Rheology of the Lower Crust and Upper Mantle: Evidence from Rock Mechanics, Geodesy, and Field Observations

Rock-mechanics experiments, geodetic observations of postloading strain transients, and micro- and macrostructural studies of exhumed ductile shear zones provide complementary views of the style and rheology of deformation deep in Earth's crust and upper mantle. Overall, results obtained in small-scale laboratory experiments provide robust constraints on deformation mechanisms and viscosities at the natural laboratory conditions. Geodetic inferences of the viscous strength of the upper mantle are consistent with flow of mantle rocks at temperatures and water contents determined from surface heat-flow, seismic, and mantle xenolith studies. Laboratory results show that deformation mechanisms and rheology strongly vary as a function of stress, grain size, and fluids. Field studies reveal a strong tendency for deformation in the lower crust and uppermost mantle in and adjacent to fault zones to localize into systems of discrete shear zones with strongly reduced grain size and strength. Deformation mechanisms ...

[1]  B. Hager,et al.  The effects of rheological layering on post-seismic deformation , 2006 .

[2]  M. Tamisiea,et al.  GRACE Gravity Data Constrain Ancient Ice Geometries and Continental Dynamics over Laurentia , 2007, Science.

[3]  F. Pollitz.  Transient Rheology of the uppermost mantle beneath the Mojave Desert , 2003 .

[4]  R. Hyndman,et al.  Subduction zone backarcs, mobile belts, and orogenic heat , 2005 .

[5]  F. Pollitz,et al.  Post-seismic relaxation following the great 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on a compressible self-gravitating Earth , 2006 .

[6]  R. Vissers,et al.  Shear zones in the upper mantle: evidence from alpine- and ophiolite-type peridotite massifs , 2004, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[7]  Chris Zweck,et al.  The 1964 great Alaska earthquake: present day and cumulative postseismic deformation in the western Kenai Peninsula , 2002 .

[8]  James C. Savage,et al.  Postseismic deformation associated with the 1992 M ω=7.3 Landers earthquake, southern California , 1997 .

[9]  J. Tullis.  Deformation of Granitic Rocks: Experimental Studies and Natural Examples , 2002 .

[10]  S. Chakraborty,et al.  Si and O diffusion in olivine and implications for characterizing plastic flow in the mantle , 2002 .

[11]  P. Segall,et al.  Temporal and spatial variations of post-seismic deformation following the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake , 2007 .

[12]  E. Ivins,et al.  Rapid viscoelastic uplift in southeast Alaska caused by post-Little Ice Age glacial retreat , 2005 .

[13]  P. Segall,et al.  Lower crustal structure in northern California: Implications from strain rate variations following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake , 2003 .

[14]  H. Skogby.  Water in Natural Mantle Minerals I: Pyroxenes , 2006 .

[15]  B. Evans,et al.  On the rheologically critical melt fraction , 2000 .

[16]  A. Vauchez,et al.  Wrench faults down to the asthenosphere: geological and geophysical evidence and thermomechanical effects , 2003, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[17]  C. Teyssier,et al.  An evaluation of quartzite flow laws based on comparisons between experimentally and naturally deformed rocks , 2001 .

[18]  C. Marone.  LABORATORY-DERIVED FRICTION LAWS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO SEISMIC FAULTING , 1998 .

[19]  C. Spiers,et al.  Mantle shear zones and their effect on lithosphere strength during continental breakup , 1995 .

[20]  B. Stöckhert,et al.  Simplified models of the Alpine Fault seismic cycle: stress transfer in the mid-crust , 2006 .

[21]  B. Evans,et al.  Stress and temperature in the bending lithosphere as constrained by experimental rock mechanics , 1979 .

[22]  E. A. Johnson.  Water in Nominally Anhydrous Crustal Minerals: Speciation, Concentration, and Geologic Significance , 2006 .

[23]  R. Twiss.  Theory and applicability of a recrystallized grain size paleopiezometer , 1977 .

[24]  Philip Skemer,et al.  Geodynamic Significance of Seismic Anisotropy of the Upper Mantle: New Insights from Laboratory Studies , 2008 .

[25]  H. Dick,et al.  ABYSSAL PERIDOTITE MYLONITES : IMPLICATIONS FOR GRAIN-SIZE SENSITIVE FLOW AND STRAIN LOCALIZATION IN THE OCEANIC LITHOSPHERE , 1996 .

[26]  M. Zoback,et al.  Estimation of the complete stress tensor to 8 km depth in the KTB scientific drill holes: Implications for crustal strength , 1997 .

