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The Uppermost Mantle Seismic Velocity And Viscosity Structure Of Central West Antarctica, J. P. O'Donnell, K. Selway, A. A. Nyblade, R. A. Brazier, D. A. Wiens, S. Anandakrishnan, R. C. Aster, Audrey D. Huerta, T. Wilson, J. Paul Winberry Aug 2017

The Uppermost Mantle Seismic Velocity And Viscosity Structure Of Central West Antarctica, J. P. O'Donnell, K. Selway, A. A. Nyblade, R. A. Brazier, D. A. Wiens, S. Anandakrishnan, R. C. Aster, Audrey D. Huerta, T. Wilson, J. Paul Winberry

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Accurately monitoring and predicting the evolution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet via secular changes in the Earth's gravity field requires knowledge of the underlying upper mantle viscosity structure. Published seismic models show the West Antarctic lithosphere to be ∼70–100 km thick and underlain by a low velocity zone extending to at least ∼200 km. Mantle viscosity is dependent on factors including temperature, grain size, the hydrogen content of olivine, the presence of partial melt and applied stress. As seismic wave propagation is particularly sensitive to thermal variations, seismic velocity provides a means of gauging mantle temperature. In 2012, a …


Origin Of Primitive Ocean Island Basalts By Crustal Gabbro Assimilation And Multiple Recharge Of Plume-Derived Melts, Anastassia Y. Borisova, Wendy A. Bohrson, Michel Grégoire Jul 2017

Origin Of Primitive Ocean Island Basalts By Crustal Gabbro Assimilation And Multiple Recharge Of Plume-Derived Melts, Anastassia Y. Borisova, Wendy A. Bohrson, Michel Grégoire

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Chemical Geodynamics relies on a paradigm that the isotopic composition of ocean island basalt (OIB) represents equilibrium with its primary mantle sources. However, the discovery of huge isotopic heterogeneity within olivine‐hosted melt inclusions in primitive basalts from Kerguelen, Iceland, Hawaii and South Pacific Polynesia islands implies open‐system behavior of OIBs, where during magma residence and transport, basaltic melts are contaminated by surrounding lithosphere. To constrain the processes of crustal assimilation by OIBs, we employed the Magma Chamber Simulator (MCS), an energy‐constrained thermodynamic model of recharge, assimilation and fractional crystallization. For a case study of the 21–19 Ma basaltic series, the …


Unusual Geologic Evidence Of Coeval Seismic Shaking And Tsunamis Shows Variability In Earthquake Size And Recurrence In The Area Of The Giant 1960 Chile Earthquake, M. Cisternas, E. Garrett, R. Wesson, T. Dura, Lisa L. Ely Mar 2017

Unusual Geologic Evidence Of Coeval Seismic Shaking And Tsunamis Shows Variability In Earthquake Size And Recurrence In The Area Of The Giant 1960 Chile Earthquake, M. Cisternas, E. Garrett, R. Wesson, T. Dura, Lisa L. Ely

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An uncommon coastal sedimentary record combines evidence for seismic shaking and coincident tsunami inundation since AD 1000 in the region of the largest earthquake recorded instrumentally: the giant 1960 southern Chile earthquake (Mw 9.5). The record reveals significant variability in the size and recurrence of megathrust earthquakes and ensuing tsunamis along this part of the Nazca-South American plate boundary. A 500-m long coastal outcrop on Isla Chiloé, midway along the 1960 rupture, provides continuous exposure of soil horizons buried locally by debris-flow diamicts and extensively by tsunami sand sheets. The diamicts flattened plants that yield geologically precise ages to correlate …