RT Journal Article
T1 Defining continental lithosphere as a layer with abundant frozen‐In structures that scatter seismic waves
A1 Levin, V.
A1 Lebedev, S.
A1 Fullea Urchulutegui, Javier
A1 Li, Y.
A1 Chen, X.
AB We investigate the structure of the continental lithosphere by combining two approaches: a systematic survey of abrupt changes in seismic properties detected by P-to-S converted body waves and an integrated geophysical-petrological inversion for temperature and density in the upper mantle. We refine the global thermo-chemical model WINTERC-G in eastern North America by including detailed regional information on the crust into petrological inversions and combine it with the upper mantle layering beneath eastern North America yielded by anisotropy-aware receiver-function analysis. Eastern North America's Archean, Proterozoic and Paleozoic lithospheres show an excellent agreement between the depth to the 1,30? isotherm that bounds the lithosphere and the depth range where converted waves detect abrupt changes in seismic properties. Boundaries with these abrupt changes reside within the rigid mechanical lithosphere and are uncommon in the convecting mantle beneath it. The boundaries include both impedance increases and decreases with depth, as well as anisotropy changes, and must have developed over the course of the assembly and evolution of the lithosphere. In the asthenosphere below, such heterogeneities appear to have been largely mixed out by convection. The existence of abundant interfaces with diverse origin can account for the commonly observed scattered signals from within the continental lithosphere and presents an alternative to the end-member concept of the mid-lithospheric discontinuity as a ubiquitous feature with a uniform origin. Generally, we can define continental lithosphere as a region of conductive heat transport and steep geotherm that is characterized by pervasive internal layering of density, elastic moduli and texture.
PB American Geophysical Union
SN 2169-9313
YR 2023
FD 2023-07-07
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/92786
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/92786
LA eng
NO Levin, V., Lebedev, S., Fullea, J., Li, Y., & Chen, X. (2023). Defining continental lithosphere as a layer with abundant frozen-in structures that scatter seismic waves. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 128, e2022JB026309. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB026309
NO National Science Foundation (Estados Unidos)
NO Agencia Espacial Europea
NO Science Foundation Ireland
NO Geological Survey of Ireland
NO Marine Institute (Irlanda)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 abr 2025