[27]  J. Jackson.  Strength of the continental lithosphere: Time to abandon the jelly sandwich? , 2002 .

[28]  J. Tullis,et al.  A flow law for dislocation creep of quartz aggregates determined with the molten salt cell , 1995 .

[29]  Dana S. Henry,et al.  Microstructural Evidence for Grain Size Sensitive Deformation Mechanisms in Naturally Deformed Peridotites , 2002 .

[30]  S. Lee,et al.  Thermal structure of the North American uppermost mantle inferred from seismic tomography , 2002 .

[31]  J. Gerald,et al.  Relationships between dynamically recrystallized grain size and deformation conditions in experimentally deformed olivine rocks , 1993 .

[32]  A. Levander,et al.  Deformation in the Lower Crust of the San Andreas Fault System in Northern California , 1997 .

[33]  Giorgi Khazaradze,et al.  Short‐ and long‐term effects of GPS measured crustal deformation rates along the south central Andes , 2003 .

[34]  Herbert F. Wang,et al.  Transient stress-coupling between the 1992 Landers and 1999 Hector Mine, California, earthquakes , 2002 .

[35]  Patrick Wu,et al.  Effects of lateral variations in lithospheric thickness and mantle viscosity on glacially induced surface motion in Laurentia , 2005 .

[36]  J. Milne.  The California Earthquake of April 18, 1906 , 1910, Nature.

[37]  P. Rosen,et al.  SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR INTERFEROMETRY TO MEASURE EARTH'S SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY AND ITS DEFORMATION , 2000 .

[38]  Peter Molnar,et al.  Distributed deformation in the lower crust and upper mantle beneath a continental strike-slip fault zone: Marlborough fault system, South Island, New Zealand , 2004 .

[39]  Wayne Thatcher,et al.  Nonlinear strain buildup and the earthquake cycle on the San Andreas Fault , 1983 .

[40]  Falk Amelung,et al.  Reservoir-induced deformation and continental rheology in vicinity of Lake Mead, Nevada , 2000 .

[41]  T. Dixon,et al.  17. Elastic and Viscoelastic Models of Crustal Deformation in Subduction Earthquake Cycles , 2007 .

[42]  G. Dresen,et al.  The effect of melt distribution on the rheology of plagioclase rocks , 2000 .

[43]  W. F. Brace,et al.  Limits on lithospheric stress imposed by laboratory experiments , 1980 .

[44]  N. Hovius,et al.  Continental Fault Structure and Rheology from the Frictional-to-Viscous Transition Downward , 2007 .

[45]  A. Watts,et al.  the long-term strength of continental lithosphere: "jelly sandwich" or "crème brûlée"? , 2006 .

[46]  T. Herring,et al.  Far‐reaching transient motions after Mojave earthquakes require broad mantle flow beneath a strong crust , 2007 .

[47]  N. A. Haskell.  The Motion of a Viscous Fluid Under a Surface Load , 1935 .

[48]  Takuya Nishimura,et al.  Rheology of the lithosphere inferred from postseismic uplift following the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake , 2002 .

[49]  Fred F. Pollitz,et al.  Mobility of continental mantle: Evidence from postseismic geodetic observations following the 1992 Landers earthquake , 2000 .

[50]  F. Pollitz,et al.  Mantle Flow Beneath a Continental Strike-Slip Fault: Postseismic Deformation After the 1999 Hector Mine Earthquake , 2001, Science.

[51]  Yuri Fialko,et al.  Evidence of fluid-filled upper crust from observations of postseismic deformation due to the 1992 Mw7.3 Landers earthquake , 2004 .

[52]  S. Wesnousky,et al.  Viscosity structure of the crust and upper mantle in western Nevada from isostatic rebound patterns of the late Pleistocene Lake Lahontan high shoreline , 2007 .

[53]  R. Bürgmann,et al.  Stress-dependent power-law flow in the upper mantle following the 2002 Denali, Alaska, earthquake , 2006 .

[54]  Archie Paulson,et al.  Modelling post-glacial rebound with lateral viscosity variations , 2005 .

[55]  G. Dresen,et al.  Dislocation microstructure and phase distribution in a lower crustal shear zone – an example from the Ivrea-Zone, Italy , 2002 .

[56]  James L. Davis,et al.  GPS APPLICATIONS FOR GEODYNAMICS AND EARTHQUAKE STUDIES , 1997 .

[57]  S. Wesnousky,et al.  Viscosity Structure of the Crust and Upper Mantle in Western Nevada from Isostatic Rebound Patterns of Lake Lahontan Shorelines , 2005 .

