Glacial cycles drive variations in the production of oceanic crust

Glacial cycles redistribute water between oceans and continents, causing pressure changes in the upper mantle, with consequences for the melting of Earth's interior. Using Plio-Pleistocene sea-level variations as a forcing function, theoretical models of mid-ocean ridge dynamics that include me...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2015-03, Vol.347 (6227), p.1237-1240
Main Authors: Crowley, John W., Katz, Richard F., Huybers, Peter, Langmuir, Charles H., Park, Sung-Hyun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Geophysics
Ice ages
Magma
Mantle
Mathematical models
Mid-ocean ridges
Ocean bottom
Oceans
Ridges
Sea beds
Sea level
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Summary:Glacial cycles redistribute water between oceans and continents, causing pressure changes in the upper mantle, with consequences for the melting of Earth's interior. Using Plio-Pleistocene sea-level variations as a forcing function, theoretical models of mid-ocean ridge dynamics that include melt transport predict temporal variations in crustal thickness of hundreds of meters. New bathymetry from the Australian-Antarctic ridge shows statistically significant spectral energy near the Milankovitch periods of 23, 41, and 100 thousand years, which is consistent with model predictions. These results suggest that abyssal hills, one of the most common bathymétrie features on Earth, record the magmatic response to changes in sea level. The models and data support a link between glacial cycles at the surface and mantle melting at depth, recorded in the bathymétrie fabric of the sea floor.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1261508