Abstract
EVER since the discovery by Vening Meinesz1 of the large negative gravity anomalies associated with the deep oceanic trenches found in the south-west Pacific and elsewhere, it has frequently been proposed that trenches are the loci of some form of descending mantle flow. With the development of concepts of sea-floor spreading, oceanic trenches have been interpreted as areas where the spreading ocean floor turns downwards into the upper mantle and is destroyed. Zones of earthquake activity extending from close to the bottom of the trench down to depths of 700 km suggest that the shearing associated with downward motion of the oceanic crust and upper mantle occurs parallel to a plane which dips downwards in the direction of motion at an angle of about 45° to the surface2 (Fig. 1). Fault plane solutions for the earthquakes along these zones, and apparently anomalous distributions of Q (anelasticity) with depth3, tend to support this interpretation, although the presence of undeformed sedimentary filling in many trenches must be explained.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Vening Meinesz, F. A., Ergeb. Kosmischen Physik, 2, 153 (1933).
Sykes, L. R., J. Geophys. Res., 71, 2981 (1966).
Oliver, J., and Isacks, B. L., J. Geophys. Res., 72, 4259 (1967).
Vacquier, V., Uyeda, S., Yasui, M., Sclater, J., Corry, C., and Watanabe, T., Bull. Earthq. Res. Inst., 44, 1526 (1966).
Gordon, R. B., J. Geophys. Res., 70, 2413 (1965).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
OXBURGH, E., TURCOTTE, D. Problem of High Heat Flow and Volcanism associated with Zones of Descending Mantle Convective Flow. Nature 218, 1041–1043 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/2181041a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2181041a0
This article is cited by
-
Subduction zone melting of pelagic sediments constrained by melting experiments
Nature (1994)
-
Hot spot and trench volcano separations
Nature (1974)
-
Evolution of taphrogenic lineaments in continental platforms
Geologische Rundschau (1974)
-
Isenthalpic Flow, Joule–Kelvin Coefficients and Mantle Convection
Nature (1971)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.