[58]  F. Fusseis,et al.  Networking of shear zones at the brittle-to-viscous transition (Cap de Creus, NE Spain) , 2006 .

[59]  J. Cembrano,et al.  Late Cenozoic transpressional ductile deformation north of the Nazca–South America–Antarctica triple junction , 2002 .

[60]  F. Sigmundsson,et al.  Glacio-isostatic deformation around the Vatnajökull ice cap, Iceland, induced by recent climate warming : GPS observations and finite element modeling , 2007 .

[61]  S. Karato,et al.  Lattice preferred orientation of olivine aggregates deformed in simple shear , 1995, Nature.

[62]  F. Horowitz,et al.  Flow laws of polyphase aggregates from end-member flow laws , 1991 .

[63]  Y. Guéguen,et al.  Deformation of Mantle Rocks , 1980 .

[64]  G. Dresen,et al.  Preferred orientation of anorthite deformed experimentally in Newtonian creep , 2007 .

[65]  Paul Rosen,et al.  Postseismic Rebound in Fault Step-Overs Caused by Pore Fluid Flow , 1996, Science.

[66]  M. Paterson,et al.  Preparation and deformation of synthetic aggregates of quartz , 1992 .

[67]  R. King,et al.  Geodynamics of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau from seismic anisotropy and geodesy , 2007 .

[68]  J. D. Blacic,et al.  Quartz: Anomalous Weakness of Synthetic Crystals , 1965, Science.

[69]  R. Heilbronner,et al.  Reaction-induced weakening of plagioclase–olivine composites , 2005 .

[70]  E. Rutter,et al.  Experimental intracrystalline plastic flow in hot-pressed synthetic quartzite prepared from Brazilian quartz crystals , 2004 .

[71]  B. Evans.  Creep constitutive laws for rocks with evolving structure , 2005, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[72]  J. Behrmann.  Crystal plasticity and superplasticity in quartzite. A natural example , 1985 .

[73]  Michael R. Craymer,et al.  Observation of glacial isostatic adjustment in “stable” North America with GPS , 2007 .

[74]  Roland Bürgmann,et al.  Evidence of power-law flow in the Mojave desert mantle , 2004, Nature.

[75]  Kanamori,et al.  Viscoelastic flow in the lower crust after the 1992 landers, california, earthquake , 1998, Science.

[76]  E. Hearn,et al.  What can GPS data tell us about the dynamics of post-seismic deformation? , 2003 .

[77]  R. Norris,et al.  Very high strains recorded in mylonites along the Alpine Fault, New Zealand: implications for the deep structure of plate boundary faults , 2003 .

[78]  B. Evans,et al.  The effect of dissolved magnesium on diffusion creep in calcite , 2003 .

[79]  J. Johansson,et al.  Space-Geodetic Constraints on Glacial Isostatic Adjustment in Fennoscandia , 2001, Science.

[80]  W. Lamb,et al.  Deformation processes in a peridotite shear zone: reaction-softening by an H2O-deficient, continuous net transfer reaction , 1999 .

[81]  Jeffrey T. Freymueller,et al.  Implications of deformation following the 2002 Denali, Alaska, earthquake for postseismic relaxation processes and lithospheric rheology , 2006 .

[82]  James D. Byerlee,et al.  Frictional slip of granite at hydrothermal conditions , 1995 .

[83]  Anderson,et al.  Continuous deformation versus faulting through the continental lithosphere of new zealand , 1999, Science.

[84]  F. Sigmundsson.  Post‐glacial rebound and asthenosphere viscosity in Iceland , 1991 .

[85]  T. Parsons,et al.  Dipping San Andreas and Hayward faults revealed beneath San Francisco Bay , 1999 .

[86]  G. Dresen,et al.  Dislocation and diffusion creep of synthetic anorthite aggregates , 2000 .

[87]  G. Dresen,et al.  Creep and strain-dependent microstructures of synthetic anorthite diopside aggregates , 2007 .

[88]  S. Karato,et al.  Mechanisms of shear localization in the continental lithosphere: inference from the deformation microstructures of peridotites from the Ivrea zone, northwestern Italy , 1998 .

[89]  John R. Rice,et al.  Crustal Earthquake Instability in Relation to the Depth Variation of Frictional Slip Properties , 1986 .

[90]  Masson,et al.  Tomographic evidence for localized lithospheric shear along the altyn tagh fault , 1998, Science.

[91]  G. Dresen,et al.  Rheology of synthetic anorthite‐diopside aggregates: Implications for ductile shear zones , 2005 .

