Computer Science
Scientific paper
Mar 1993
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993e%26psl.115...89m&link_type=abstract
Earth and Planetary Science Letters (ISSN 0012-821X), vol. 115, no. 1-4, p. 89-100.
Computer Science
26
Earth Crust, Earth Mantle, Lithosphere, Mid-Ocean Ridges, Slabs, Heat Transmission, Plates (Tectonics), Sea Floor Spreading
Scientific paper
An analysis is made of the role of subducted oceanic lithospheric slabs in determining the composition and secular evolution of the earth's mantle and continental crust. Arguments are presented which are consistent with a tectonically active Archean upper mantle with subducted slabs being largely confined to the mantle located above the transition zone. This is likely to have had a profound effect on the plate-scale convection operating in the Archean mantle. In the post-Archean mantle, lower temperatures and reduced heat flow result in the formation of older, colder, and stronger oceanic lithosphere which mainly undergoes dehydration rather than partial melting reactions during subduction. This allows slabs to penetrate through the relatively high-viscosity transition zone and into the lower mantle. Consequently, an influx of volatiles, mostly H2O and CO2, and some relatively mobile elements, such as U, are carried into the deep mantle via post-Archean subduction. The post-Archean fluxing of U into the deep mantle can account for both the Pb paradox and the lower than anticipated Th/U ratios observed in modern mid-ocean ridge basalts.
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