bending thin lithosphere causes localized snapping and not distributed crunching implications for abyssal hill formation horizontal loads i e pushes or pulls on the lithosphere are thought to produce significant localized dip slip faults but vertical loads are generally considered to produce broadly distributed bending or flexure the same processes of weakening or yielding that lead to localization of deformation on faults during lithospheric stretching or shortening can produce highly localized faulting during lithospheric bending localized bending or snapping should occur when the bending moment begins to decrease with increasing plate curvature if yielding causes a reduction in cohesion then thin brittle layers may respond to bending in the snapping mode while thicker layers respond in a more distributed crunching mode for a mohr coulomb layer floating on an invicid substrate it is the ratio of the cohesion to the average shear stress needed to overcome friction that controls the mode of bending the average horizontal stress on the layer also affects the mode of bending for estimated rock properties a brittle layer has to be less than a few up to perhaps 10 km thick to break in a localized way lithosphere at many mid ocean ridges is thought to be only a few kilometers thick and also may be a site of vertical loading the localized snapping mode of bending may produce abyssal hills at fast spreading mid ocean ridges

interplay between subduction retreat and lateral extrusion tectonics of the western carpathians 1 analysis of brittle microstructures reveals three tertiary deformation events in the western carpathians 1 late paleogene bedding parallel extension 2 oligocene to middle miocene nne ssw compression and ese wnw extension 3 post mid miocene nw se extension these regional deformations applied to crustal blocks in the intra carpathian region resulted from forces which were induced by the coupled plate tectonic processes of subduction retreat beneath the carpathian arc and lateral extrusion from the eastern alps toward the carpathian region material flow from the alps spread toward east and ne guided by sinistral strike slip zones along the ne trending continental margin subduction retreat was terminated by mid miocene soft collision of the inner western carpathians with the european foreland ongoing subduction retreat beneath the eastern carpathians caused post mid miocene back arc extension forming the pannonian basin extension spread into the western carpathians by reactivating the extrusion related strike slip faults as normal faults

vertical averages of rheology of the continental lithosphere relation to thin sheet parameters abstract we calculate vertically averaged rheologies for continental lithosphere subject to biaxial states of stress corresponding to extensional compressional and strike slip regimes we assume that brittle deformation occurs by byerlee s law and that ductile deformation occurs by steady state creep mechanisms under these conditions the vertically averaged rheology may be approximated by a single power law over the range of strain rates from 10 13 to 10 17 s 1 this is true not only when either brittle or ductile behavior dominates the strength of the lithospere but also when the contributions of brittle and ductile behavior are comparable the value of the power law exponent n and the strength of the lithosphere depend on the depth and stress difference at the brittle ductile transition the temperature at the moho and the geothermal gradient in the range of vertically integrated stress between 1012 and 1013 n m 1n reaches a minimum of between 5 and 10 under other circumstancesn increases rapidly as brittle behavior dominates over ductile behavior the strength of the lithosphere depends most strongly on the thermal state of the upper mantle but also is influenced by the stress supported in brittle portions of the lithosphere

multi channel seismic imaging of a crustal magma chamber along the east pacific rise a reflection observed on multi channel seismic profiles along and across the east pacific rise between 8 50 n and 13 30 n is interpreted to arise from the top of a crustal magma chamber located 1 2 2 4 km below the sea floor the magma chamber is quite narrow 4 6 km wide but can be traced as a nearly continuous feature for tens of kilometres along the rise axis

indentation of a continent with a built in thickness change experiment and nature orogens oblique to the direction of plate convergence are currently attributed to obliquity between the margins of one or both of the sutured continents to their direction convergence we use a single analogue experiment and natural examples to illustrate a potential additional factor variations in strength of the indented continent at a high angle to the convergence direction the wavelengths of structures in laterally shortened lithosphere depend on the strength of the most competent layers lateral variations in crustal thickness must therefore lead to structures oblique to any applied lateral compression an analogue experiment was performed to explore this phenomenon a two layer indented continent was modelled by a brittle upper crust of sand above a lower crust of high viscosity polymer floating on a single layer of low viscosity syrup representing the mantle the well known strike slip structures allowing lateral escape to distant weak boundaries were hindered by lateral boundaries in front of the indenter this allowed us to focus on the effects of a thickness change built into the indented continent along a zone parallel to the direction in which a vertical rigid wall advancing at a steady rate represented the indenter vertical escape led to an orogenic belt oblique to the advancing wall this obliquity influences subsequent lateral escape model scaling and interpretations are based on extended thin sheet approximation etsa and standard theories of faulting four sectors of the alpine himalayan orogen iran tunisia the eastern alps and the himalaya are oblique to the continental convergence direction and we point to thickness changes at high angles to the suture that may account for this geometry as crustal thicknesses north of oblique sectors of the himalayas are not yet known we speculate on them we infer from the main difference between our experiment and all our examples chosen from nature that vertical orogenic escape was oblique to our model suture but can be parallel to natural sutures

