Sharp Lithosphere-asthenosphere Boundaries of Oceanic Plates

P- and S-receiver function (RF) analysis of borehole broadband ocean bottom seismic data (Kumar et al., 2008, this meeting) and the high-resolution RF image of the subducting Pacific plate beneath the northeast Japan (Kawakatsu, 2008, this meeting) both show the presence of sharp lithosphere-asthenosphere boundaries (LABs) of oceanic plates which appear to show dependence on the plate age. The apparent plate-age dependence of the thickness of the oceanic plate is consistent with a thermally controlled origin for the oceanic LAB, but the fact it is observed in short period (~3s) indicates a sharp boundary (the transition thickness of less than 10-15km), thus a chemical or fabric origin. The observed amplitude of the LAB signals, on the other hand, requires a rather large S-wave speed reduction of ~7%, similar to the observation beneath the eastern North America (Rychert et al., 2007, JGR). One possibility to explain these features is the presence of partial melting in the asthenosphere. The depth of partial melting of the model of Mierdel et al. (2007, Science) estimated using a thermal model incorporating pressure and thermal effect on the thermal diffusivity (Honda&Yuen, 2001, GRL) reproduces the basic trend in the data. For a texturally equilibrated partially molten region, however, a 7% S-wave speed reduction translates into ~3.5% of melting (Takei, 2002, JGR) which may be unrealistically large. The presence of the rather strong LAB signal of oceanic plates reported here may be partly attributed to other mechanisms such as the presence of shear zone of partially-molten region in the asthenosphere (e.g., Holtzman et al., 2003, Science).