Belt-parallel mantle flow beneath a halted continental collision: The Western Alps - Archive ouverte HAL
Article Dans Une Revue Earth and Planetary Science Letters Année : 2011

Belt-parallel mantle flow beneath a halted continental collision: The Western Alps

Résumé

Constraining mantle deformation beneath plate boundaries where plates interact with each other, such as beneath active or halted mountain belts, is a particularly important objective of "mantle tectonics" that may bring a depth extent to the Earth's surface observation. Such mantle deformation can be mapped at scale lengths of several tens of kilometers through the analysis of seismological data and particularly by mapping seismic anisotropy from the splitting analysis of vertically-propagating SKS waves that largely reflect the strain-induced crystal preferred orientations of the rock-forming minerals within the upper mantle. In the present study, we analyse data from approximately 50 broadband seismic stations covering the Western Alps and we provide a coherent picture of upper mantle anisotropy beneath the belt. The large-scale anisotropy pattern is characterized by fast split directions that closely follow the trend of the belt. Moreover, the maximum anisotropy magnitude is not located beneath the internal zones of the belt but instead beneath external units. All suggests that the anisotropy is likely dominated by sublithospheric mantle deformation. We propose that the observed anisotropy pattern can be explained by recent or active mantle flow around the Eurasian slab presently plunging beneath the inner parts of the Alps.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Barruol_SKS_Alpes_EPSL2011_hal.pdf (2.48 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
Loading...

Dates et versions

hal-00617828 , version 1 (26-10-2016)

Identifiants

Citer

Guilhem Barruol, Mickael Bonnin, Helle Pedersen, Götz H.R. Bokelmann, Christel Tiberi. Belt-parallel mantle flow beneath a halted continental collision: The Western Alps. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2011, 302 (3-4), pp.429-438. ⟨10.1016/j.epsl.2010.12.040⟩. ⟨hal-00617828⟩
501 Consultations
334 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

More