Loading…
Quantitative Relationships Between Basalt Geochemistry, Shear Wave Velocity, and Asthenospheric Temperature Beneath Western North America
Western North America has an average elevation that is ∼2 km higher than cratonic North America. This difference coincides with a westward decrease in average lithospheric thickness from ∼240 to 260 basaltic samples. Forward and inverse modeling of carefully selected major, trace, and rare earth ele...
Saved in:
Published in: | Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems : G3 geophysics, geosystems : G3, 2018-09, Vol.19 (9), p.3376-3404 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Request full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Western North America has an average elevation that is ∼2 km higher than cratonic North America. This difference coincides with a westward decrease in average lithospheric thickness from ∼240 to 260 basaltic samples. Forward and inverse modeling of carefully selected major, trace, and rare earth elements were used to determine melt fraction as a function of depth. Basaltic melt appears to have been generated by adiabatic decompression of dry peridotite with asthenospheric potential temperatures of 1340 ± 20 °C. Potential temperatures as high as 1365 °C were obtained for the Snake River Plain. For the youngest (i.e., |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1525-2027 1525-2027 |
DOI: | 10.1029/2018GC007559 |