Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Chemical Evolution Of Oceanic And Continental Lithosphere: Case Studies In The Us Cordillera, Marlon Mauricio Jean

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Among the terrestrial planets, only Earth has volcanism and plutonism that is related to plate tectonics. At the bottom of the oceans, mid-ocean ridges form where tectonic plates drift apart. More visible, and explosively dangerous, is volcanism related to the subduction of oceanic plates back into the Earth’s mantle. Less clear is the origin of the third major type of volcanism, the so-called intra-plate volcanism, which is thought to represent thermally driven upwellings from the lower mantle. This dissertation investigates two of these unique volcano-tectonic settings which occur in the western United States.

Subduction zones are regions of intense earthquake …