Mantle convection and plate tectonics: toward an integrated physical and chemical theory

Plate tectonics and convection of the solid, rocky mantle are responsible for transporting heat out of Earth. However, the physics of plate tectonics is poorly understood; other planets do not exhibit it. Recent seismic evidence for convection and mixing throughout the mantle seems at odds with the chemical composition of erupted magmas requiring the presence of several chemically distinct reservoirs within the mantle. There has been rapid progress on these two problems, with the emergence of the first self-consistent models of plate tectonics and mantle convection, along with new geochemical models that may be consistent with seismic and dynamical constraints on mantle structure.

[1]  Thorne Lay,et al.  The core–mantle boundary layer and deep Earth dynamics , 1998, Nature.

[2]  D. Helmberger,et al.  Evidence for strong shear velocity reductions and velocity gradients in the lower mantle beneath Africa , 1998 .

[3]  G. Jarvis,et al.  Continental collisions in wide aspect ratio and high Rayleigh number two‐dimensional mantle convection models , 1996 .

[4]  W. M. Kaula,et al.  Mantle dynamics and the heat flow into the Earth's continents , 1995, Nature.

[5]  U. Christensen.  Influence of chemical buoyancy on the dynamics of slabs in the transition zone , 1997 .

[6]  Lithgow-Bertelloni,et al.  Coupling of south american and african plate motion and plate deformation , 1998, Science.

[7]  Remo Guidieri.  Res , 1995, RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics.

[8]  M. Gurnis,et al.  Cretaceous vertical motion of australia and the australian- antarctic discordance , 1998, Science.

[9]  A. Hofmann,et al.  Mantle geochemistry: the message from oceanic volcanism , 1997, Nature.

[10]  M. Gurnis,et al.  The effect of depth‐dependent viscosity on convective mixing in the mantle and the possible survival of primitive mantle , 1986 .

[11]  R. Trompert,et al.  Mantle convection simulations with rheologies that generate plate-like behaviour , 1998, Nature.

[12]  P. Tackley,et al.  Generation of mega‐plumes from the core‐mantle boundary in a compressible mantle with temperature‐dependent viscosity , 1998 .

[13]  M. Doin,et al.  Heat transport in stagnant lid convection with temperature‐ and pressure‐dependent Newtonian or non‐Newtonian rheology , 1999 .

[14]  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 .

[15]  Moore,et al.  Three-dimensional simulations of plume-lithosphere interaction at the hawaiian swell , 1998, Science.

[16]  Olivier Grasset,et al.  Thermal convection in a volumetrically heated, infinite Prandtl number fluid with strongly temperature‐dependent viscosity: Implications for planetary thermal evolution , 1998 .

[17]  U. Christensen,et al.  The dynamical origin of Hawaiian volcanism , 1999 .

[18]  F. Albarède.  Time-dependent models of U-Th-He and K-Ar evolution and the layering of mantle convection , 1998 .

[19]  Giorgio Ranalli,et al.  Rheology of the earth , 1987 .

[20]  M. Manga.  Mixing of heterogeneities in the mantle: Effect of viscosity differences , 1996 .

[21]  J. Tromp,et al.  Normal-mode and free-Air gravity constraints on lateral variations in velocity and density of Earth's mantle , 1999, Science.

[22]  Louis Moresi,et al.  Mantle convection with a brittle lithosphere: thoughts on the global tectonic styles of the Earth and Venus , 1998 .

[23]  D. Bercovici.  Generation of plate tectonics from lithosphere–mantle flow and void–volatile self-lubrication , 1998 .

[24]  P. Silver,et al.  Dynamic topography, plate driving forces and the African superswell , 1998, Nature.

[25]  David A. Yuen,et al.  Comparison of mixing properties in convection with the Particle‐Line Method , 1998 .

[26]  N. Sleep.  Martian plate tectonics , 1994 .

[27]  N. Coltice,et al.  Geochemical observations and one layer mantle convection , 1999 .

[28]  E. R. Engdahl,et al.  Evidence for deep mantle circulation from global tomography , 1997, Nature.

[29]  D. Helmberger,et al.  Dynamics of a phase change at the base of the mantle consistent with seismological observations , 1999 .

