Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy
Understanding accretion and deformation processes at mid-ocean ridges is crucial as they control the resulting oceanic crustal structure, which covers two-thirds of Earth’s surface. The most common tool for observing such dynamic processes within the Earth is seismic anisotropy. Iceland, which is up...
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ftgfzpotsdam:oai:gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de:item_5006102 2023-05-15T16:47:38+02:00 Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy Volk, O. White, R. Pilia, S. Green, R. Maclennan, J. Rawlinson, N. 2021 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5006102 unknown info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41561-021-00702-7 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5006102 Nature Geoscience info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2021 ftgfzpotsdam https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00702-7 2022-09-14T05:57:43Z Understanding accretion and deformation processes at mid-ocean ridges is crucial as they control the resulting oceanic crustal structure, which covers two-thirds of Earth’s surface. The most common tool for observing such dynamic processes within the Earth is seismic anisotropy. Iceland, which is uplifted by a convective mantle plume and has an active spreading ridge system exposed above sea level, offers a unique opportunity for studying this phenomenon. Here we use a high-resolution dataset of Love and Rayleigh wave speeds to constrain the seismic anisotropy in the Icelandic crust. We show that seismic anisotropy in the lower crust is controlled by crystal preferred orientation, providing a direct observation of lower crustal flow. Furthermore, since shear is needed to align the crystals, our results reveal that crustal flow cannot be a simple translation of mass and requires internal deformation. This finding suggests that crustal flow plays an important role in oceanic crustal accretion and deformation where thick, hot oceanic crust is formed, such as at volcanic rifted margins and where there are mantle plume–ridge interactions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland GFZpublic (German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam) Nature Geoscience 14 3 168 173 |
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Open Polar |
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GFZpublic (German Research Centre for Geosciences, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam) |
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ftgfzpotsdam |
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unknown |
description |
Understanding accretion and deformation processes at mid-ocean ridges is crucial as they control the resulting oceanic crustal structure, which covers two-thirds of Earth’s surface. The most common tool for observing such dynamic processes within the Earth is seismic anisotropy. Iceland, which is uplifted by a convective mantle plume and has an active spreading ridge system exposed above sea level, offers a unique opportunity for studying this phenomenon. Here we use a high-resolution dataset of Love and Rayleigh wave speeds to constrain the seismic anisotropy in the Icelandic crust. We show that seismic anisotropy in the lower crust is controlled by crystal preferred orientation, providing a direct observation of lower crustal flow. Furthermore, since shear is needed to align the crystals, our results reveal that crustal flow cannot be a simple translation of mass and requires internal deformation. This finding suggests that crustal flow plays an important role in oceanic crustal accretion and deformation where thick, hot oceanic crust is formed, such as at volcanic rifted margins and where there are mantle plume–ridge interactions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Volk, O. White, R. Pilia, S. Green, R. Maclennan, J. Rawlinson, N. |
spellingShingle |
Volk, O. White, R. Pilia, S. Green, R. Maclennan, J. Rawlinson, N. Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy |
author_facet |
Volk, O. White, R. Pilia, S. Green, R. Maclennan, J. Rawlinson, N. |
author_sort |
Volk, O. |
title |
Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy |
title_short |
Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy |
title_full |
Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy |
title_fullStr |
Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Oceanic crustal flow in Iceland observed using seismic anisotropy |
title_sort |
oceanic crustal flow in iceland observed using seismic anisotropy |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5006102 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Nature Geoscience |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41561-021-00702-7 https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5006102 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00702-7 |
container_title |
Nature Geoscience |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
168 |
op_container_end_page |
173 |
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1766037719461396480 |