mantle dynamics uplift of the tibetan plateau and the indian monsoon convective removal of lower lithosphere beneath the tibetan plateau can account for a rapid increase in the mean elevation of the tibetan plateau of 1000 m or more in a few million years such uplift seems to be required by abrupt tectonic and environmental changes in asia and the indian ocean in late cenozoic time the composition of basaltic volcanism in northern tibet which apparently began at about 13 ma implies melting of lithosphere not asthenosphere the most plausible mechanism for rapid heat transfer to the midlithosphere is by convective removal of deeper lithosphere and its replacement by hotter asthenosphere the initiation of normal faulting in tibet at about 8 3 ma suggests that the plateau underwent an appreciable increase in elevation at that time an increase due solely to the isostatic response to crustal thickening caused by india s penetration into eurasia should have been slow and could not have triggered normal faulting another process such as removal of relatively cold dense lower lithosphere must have caused a supplemental uplift of the surface folding and faulting of the indo australian plate south of india the most prominent oceanic intraplate deformation on earth began between about 7 5 and 8 ma and indicates an increased north south compressional stress within the indo australian plate a tibetan uplift of only 1000 m if the result of removal of lower lithosphere should have increased the compressional stress that the plateau applies to india and that resists india s northward movement from an amount too small to fold oceanic lithosphere to one sufficient to do so the climate of the equatorial indian ocean and southern asia changed at about 6 9 ma monsoonal winds apparently strengthened northern pakistan became more arid but weathering of rock in the eastern himalaya apparently increased because of its high altitude and lateral extent the tibetan plateau provides a heat source at midlatitudes that should oppose classical symmetric hadley circulation between the equator and temperate latitudes and that should help to drive an essentially opposite circulation characteristic of summer monsoons for the simple case of axisymmetric heating no dependence on longitude of an atmosphere without dissipation theoretical analyses by hou lindzen and plumb show that an axisymmetric heat source displaced from the equator can drive a much stronger meridianal monsoonlike circulation than such a source centered on the equator but only if heating exceeds a threshold whose level increases with the latitude of the heat source because heating of the atmosphere over tibet should increase monotonically with elevation of the plateau a modest uplift 1000 2500 m of tibet already of substantial extent and height might have been sufficient to exceed a threshold necessary for a strong monsoon the virtual simultaneity of these phenomena suggests that uplift was rapid approximately 1000 m to 2500 m in a few million years moreover nearly simultaneously with the late miocene strengthening of the monsoon the calcite compensation depth in the oceans dropped plants using the relatively efficient c4 pathway for photosynthesis evolved rapidly and atmospheric co2 seems to have decreased suggesting causal relationships and positive feedbacks among these phenomena both a supplemental uplift of the himalaya the southern edge of tibet and a strengthened monsoon may have accelerated erosion and weathering of silicate rock in the himalaya that in turn enhanced extraction of co2 from the atmosphere thus these correlations offer some support for links between plateau uplift a downdrawing of co2 from the atmosphere and global climate change as proposed by raymo ruddiman and froehlich mantle dynamics beneath mountain belts not only may profoundly affect tectonic processes near and far from the belts but might also play an important role in altering regional and global climates