[92]  R. Pacanowski,et al.  Abrupt Climate Changes: How Freshening of the Northern Atlantic Affects the Thermohaline and Wind-Driven Oceanic Circulations , 2008 .

[93]  S. Mackwell,et al.  Creep of dry clinopyroxene aggregates , 2001 .

[94]  Ernest H. Rutter,et al.  Experimental grain size-sensitive flow of hot-pressed Brazilian quartz aggregates , 2004 .

[95]  Patrick Wu,et al.  Effects of mantle flow law stress exponent on postglacial induced surface motion and gravity in Laurentia , 2002 .

[96]  Duncan Carr Agnew,et al.  Early Postseismic Deformation from the 16 October 1999 Mw 7.1 Hector Mine, California, Earthquake as Measured by Survey-Mode GPS , 2002 .

[97]  K. Kunze,et al.  High shear strain of olivine aggregates: rheological and seismic consequences. , 2000, Science.

[98]  F. Scherbaum,et al.  The crustal structure of the Dead Sea Transform , 2004 .

[99]  L. Pryer.  Microstructures in feldspars from a major crustal thrust zone: The Grenville Front, Ontario, Canada , 1993 .

[100]  G. Dresen,et al.  Influence of water fugacity and activation volume on the flow properties of fine‐grained anorthite aggregates , 2006 .

[101]  Timothy H. Dixon,et al.  Lateral variation in upper mantle viscosity: role of water , 2004 .

[102]  T. Little,et al.  Kinematics of oblique collision and ramping inferred from microstructures and strain in middle crustal rocks, central Southern Alps, New Zealand , 2002 .

[103]  K. Schulmann,et al.  Granulite microfabrics and deformation mechanisms in southern Madagascar , 1999 .

[104]  J. Avouac,et al.  Modeling afterslip and aftershocks following the 1992 Landers earthquake , 2007 .

[105]  D. Kohlstedt,et al.  Influence of water on plastic deformation of olivine aggregates 2. Dislocation creep regime , 2000 .

[106]  J. Carreras.  Zooming on Northern Cap de Creus shear zones , 2001 .

[107]  E. Rutter,et al.  Flow of synthetic, wet, partially molten "granite'' under undrained conditions: An experimental study , 2006 .

[108]  R. Bürgmann,et al.  Dynamics of Izmit Earthquake Postseismic Deformation and Loading of the Duzce Earthquake Hypocenter , 2002 .

[109]  D. Kohlstedt.  Properties of Rocks and Minerals – Constitutive Equations, Rheological Behavior, and Viscosity of Rocks , 2007 .

[110]  F. Pollitz.  Transient rheology of the upper mantle beneath central Alaska inferred from the crustal velocity field following the 2002 Denali earthquake , 2005 .

[111]  Herbert F. Wang,et al.  Continuation of the San Andreas fault system into the upper mantle: Evidence from spinel peridotite xenoliths in the Coyote Lake basalt, central California , 2007 .

[112]  R. Vissers,et al.  On the role of melt-rock reaction in mantle shear zone formation in the Othris Peridotite Massif (Greece) , 2002 .

[113]  M. Zoback,et al.  New Evidence on the State of Stress of the San Andreas Fault System , 1987, Science.

[114]  S. Thomson.  Late Cenozoic geomorphic and tectonic evolution of the Patagonian Andes between latitudes 42°S and 46°S: An appraisal based on fission-track results from the transpressional intra-arc Liquiñe-Ofqui fault zone , 2002 .

[115]  S. Hanmer.  Great Slave Lake Shear Zone, Canadian Shield: reconstructed vertical profile of a crustal-scale fault zone , 1988 .

[116]  John J. Clague,et al.  Postglacial rebound at the northern Cascadia subduction zone , 2000 .

[117]  M. Drury.  Dynamic recrystallization and strain softening of olivine aggregates in the laboratory and the lithosphere , 2005, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[118]  T. Fliervoet,et al.  Mylonitic deformation in upper mantle peridotites of the North Pyrenean Zone (France): implications for strength and strain localization in the lithosphere , 1997 .

[119]  Lupei Zhu,et al.  Crustal structure across the San Andreas Fault, southern California from teleseismic converted waves , 2000 .

[120]  Tim J. Wright,et al.  Post-seismic motion following the 1997 Manyi (Tibet) earthquake: InSAR observations and modelling , 2007 .

[121]  D. Kohlstedt,et al.  Water weakening of clinopyroxene in the dislocation creep regime , 2003 .