie temperature depth results from each of these approaches have been integrated into a single global grid, then used to calculate temperature-depth variations through the crust.</p><p>We have evaluated our isotherm predictions by comparing them with temperature-depth control points and undertook qualitative and quantitative analyses of discrepancies that exist between different modelling approaches; this has provided insights into the origin of such discrepancies that can be integrated into our models to generate a better controlled global temperature-depth result.  </p><p>We present details of our methodology and the results of our integrated studies. We demonstrate areas where the independent results are in good agreement, providing vital information for high-level basin screening. We also highlight areas of disagreement and suggest possible causes for these discrepancies and potential resolutions.</p>

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

<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>