Seismic Evidence for Hotspot-Induced Buoyant Flow Beneath the Reykjanes Ridge

• Published in: Science
• Main Author: Gaherty, James B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2001
• Subjects: Reykjanes; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1061565; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1061565

Volcanic hotspots and mid-ocean ridge spreading centers are the surface expressions of upwelling in Earth's mantle convection system, and their interaction provides unique information on upwelling dynamics. I investigated the influence of the Iceland hotspot on the adjacent mid-Atlantic spreading center using phase-delay times of seismic surface waves, which show anomalous polarization anisotropy—a delay-time discrepancy between waves with different polarizations. This anisotropy implies that the hotspot induces buoyancy-driven upwelling in the mantle beneath the ridge.