Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath Ridges
Abstract Oceanic lithosphere, which forms two‐thirds of Earth's surface, is generated at mid‐ocean ridge spreading centers. Yet the internal structure of the lithosphere is not well characterized and often considered to be homogeneous relative to the structure of continental lithosphere. While...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109440 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849468205632847872 |
|---|---|
| author | Shi Joyce Sim Ting‐Ying Yu Chris Havlin |
| author_facet | Shi Joyce Sim Ting‐Ying Yu Chris Havlin |
| author_sort | Shi Joyce Sim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Oceanic lithosphere, which forms two‐thirds of Earth's surface, is generated at mid‐ocean ridge spreading centers. Yet the internal structure of the lithosphere is not well characterized and often considered to be homogeneous relative to the structure of continental lithosphere. While geophysical observations clearly delineate the crust‐mantle boundary and the lithosphere‐asthenopshere boundary, other seismic anomalies known as mid‐lithosphere discontinuities (MLDs) have been challenging to detect and poorly constrained. Here we present melt transport models applied to the mid‐ocean ridge system that indicate MLDs are a widespread fundamental feature of oceanic lithosphere. In our models, some melt generated from decompression melting is frozen back into the lithosphere, forming a layered refertilization pattern. These refertilized layers are due to the stacked horizontal layering pattern of melt pooling beneath the freezing front. If the recrystallized melt is incorporated into the lithosphere as mafic lenses, the predicted seismic velocity is compatible with observations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e6e661f8210c487daf06a186f98132d7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-e6e661f8210c487daf06a186f98132d72025-08-20T03:25:55ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-12-015123n/an/a10.1029/2024GL109440Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath RidgesShi Joyce Sim0Ting‐Ying Yu1Chris Havlin2Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta GA USAGeorgia Institute of Technology Atlanta GA USAUniversity of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Champaign IL USAAbstract Oceanic lithosphere, which forms two‐thirds of Earth's surface, is generated at mid‐ocean ridge spreading centers. Yet the internal structure of the lithosphere is not well characterized and often considered to be homogeneous relative to the structure of continental lithosphere. While geophysical observations clearly delineate the crust‐mantle boundary and the lithosphere‐asthenopshere boundary, other seismic anomalies known as mid‐lithosphere discontinuities (MLDs) have been challenging to detect and poorly constrained. Here we present melt transport models applied to the mid‐ocean ridge system that indicate MLDs are a widespread fundamental feature of oceanic lithosphere. In our models, some melt generated from decompression melting is frozen back into the lithosphere, forming a layered refertilization pattern. These refertilized layers are due to the stacked horizontal layering pattern of melt pooling beneath the freezing front. If the recrystallized melt is incorporated into the lithosphere as mafic lenses, the predicted seismic velocity is compatible with observations.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109440 |
| spellingShingle | Shi Joyce Sim Ting‐Ying Yu Chris Havlin Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath Ridges Geophysical Research Letters |
| title | Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath Ridges |
| title_full | Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath Ridges |
| title_fullStr | Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath Ridges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath Ridges |
| title_short | Persistent Heterogeneities in the Oceanic Lithosphere Due To Differential Freezing Beneath Ridges |
| title_sort | persistent heterogeneities in the oceanic lithosphere due to differential freezing beneath ridges |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109440 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shijoycesim persistentheterogeneitiesintheoceaniclithosphereduetodifferentialfreezingbeneathridges AT tingyingyu persistentheterogeneitiesintheoceaniclithosphereduetodifferentialfreezingbeneathridges AT chrishavlin persistentheterogeneitiesintheoceaniclithosphereduetodifferentialfreezingbeneathridges |