lateral extrusion in the eastern alps part 1 boundary conditions and experiments scaled for gravity lateral extrusion encompasses extensional collapse gravitational spreading away from a topographic high in an orogenic belt and tectonic escape plane strain horizontal motion of wedges driven by forces applied to their boundaries in the eastern alps it resulted from 1 an overall northerly compression apulia against eurasia 2 a strong foreland bohemian massif 3 lack of constraint along a lateral boundary carpathian region and 4 a previously thickened gravitationally unstable thermally weakened crust eastern alpine orogenic belt six indentation experiments reproduce lateral extrusion at lithospheric scale the models have two to four lithospheric layers with a mohr coulomb rheology for the upper and a viscous rheology for the lower crust the lithosphere rests upon a low viscosity asthenosphere a broad indenter a narrow deformable area and a weakly constrained eastern margin fullfill as closely as possible conditions in the eastern alps indentation produces both thickening in front of the indenter and escape of triangular wedges lateral variations in crustal thickness become attenuated by gravitational spreading the overall fault pattern includes domains of reverse strike slip oblique normal and pure normal faults strike slip faults in conjugate sets develop serially the narrow width of the deformable area and the strength of the foreland determine the angles between the sets gravitational spreading produces a rhombohedral pattern of oblique and pure normal faults along the unconstrained margin opposite the unconstrained margin the indenter front shows thrusts and folds intersecting with the conjugate strike slip sets a triangular indenter favors spreading high velocity of indentation favors escape high confinement limits lateral motion inhibits spreading and favors thickening lateral extrusion in the eastern alps is best modeled by 1 a weak lateral confinement 2 a broad and straight indenter 3 a narrow width of the deformable area and 4 a rigid foreland crustal thickening lateral escape and gravitational spreading all contribute to the overall deformation

continental collision with finite indenter strength 2 european eastern alps 1 comparison of the results of a thin viscous sheet model with the velocity field determined by gps stations in the alpine pannonian realm shows that the adriatic plate is only slightly stronger than the eastern alps the observed velocity field is best approximated with a newtonian fluid however this scenario must be fairly recent as the overall geometry of the orogen can only be reproduced if the rheology contrast was about 1 10 before the late miocene the boundary conditions for this model are tested against the orientation of the intraplate stress field and are robust for argand numbers between 1 and 5 we conclude that the convergence rate between the adriatic and european plates must have slowed since the miocene and that the present day eastward extrusion of the eastern alps is largely due to lateral escape and only to a minor degree due to gravitational collapse scaled viscosities of the eastern alps are on the order of 1023 pa s

plate bending stresses at axial highs and implications for faulting behavior abstract we develop flexural models of axial high topography which include the effects of plastic yielding and use the results to examine the contribution of plate bending stresses and strains to fault patterns at the east pacific rise epr the lithosphere responds to buoyancy near the ridge axis created by the presence of elevated temperatures and melt within the crust parameterizing these quantities we find topography at wide axial highs can be fit assuming the crust cools to lithosphere temperatures to 3 4 km depth within 2 km from the axis and the presence of 20 30 melt in the lower crust a trade off in buoyancy implies the greater the amount of crustal cooling the less melt is required significant crustal cooling leads to lithospheric strengthening but plastic bending effects allow the plate to deflect over the distance needed to fit the observed axial relief the plate develops at the axis with non zero curvature and unbends as it moves away from the axis placing a section of the upper surface or seafloor into extension seafloor stresses are extensional beginning a few kilometers from the axis and continuing up to distances of 35 km from the axis for models that fit wide axial high topography a compilation of previous faulting studies at the epr reveals that distance from the axis over which fault slip remains active appears to depend on the width of the axial high for narrow highs this region is confined to at most 15 km from the axis but at wider axial highs it reaches distances of 20 45 km comparable to regions of extension predicted by the flexural models the model strain can be as large as 1 9 amounting to half the observed strain assuming a fault slip angle of 45 but most strain assuming a slip angle of 60 these results strongly suggest that bending stresses contribute significantly to normal faulting on the flanks of fast spreading ridges and may have a strong influence on faulting patterns there

towards a mechanical model for the formation of the pannonian basin abstract new maps showing crustal and lithospheric thickness variations in the pannonian basin and the surrounding east alpine carpathian and dinaric mountains have been prepared on the basis of recent seismic seismologic and electromagnetic data a map presenting miocene faults of regional significance has been also constructed for the same region by using a wealth of recently available national and or more local studies it is suggested that observed crustal and lithospheric structural contrasts have been controlled primarily by neogene kinematic history of the region kinematic history is characterized by the following main patterns 1 1 indentation by adria and large scale backthrusting in the southern alps 2 2 eastward escape and extension of the eastern alps 3 3 extensional collapse in the pannonian basin area 4 4 formation of broad wrench fault systems along strike in the dinarides and southern carpathians and the western carpathians with dextral and sinistral shear respectively 5 5 compression and accretion of the external thrust and fold belt in the eastern carpathians these kinematic patterns are thought to be interrelated and all are manifestations of the late stage evolution of an overthickened orogenic wedge in order to arrive at a better understanding of the mechanism of extension which formed the pannonian basin deep crustal seismic profiles hydrocarbon exploration reflection lines and borehole data have been analyzed in the little hungarian plain this plain represents the transition zone between the alps and the pannonian lowlands and the results are illustrated by eight interpreted cross sections one result of regional importance is the clear recognition that the transdanubian central range at the southeastern flank of the little hungarian plain is composed of alpine pre senonian thrust sheets this finding marks the end of a century of debate the allochthony of the substrata of the pannonian basin can be now considered proven another result of more general interest is that these cross sections document the mode of lithospheric extension preexisting compressional detachment planes reactivate as low angle normal faults and lead to tectonic unroofing of deeply buried metamorphic terranes characterized by ductile flow along subhorizontal lineation

