Crustal structure above the Iceland mantle plume imaged by the ICEMELT refraction profile

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

50

Crustal Structure, Iceland, Mantle Plume, Seismic Refraction

Scientific paper

The crustal structure of central Iceland is modelled using data from a 310 km long refraction profile shot during summer 1995. The profile traversed Iceland from the Skagi Peninsula on the north coast (surface rocks of age 8.5-0.8 Myr) to the southeast coast (surface rocks of age 8.5-3.3 Myr), crossing central Iceland (surface rocks of age 3.3-0 Myr) over the glacier Vatnajökull, below which the locus of the Iceland mantle plume is currently centred. The crustal thickness is 25 km at the north end of the profile, increasing to 38-40 km beneath southern central Iceland. The upper crust is characterized by seismic P-wave velocities from 3.2 to approximately 6.4 km s-1. At the extreme ends of the profile, the upper crust can be modelled by a two-layered structure, within which seismic velocity increases with depth, with a total thickness of5-6 km. The central highlands of Iceland have a single unit of upper crust, with seismic velocity increasing continuously with depth to almost 10 km below the surface. Below the central volcanoes of northern Vatnajökull, the upper crust is only 3 km thick. The lower-crustal velocity structure is determined from rays that turn at a maximum depth of 24 km below central Iceland, where the seismic velocity is 7.2 km s-1. Below 24 km depth there are no first-arriving turning rays. The Moho is defined by P-and S-wave reflections observed from the shots at the extreme ends of the profile.P- to S-wave velocity ratios give a Poisson's:of 0.26 in the upper crust and 0.27 in the lower crust, indicating that, even directly above the centre of the mantle plume, the crust is well below the solidus temperature.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Crustal structure above the Iceland mantle plume imaged by the ICEMELT refraction profile does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Crustal structure above the Iceland mantle plume imaged by the ICEMELT refraction profile, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Crustal structure above the Iceland mantle plume imaged by the ICEMELT refraction profile will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1292312

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.