Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary Beneath Regions of Recent Volcanism in the Basin and Range Province and Mojave Desert
Abstract
Melt in the asthenosphere may contribute strongly to the development of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) in some settings. We have compiled a set of vertical shear-velocity profiles beneath centers of recent (<1.0 Ma) volcanic activity in the Basin and Range province based on Rayleigh wave tomography. The classic pattern of a high-velocity lid overlying a low-velocity zone (LVZ) is clear beneath many of the centers. Cima, for example, has a high velocity lid extending to a depth of about 60 km. Beneath Dish Hill and Amboy in the southern Mojave, the lithospheric lid extends to a depth of ~ 90 km. Minimum velocities in the LVZs beneath the higher velocity lids typically are 4.00-4.05 km/s, similar to that beneath the East Pacific Rise and too low to be caused by temperature alone without unreasonably high attenuation. Beneath other centers, like Big Pine, Lathrop Wells and Tahoe, there is no resolvable lid. The lid is either missing or too thin to resolve, but the absence of the lid/LVZ pattern seems to be due to a combination of lower velocities immediately beneath the Moho and higher velocities in the LVZ. Petrological indicators of temperature and depth of melting from basalt composition are in general agreement with the seismological observations, with the depth of last equilibration typically occurring near the top of the LVZ. Beneath Big Pine, for example, the equilibration temperatures are unusually low and the equilibration depth is 40 to 50 km, just below the Moho, in agreement with the lack of a distinct lid. Beneath Cima, equilibration depths are 60-70 km. Beneath Coso, equilibration depths are only slightly deeper than Big Pine, but the temperatures are higher, in agreement with the more pronounced LVZ and the presence of a thin lid. Beneath the Tabernacle Hill/Black Rock volcanic field in west-central Utah, there is a well-developed lid/LVZ structure, but the "high" velocity lid is only ~ 4.10 km/s while the underlying LVZ reaches as low as 3.90 km/s. This observation points to the importance of melt concentration or distribution controlling the velocities. Lid velocities are often relatively low (4.2-4.4 km/s) in the Basin and Range, indicating high temperatures, but here there is probably melt within the lid as well, with higher concentrations in the underlying LVZ. Ponding or stalling of melt beneath the lithospheric lid probably contributes to the sharpness of the LAB and may control the minimum velocity in the LVZ.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFMDI11A1834F
- Keywords:
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- 1037 GEOCHEMISTRY / Magma genesis and partial melting;
- 7255 SEISMOLOGY / Surface waves and free oscillations;
- 8109 TECTONOPHYSICS / Continental tectonics: extensional;
- 8120 TECTONOPHYSICS / Dynamics of lithosphere and mantle: general