prediction of faulting from the theories of elasticity and plasticity what are the limits elasticity rigid plasticity and elasto plasticity are the simplest constitutive models used to describe the initiation and evolution of faulting however in practice the limits of their application are not always clear in this paper we test the behaviour of these different models using as examples tectonic problems of indentation of a die compression with basal shear bending of a plate and normal faulting around a dike by comparing the results of these tests we formulate some guidelines that may be useful for the selection of an appropriate constitutive model of faulting the theory of elasticity reasonably predicts the initiation of the fault pattern but gives erroneous results for large strains the theory of rigid plasticity is more appropriate for large deformations where the geometry of faults can be found by the method of characteristics this method works well for zones of failure that are not severely constrained by elastic material outside e g when faults are connected to the free surface a viscous substratum or a zone of weakness non associated elasto plasticity is the most complete theory among those considered in this paper it describes the evolution of faults from the initiation of localized deformations to the formation of a complicated fault network

volcanic growth faults and the origin of pacific abyssal hills the topographic features known as abyssal hills characterize 30 of the ocean floor and yet their origin has been the subject of vigorous debate for over 40 years submersible based investigations show that pacific abyssal hills are created on the flanks of the east pacific rise as horsts and grabens which lengthen with time hills are bounded on one side by ridge facing scarps produced by normal faulting and on the other by more gentle slopes produced by volcanic growth faulting

a simple model for the fault generated morphology of slow spreading mid oceanic ridges we postulate that fluctuations in magmatic activity at mid oceanic ridges perturb the horizontal least principal stress across rift bounding normal faults leading to alternating phases of magmatic accretion which increases valley width and tectonic extension which results in the growth of inner rift wall topography fine scale bathymetrie surveys and earthquake fault plane solutions show that active normal faults at slow spreading ridges are moderately dipping approximately 45 planar features throughout the seismogenic oceanic lithosphere a simple quantitative model that includes flexural deformation of a 10 km thick elastic plate by slippage on 45 dipping normal faults can match the bathymetrie profiles across several slow spreading ridge segments comparison among dip distributions of normal faulting earthquakes at mid ocean ridges in the trench outer rise region and on continents suggests that most events from these three tectonic environments initiated at dips close to 45 raising unanswered questions about the mechanical conditions under which the faults originated

active deformation of asia from kinematics to dynamics using estimated strain rates across the actively deforming region of asia to infer variations in viscous stress it is shown that gradients of stress point uphill toward the center of tibet where gravitational potential energy per unit surface area reaches a maximum thus the dynamics of the deformation seem to obey the equation of creeping flow which expresses a balance between gradients in stress and the gravitational body force this balance in the region of the tibetan plateau yields an estimate of 10 22 pascal second for the average viscosity of the tibetan lithosphere which is only about 10 to 100 times greater than the viscosity of the convecting upper mantle

thermomechanical behavior of large ash flow calderas the fundamental thermal and mechanical processes that occur within the ash flow caldera magma chamber systems remain largely enigmatic to date the only models of caldera collapse are simple mostly elastic or viscoelastic mechanical models that can predict some of the conditions preceding the collapse they cannot however predict the collapse itself because they are incapable either of reproducing the formation of faults or of accounting for the brittle ductile transitions and fault related thermal anomalies we have constructed analytical and numerical therrnomechanical that account for both elastic plastic ductile rheology and physical properties of the caldera rocks the overpressured magma is evacuated through a central vent and transforms into ash flow units deposited within the forming caldera brittle deformation faulting and subsequent collapse of the structure are reproduced the results show that in the absence of a regional stress field the collapse on both sides will occur only for aspect ratios i e caldera diameter to the depth of the magma chamber exceeding 5 and that internal embedded faults may also appear when the aspect ratio exceeds 10 thermal conductivity contrasts in ash flow calderas give rise to strong heat refraction that localizes deep seated thermal anomalies to the outer sides of the faults in the presence of regional extension the border faulting can be attenuated or disappear and the faults tend to localize around the central part of the chamber roof coupled therrnomechanical modeling suggests that the outer sides of the border faults have high trapping capabilities for hydrothermal fluids the geometry of the brittle ductile transition largely controls that of the fractured zones within and around the chamber roof thus justifying a new mechanical definition of magma chamber geometry

