On the scales of dynamic topography in whole-mantle convection models - preprint version

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GC007516. This is version 1 of this Preprint.

Add a Comment

You must log in to post a comment.


Comments

There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article.

Downloads

Download Preprint

Supplementary Files
Authors

Maëlis ARNOULD, Nicolas Coltice, Nicolas Flament, Valentin Seigneur, R. Dietmar Müller 

Abstract

Mantle convection shapes Earths surface by generating dynamic topography. Observational constraints and regional convection models suggest that surface topography could be sensitive to mantle flow for wavelengths as short as 1,000 km and 250 km, respectively. At these spatial scales, surface processes including sedimentation and relative sea-level change occur on million year timescales. However, time dependent global mantle flow models do not predict small-scale dynamic topography yet. Here, we present 2D-spherical annulus numerical models of mantle convection with large radial and lateral viscosity contrasts. We first identify the range of Rayleigh number, internal heat production rate and yield stress for which models generate plate-like behaviour, surface heat flow, surface velocities and topography distribution comparable to Earths. These models produce both whole mantle convection and small-scale convection in the upper mantle, which results in small- (< 500 km) to large-scale (> 10^4 km) dynamic topography, with a spectral power for intermediate scales (500 to 10^4 km) comparable
to estimates of present-day residual topography. Timescales of convection and the associated dynamic topography vary from five to several hundreds of millions of years. For a Rayleigh number of 10^7, we investigate how lithosphere
yield stress variations (10-50 MPa) and the presence of deep thermochemical heterogeneities favour small-scale (200-500 km) and intermediate scale (500-10^4 km) dynamic topography by controlling the formation of small scale convection and the number and distribution of subduction zones, respectively. The interplay between mantle convection and lithosphere dynamics generates a complex spatial and temporal pattern of dynamic topography consistent with constraints for Earth.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/osf.io/sx6th

Subjects

Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Keywords

mantle convection, Dynamic topography, Geodynamics, subduction, lateral viscosity variations, small-scale convection

Dates

Published: 2017-10-30 00:34

License

Academic Free License (AFL) 3.0