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Vertical mantle flow associated with a lithospheric drip beneath the Great Basin

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 439–444 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Rapid surface uplift or subsidence and voluminous magmatic activity have often been ascribed to regional-scale downwelling of lithospheric mantle. However, because lithospheric drips—sinking plumes of cold and dense lithosphere—are relatively small and transient features, direct evidence of their existence has been difficult to obtain. Moreover, the significant vertical mantle flow that should be associated with such structures has not been detected. Here we integrate seismic anisotropy data with tomographic images to identify and describe a lithospheric drip beneath the Great Basin region of the western United States. The feature is characterized by a localized cylindrical core of cooler material with fast seismic velocities and mantle flow that rapidly shifts from horizontal to vertical. Our numerical experiments suggest that the drip can be generated by gravitational instability resulting from a density anomaly of as little as 1% and a localized temperature increase of 10%. The drip tilts to the northeast—opposite to the motion of the North American plate in the hotspot reference frame—and thereby indicates northeast-directed regional mantle flow.

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Figure 1: Shear-wave splitting results for the Great Basin and surrounding provinces.
Figure 2: Combined shear-wave splitting and tomography results.
Figure 3: Geodynamic model of a lithospheric drip.
Figure 4: Summary of geological and geophysical constraints for the central Great Basin.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Garnero, A. McNamara and R. Rudnick for lively discussions of the possible causes of the Nevada anomaly, G. Zandt and G. Humphreys for discussions of Great Basin shear-wave splitting patterns and interpretation, and A. Sheehan and B. Holt for discussions of lithospheric dynamics. Thanks also to M. Savage for constructive and insightful comments on the manuscript. Partial support for this project came from US National Science Foundation grants EAR-0548288 (MJF EarthScope CAREER grant) and EAR-0507248 (MJF Continental Dynamics High Lava Plains grant).

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Author notes

  1. Jeffrey B. Roth

    Present address: Present address: ExxonMobil Exploration, 223 Benmar, Houston, Texas 77060, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-1404, PO Box 871404, USA

    John D. West, Matthew J. Fouch & Jeffrey B. Roth

  2. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 54-824, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

    Linda T. Elkins-Tanton

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Contributions

J.D.W. and M.J.F. carried out shear-wave splitting measurements; J.B.R. and M.J.F. created the tomography models; L.T.E. created the geodynamical models; J.D.W. and M.J.F. prepared the manuscript with input, comments and review from all authors.

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Correspondence to John D. West or Jeffrey B. Roth.

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West, J., Fouch, M., Roth, J. et al. Vertical mantle flow associated with a lithospheric drip beneath the Great Basin. Nature Geosci 2, 439–444 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo526

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