Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.h13g..08l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #H13G-08
Other
8120 Dynamics Of Lithosphere And Mantle: General (1213), 8121 Dynamics: Convection Currents, And Mantle Plumes, 8164 Stresses: Crust And Lithosphere
Scientific paper
We explore the possibility that an increase in the surface temperature of a terrestrial planet, due to an enhanced concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gasses and/or increased solar luminosity, could initiate a transition from an active lid mode of mantle convection (e.g., plate tectonics) to a stagnant lid mode (i.e., single plate planet). A scaling theory is developed to estimate the required temperature change as a function of the temperature-dependence of mantle viscosity and the yield stress of the lithosphere. The theory relies on the assumptions that convective stresses scale with mantle viscosity and that a predominantly internally heated planet will adjust to surface temperature changes so as to maintain a heat flow that balances radiogenic heat production (i.e., internal temperature will increase with surface temperature). The theory is tested against a suite of numerical simulations of mantle convection with visco-plastic rheologies. The comparisons are favorable and the combined theory and numerics suggest that parameter regimes exist for which temperature changes of 100 degrees or less could shut down an active lid mode of convection. This general conclusion does not rely on a surface temperature change altering the yield stress of the lithosphere. If increased temperatures also lead to increased lithospheric yield stress, due to loss of pore fluids to lubricate faults zones and/or a shallower depth of lithospheric serpentinization, then, all other factors being equal, even more modest surface temperature changes are predicted to be capable of inducing a transition in the global tectonics of a terrestrial planet.
Jellinek Mark A.
Lenardic Adrian
Moresi Louis
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