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Mantle skewness and ridge segmentation

Nature volume 458, pages E11–E12 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Arising from: D. R. Toomey, D. Jousselin, R. A. Dunn, W. S. D. Wilcock & R. S. Detrick Nature 446, 409–414 (2007)10.1038/nature05679; Toomey et al. reply

Mantle upwelling is generally assumed to be symmetric. Toomey et al.1 observe low seismic-wave velocity in off-axis mantle, and suggest that mantle upwelling is skewed, which has important implications for asthenospheric flow, ridge segmentation, crustal accretion, and volcanic, tectonic and hydrothermal vent activities along the ridge axis. However, we point out here that the mantle low-velocity zone (MLVZ) presented by Toomey et al.1 is not constrained by their data. We conclude that inferences pertaining to ridge segmentation and mantle flow are not reliable.

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Figure 1: P-wave velocity and ray turning depth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. * Laboratoire de Géosciences Marines, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 4 place Jussieu, Paris 75252, France. singh@ipgp.jussieu.fr ,

    Satish C. Singh

  2. Department of Earth Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    Ken C. Macdonald

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  1. Satish C. Singh
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  2. Ken C. Macdonald
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Singh, S., Macdonald, K. Mantle skewness and ridge segmentation. Nature 458, E11–E12 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07887

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