lithospheric instability beneath the transverse ranges of california recent high resolution seismic experiments reveal that the crust beneath the san gabriel mountains portion of the transverse ranges thickens by 10 15 km contrary to earlier studies associated with the transverse ranges there is an anomalous ridge of seismically fast upper mantle material extending at least 200 km into the mantle this high velocity anomaly has previously been interpreted as a lithospheric downwelling both lithospheric downwelling and crustal thickening are associated with the oblique convergence of pacific and north america plates across the san andreas fault though it seems likely that the lithospheric downwelling is driven at least partly by gravitational instability of the cold lithospheric mantle we show by means of numerical experiment that the balance between buoyancy forces that drive deformation and viscous stresses that resist deformation determines the geometry of crustal thickening and mantle downwelling we use a simple two layered lithospheric model in which dense lithospheric mantle overlies relatively inviscid and less dense asthenosphere and is overlain by buoyant crust external plate motion drives convergence which is constrained by boundary conditions to occur within a central convergent zone of specified width a fundamental transition in the geometry of downwelling is revealed by our experiments for slow convergence or low crustal viscosity downwelling occurs as multiple sheets on the margins of the convergent zone for fast convergence or crust that is stronger than mantle lithosphere a single downwelling occurs beneath the center of the convergent zone this complexity in the evolution of the system is attributed to the interaction of crustal buoyancy with the evolving gravitational instability in order for a narrow downwelling slab to have formed beneath the transverse ranges within the last 5 myr the effective lithospheric viscosity of the convergent region is at most about 10 20 pa s

tertiary subduction and slab break off model of the carpathian pannonian region abstract this paper illustrates the application of multidisciplinary data analysis to the carpathian pannonian region and presents a new tertiary development model that incorporates all multidisciplinary parameters during the late cretaceous eocene the future carpathian orogen was part of the larger alpine carpathian orogen formed by the southeastward subduction 135 55 ma of the penninic ocean and the ultimate collision 55 40 ma of the european and adriatic continents the subduction in the alpine region ended by the slab break off of the subducting oceanic lithosphere from the continental one and by the related magmatism 43 24 ma while the eocene alps were under continental collision the eocene remnant carpathian flysch basin rcfb was still subducting the carpathians and eastern parts of the alps started to occupy the region of the present carpathians during the early miocene the oceanic plate underlying the rcfb subducted southwestwards later westwards while the northeastward and eastward migration velocity of the accreting plate boundary decreased through time the slower subduction rate caused a steeper dip of the subducting slab the beginning of the eggenburgian 22 19 ma and following duration of extension in the orogenic hinterland accompanied by the asthenosphere upwelling the onset of the crustally derived volcanism above the risen asthenosphere and the younger mantle derived volcanism progressively less contaminated by the crustal material all contemporaneous with a shortening in the carpathian accretionary wedge the subduction of the rcfb finally led at the end of the early miocene to a collision with the continental margin along the westernmost part of the present carpathian arc the subduction roll back of the subducting slab of the rcfb under the advancing inner carpathians the oblique closure of the basin the progressive change of the subduction to collision from the west to the east along the carpathian arc drove a scissors like break off of the subducting oceanic slab along the west carpathians the break off in the east carpathians was driven by the weight of a subducting oceanic slab and buoyancy of the attached continental slab the break off started in the west of the carpathian arc in the early miocene ran along the arc to its present position in the bend area between the east and south carpathians and separated the oceanic slab that subducted passively under its own weight from the european continental margin the lateral propagation rate of the slab tear decreased with time the break off related volcanism was synchronous with the final stages of the collision

