High-resolution seismic constraints on flow dynamics in the oceanic asthenosphere.

Convective flow in the mantle and the motions of tectonic plates produce deformation of Earth's interior, and the rock fabric produced by this deformation can be discerned using the anisotropy of the seismic wave speed. This deformation is commonly inferred close to lithospheric boundaries beneath the ocean in the uppermost mantle, including near seafloor-spreading centres as new plates are formed via corner flow, and within a weak asthenosphere that lubricates large-scale plate-driven flow and accommodates smaller scale convection. Seismic models of oceanic upper mantle differ as to the relative importance of these deformation processes: seafloor spreading fabric is very strong just beneath the crust-mantle boundary (the Mohorovicic discontinuity, or Moho) at relatively local scales, but at the global and ocean-basin scales, oceanic lithosphere typically appears weakly anisotropic when compared to the asthenosphere. Here we use Rayleigh waves, recorded across an ocean-bottom seismograph array in the central Pacific Ocean (the NoMelt Experiment), to provide unique localized constraints on seismic anisotropy within the oceanic lithosphere-asthenosphere system in the middle of a plate. We find that azimuthal anisotropy is strongest within the high-seismic-velocity lid, with the fast direction coincident with seafloor spreading. A minimum in the magnitude of azimuthal anisotropy occurs within the middle of the seismic low-velocity zone, and then increases with depth below the weakest portion of the asthenosphere. At no depth does the fast direction correlate with the apparent plate motion. Our results suggest that the highest strain deformation in the shallow oceanic mantle occurs during corner flow at the ridge axis, and via pressure-driven or buoyancy-driven flow within the asthenosphere. Shear associated with motion of the plate over the underlying asthenosphere, if present, is weak compared to these other processes.

Fossil slabs attached to unsubducted fragments of the Farallon plate.

As the Pacific-Farallon spreading center approached North America, the Farallon plate fragmented into a number of small plates. Some of the microplate fragments ceased subducting before the spreading center reached the trench. Most tectonic models have assumed that the subducting oceanic slab detached from these microplates close to the trench, but recent seismic tomography studies have revealed a high-velocity anomaly beneath Baja California that appears to be a fossil slab still attached to the Guadalupe and Magdalena microplates. Here, using surface wave tomography, we establish the lateral extent of this fossil slab and show that it is correlated with the distribution of high-Mg andesites thought to derive from partial melting of the subducted oceanic crust. We also reinterpret the high seismic velocity anomaly beneath the southern central valley of California as another fossil slab extending to a depth of 200 km or more that is attached to the former Monterey microplate. The existence of these fossil slabs may force a reexamination of models of the tectonic evolution of western North America over the last 30 My.

Spreading-rate dependence of melt extraction at mid-ocean ridges from mantle seismic refraction data.

A variety of observations indicate that mid-ocean ridges produce less crust at spreading rates below 20 mm yr(-1) (refs 1-3), reflecting changes in fundamental ridge processes with decreasing spreading rate. The nature of these changes, however, remains uncertain, with end-member explanations being decreasing shallow melting or incomplete melt extraction, each due to the influence of a thicker thermal lid. Here we present results of a seismic refraction experiment designed to study mid-ocean ridge processes by imaging residual mantle structure. Our results reveal an abrupt lateral change in bulk mantle seismic properties associated with a change from slow to ultraslow palaeo-spreading rate. Changes in mantle velocity gradient, basement topography and crustal thickness all correlate with this spreading-rate change. These observations can be explained by variations in melt extraction at the ridge, with a gabbroic phase preferentially retained in the mantle at slower spreading rates. The estimated volume of retained melt balances the approximately 1.5-km difference in crustal thickness, suggesting that changes in spreading rate affect melt-extraction processes rather than total melting.