[30]  Louis Moresi,et al.  Some thoughts on the stability of cratonic lithosphere: Effects of buoyancy and viscosity , 1999 .

[31]  R. Hilst,et al.  Compositional stratification in the deep mantle , 1999, Science.

[32]  A. Lenardic.  On the partitioning of mantle heat loss below oceans and continents over time and its relationship to the Archaean paradox , 1998 .

[33]  J. Tromp,et al.  Is there a first-order discontinuity in the lowermost mantle? , 1998 .

[34]  Michael Gurnis,et al.  Large-scale mantle convection and the aggregation and dispersal of supercontinents , 1988, Nature.

[35]  Wei-jia Su,et al.  Simultaneous inversion for 3-D variations in shear and bulk velocity in the mantle , 1997 .

[36]  R. Hilst,et al.  Compositional heterogeneity in the bottom 1000 kilometers of Earth's mantle: toward a hybrid convection model , 1999, Science.

[37]  David A. Yuen,et al.  The interaction of viscous heating with grain‐size dependent rheology in the formation of localized slip zones , 1997 .

[38]  S. Kirby.  Rheology of the lithosphere , 1983 .

[39]  P. V. Keken,et al.  Whole-mantle versus layered mantle convection and the role of a high-viscosity lower mantle in terrestrial volatile evolution , 1998 .

[40]  David Bercovici,et al.  Plate generation in a simple model of lithosphere-mantle flow with dynamic self-lubrication , 1996 .

[41]  D. Yuen,et al.  Geophysical inferences of thermal‐chemical structures in the lower mantle , 1993 .

[42]  J. Mitrovica,et al.  Seismic-geodynamic determination of the origin of excess ellipticity of the core-mantle boundary , 1995 .

[43]  Donald L. Turcotte,et al.  An episodic hypothesis for Venusian tectonics , 1993 .

[44]  J. Chéry,et al.  A simple parameterization of strain localization in the ductile regime due to grain size reduction: A case study for olivine , 1999 .

[45]  Carl W. Gable,et al.  Models of convection-driven tectonic plates: a comparison of methods and results , 1992 .

[46]  Shijie Zhong,et al.  Mixing in a 3D spherical model of present-day mantle convection , 1999 .

[47]  S. Weinstein.  The effect of convection planform on the toroidal–poloidal energy ratio , 1998 .

[48]  Louis-Noel Moresi,et al.  Non-Newtonian Stagnant Lid Convection and Magmatic Resur facing on Venus☆ , 1999 .

[49]  A. Davaille,et al.  Simultaneous generation of hotspots and superswells by convection in a heterogeneous planetary mantle , 1999, Nature.

[50]  S. Honda,et al.  Generation of plumes under a localized high viscosity lid in 3‐D spherical shell convection , 1999 .

[51]  David J. Stevenson,et al.  Effects of multiple phase transitions in a three-dimensional spherical model of convection in Earth's mantle , 1994 .

[52]  David A. Yuen,et al.  Rapid conversion of elastic energy into plastic shear heating during incipient necking of the lithosphere , 1998 .

[53]  A. Hofmann,et al.  Segregation of subducted oceanic crust in the convecting mantle , 1994 .

[54]  U. Christensen,et al.  Mantle convection and stability of depleted and undepleted continental lithosphere , 1997 .

[55]  B. Evans,et al.  Strength of the lithosphere: Constraints imposed by laboratory experiments , 1995 .

[56]  D. Yuen,et al.  Ultrafast upwelling bursting through the upper mantle , 1997 .

[57]  A. Hofmeister,et al.  Mantle values of thermal conductivity and the geotherm from phonon lifetimes , 1999, Science.

[58]  U. Christensen.  The influence of trench migration on slab penetration into the lower mantle , 1996 .

[59]  Sylvaine Ferrachat,et al.  Regular vs. chaotic mantle mixing , 1998 .

[60]  Richards,et al.  Time scales and heterogeneous structure in geodynamic earth models , 1998, Science.

[61]  B. Kennett,et al.  Joint seismic tomography for bulk sound and shear wave speed in the Earth's mantle , 1998 .

[62]  Stability and dynamics of the continental tectosphere , 1999 .