factors controlling normal fault offset in an ideal brittle layer we study the physical processes controlling the development and evolution of normal faults by analyzing numerical experiments of extension of an ideal two dimensional elastic plastic brittle layer floating on an inviscid fluid the yield stress of the layer is the sum of the layer cohesion and its frictional stress faults are initiated by a small plastic flaw in the layer we get finite fault offset when we make fault cohesion decrease with strain even in this highly idealized system we vary six physical parameters the initial cohesion of the layer the thickness of the layer the rate of cohesion reduction with plastic strain the friction coefficient the flaw size and the fault width we obtain two main types of faulting behavior 1 multiple major faults with small offset and 2 single major fault that can develop very large offset we show that only two parameters control these different types of faulting patterns 1 the brittle layer thickness for a given cohesion and 2 the rate of cohesion reduction with strain for a large brittle layer thickness 22 km with 44 mpa of cohesion extension always leads to multiple faults distributed over the width of the layer for a smaller brittle layer thickness the fault pattern is dependent on the rate of fault weakening a very slow rate of weakening leads to a very large offset fault and a fast rate of weakening leads to an asymmetric graben and eventually to a very large offset fault when the offset is very large the model produces major features of the pattern of topography and faulting seen in some metamorphic core complexes

extreme enrichment of polymetallic ni mo pge au in lower cambrian black shales of south china an os isotope and pge geochemical investigation extreme metal enrichments occur in the lower cambrian niutitang formation a thick black shale sequence deposited on the yangtze platform of south china and form a regionally distributed conformable polymetallic ni mo pge au sulfide horizon the origin for the extreme enrichment of metals in these black shales is discussed based on a comprehensive geochemical investigation of re os isotopes and platinum group elements the black shales of the lower cambrian niutitang formation in guizhou province yielded an re os isochron age of 535 11 ma with an initial 187 os 188 os ratio of 0 80 0 04 which is similar to the initial 187 os 188 os ratio 0 78 0 19 of the ni mo sulfide ores but slightly lower than the initial 187 os 188 os ratio 1 18 0 02 of lower cambrian black shales from the lesser himalaya india a comparison of os isotope data among the chinese ni mo sulfide ores the seafloor massive sulfide deposits and contemporaneous seawater suggests a possible similar hydrothermal forming mechanism for these deposits the pge concentrations pt anomaly pt pt pt pd ir pd au pd ratios of the chinese ni mo sulfide ores are similar to those metal rich black shales of submarine volcanogenic hydrothermal origin from czech republic namibia and canada but are different from those data of the ocean floor fe mn crusts that have scavenged their pge and other metals directly from seawater it is therefore suggested that the ni mo sulfide ores from the niutitang black shale sequence in south china had a submarine hydrothermal origin the anoxic environments and abundant organic matter in the ocean basin also played a key role for the extreme metal enrichments the discharge of hydrothermal fluids into the cambrian ocean may have had a great effect on life during the cambrian explosion 2007 elsevier b v all rights reserved

flexural rotation of normal faults a conceptual model is proposed for the generation of low angle normal faults in metamorphic core complexes the model is based on three assumptions 1 the isostatic response to normal fault motion is of regional extent 2 when a fault segment is significantly rotated from the optimum angle of slip relative to the crustal stress field it is replaced by a new planar fault oriented in the optimum direction and 3 the fault cuts the entire upper crust and fault motion always nucleates in the same region at the base of the upper crust the stress field is considered to be uniform through the crust and the regional isostatic response of the crust to loads is computed using the thin plate flexure approximations active low angle normal faults are difficult to reconcile with rock mechanics theories earthquake focal mechanism studies and geochronologic results indicating rapid cooling of core complex rocks the model does not require active fault slip on low angle faults the flexural response to normal faulting is shown to be significantly affected by anelastic behavior of the crust and by loading due to sedimentation the anelastic response to large bending stresses results in significant reduction in the effective elastic rigidity of the upper crust this can explain the observed short wavelength of topographic response to normal fault loads the model results in 1 a nearly flat lying abandoned normal fault or detachment below slices of upper plate rocks and sedimentary infill 2 a strong contrast in metamorphic grade across the abandoned detachment 3 rapid movement of lower plate rocks from midcrustal depths to shallower depths these results are qualitatively in agreement with geologic observations for core complexes

evolution of the pannonian basin system 1 tectonics the carpathian arc formed during cretaceous to miocene time by continental collision between europe and smaller continental fragments following southward and westward subduction of ocean floor during the last stages of thrusting in the outer carpathians a set of discrete basins formed behind the carpathian loop these basins are regions of middle to late miocene extension and are connected to each other and to areas of coeval shortening in the outer carpathian thrust belt by a system of strike slip faults sinistral northeast trending and dextral northwest trending sets of conjugate shears reflect overall east west extension of the intra carpathian region during middle to late miocene time palinspastic reconstruction of the basins indicates about 100 50 km of east west extension across the intra carpathian region during this time we interpret the vienna basin which is superimposed partly on the flysch nappes of the outer west carpathians as the result of thin skinned extensional tectonics above a shallow detachment surface within the crust extension of upper crustal rocks above this detachment was probably accomodated by thrusting of the outermost nappes of the west carpathians over the european platform extension of basins farther inside the carpathian loop probably involved rocks at deeper crustal levels and within the upper mantle the most internally situated basins formed by extensional processes that involved the entire lithosphere thus the depth to which extension occurred seems to be closely related to the proximity of each basin to the active thrust front in the carpathians this can be related to the geometry of the subduction zone extension within the intra carpathian basins began first in the northernmost basins and migrated southward and eastward over a ten million year period palinspastic reconstruction of the basins at three different times during the miocene 17 5 16 5 and 13 0 ma predicts eastward migration of the zone of thrusting and shortening within the carpathian mountains to accomodate the synchronous eastward and southward migration of areas of extension from these reconstructions about 120 60 km of east west shortening is predicted across the outer east carpathians from about 17 5 ma until present both predictions are in good agreement with the timing and magnitude of shortening in the carpathian thrust belt as determined directly from rocks within the belt from this we infer a close relationship for middle to late miocene extension of the intra carpathian region and middle to late miocene crustal shortening within the outer carpathians during middle and late miocene time deformation of the pannonian fragment was dominated by extensional and wrench tectonics except along a narrow zone in the outer carpathian thrust belt middle and late miocene thrusting in the carpathians is interpreted as the result of simple shear caused by relative motion between europe and the overriding pannonian fragment at the subduction boundary rather than of regional compression of lithospheric rocks at depth the initiation of extensional tectonics within the intra carpathian region in middle miocene time can be related to reorganization of major fragment boundaries of the eastern european alpine system

magnetotelluric and seismological determination of the lithosphere asthenosphere transition in central europe abstract we assembled all available magnetotelluric mt sounding curves that cover characteristic provinces of europe the depths of layers with increased electrical conductivities estimated from mt sounding curves by the respective authors were compared with a model of the lithosphere thickness derived from seismic p residuals regions of a relatively thin and thick lithosphere are characterized by positive and negative p residuals respectively we have found a good correspondence with both sets of results in the central part of the pannonian basin the depth of the lithosphere asthenosphere transition is estimated at 60 80 km and 100 120 km at the flanks the results for the bohemian massif show deeper levels of this transition between 100 and 200 km these depths seem to be typical of the lithosphere base beneath the variscan domain of central europe

crustal structure in the carpatho pannonian region insights from three dimensional gravity modelling and their geodynamic significance a three dimensional gravity modelling of the carpatho pannonian region was carried out to get a better image of the moho boundary and the most prominent intra crustal density heterogeneities at first only the major density boundaries were considered the bottom of the tertiary basin fill the moho discontinuity and the lithosphere to asthenosphere boundary density contrasts were represented by relative densities the improved density model shows a transitional unit of high density at the base of the crust along the teisseyre tornquist zone in the western carpathians an extensive relatively low density unit was inferred in mid crustal levels the border zone between the southern carpathians and the transylvanian basin is characterized by a sharp step like contact of the two crustal units the moho configuration reveals important information on the tectonic evolution of the region zones of continental collision are represented by thick moho roots eastern alps eastern carpathians transpressional orogenic segments however are different in the western carpathians the moho is a flat surface in the dinarides a medium moho root is observed the southern carpathians are characterized by a thick crustal root the differences are explained with the presence or absence of subductible oceanic crust along the carpathians during the extrusion of pannonian blocks

effect of lithospheric geometry on rift valley relief 1 continental and mid oceanic rifts commonly show a rift valley bounded by normal faults and uplifted shoulders in this paper we numerically model the evolution of rift valley relief in a notched brittle lithosphere results show that the rift valley has a maximum valley relief which is controlled by the competition between isostasy and lithospheric geometry if the axial lithosphere is much thinner than the flanking lithosphere the isostatic force will break outward dipping faults on the axis and stop the deepening of the rift valley we call this the axial failure mode on the other hand if the thickness of axial lithosphere is close to that of the flanks flexural bending will break new faults on the flanks and stop the valley deepening we call this the flanking failure mode triggering of either mode gives the maximum valley depth and the selection is controlled by the interplay between isostasy and lithospheric geometry on the basis of these mechanisms we propose a scaling equation that relates the maximum valley depth to the geometry flanking thickness axial thickness and notch width and strength friction angle and cohesion of the lithosphere the model explains along axis variation of valley relief at mid oceanic ridges by changes of the axial lithosphere thickness

slab in the wrong place lower lithospheric mantle delamination in the last stage of the eastern carpathian subduction retreat a model with a new type of delamination of the lower lithospheric mantle is proposed to explain the pliocene to recent tectonic evolution of the eastern carpathians we suggest that after the continental collision in middle miocene time break off of the west dipping subducting slab occurred at a depth of 70 km slab break off propagated horizontally toward the east inducing lithospheric delamination and movement of the vrancea slab into its present position delamination was followed by rapid asthenospheric rise resulting in magma generation and the explosive alkaline basaltic magmatism of the persani mountains contamination of the former subduction related magmatic reservoirs with the alkalic basaltic material and differentiation processes produced the harghita calc alkaline and shoshonitic rocks the asthenospheric rise induced crustal uplift which is the triggering mechanism for extension and formation of the brasov gheorghieni hinterland basins the extension was accommodated by shortening and folding in the foreland the vertical vrancea slab appears in our model as a segment of delaminated lower lithospheric mantle that is seismically active due to the ongoing pull of the eclogitized oceanic crust the model explains the displaced and shallow position of the slab relative to the eastern carpathian suture zone

hydrothermal vent bacterial community in ordovician ophicalcite southern quebec appalachians abstract the oldest known case of chemosynthesis is suggested for lower ordovician ophicalcites in the southern quebec appalachians canada these ophicalcites are the end product of tectonosedimentary and hydrothermal alteration of ophiolites on the deep sea floor peloidal mats mean d18o 4 6 mean d13c 0 4 coat micritic sediments mean d18o 4 8 mean d13c 0 1 and ophiolite clasts associated with hydrothermal low temperature 80 c vent fracture filling calcite cements mean d18o 13 5 mean d13c 0 2 the mats are interpreted to be the fossil analogues of bacterial white slime around modern vents the mats are locally overlain by botryoidal cements mean d18o 3 4 mean d13c 0 9 of former high magnesium calcite mineralogy precipitation of this cement was likely mediated by bacteria stable isotope ratios of peloidal mats and botryoidal cements indicate that the exhalatives were free of hydrocarbons and h2s modern and ancient hydrothermal vents on ophiolite substrates commonly are typified by high temperature h2s rich fluids sulfide mineralization and a diverse chemosynthetic fauna carbonatized ophiolite successions however are significantly different in their vent setting as indicated by this ordovician occurrence and a previously described cretaceous example the ordovician ophicalcite is devoid of mineralization and of macro biological activity the lack of corrosion of carbonates in the ordovician ophicalcite suggests minimal rates of h2s venting and pseudomorphs of sulfates now calcite are found in the sediment surrounding the vents these observations suggest that the venting system of this ordovician case was somewhat similar to h2s poor w ite smokers in the absence of hydrocarbon or sulfide emanations thermophilic bacterial sulfate reduction likely was active around these ordovician vents

flexing is not stretching an analogue study of flexure induced fault populations abstract flexure induced fractures are predicted to form along the axis of maximum tensile stress within a bending brittle plate the mechanics of this process differ from extensional fault growth in response to lithosphere stretching where a distributed set of simultaneously growing fractures evolves through elastic interaction to simulate extensional fault growth during lithospheric flexure partially solidified plaster layers resting on a foam rubber substrate were depressed by a linear load and fractured in analogue models the length and spacing frequency distributions of the resulting crack populations were analyzed for a series of nine thin 5 mm and ten thick 15 mm layer experiments previous analogue stretching models predict power law length frequency distributions and clustered spacings c v 1 at low strains c v

gravity anomalies isostasy and mantle flow at the east pacific rise crest bathymetry and gravity data obtained during a detailed hydrosweep survey of the southern east pacific rise from 7 s to 9 s are used to investigate isostasy at the axis of a fast spreading mid ocean ridge in particular we examine the manner in which the bathymetric crestal high is supported and how this support varies along the axis within the 160 km long 7 12 s 8 38 s ridge segment the crestal high stands about 400 m above the adjacent ridge flanks and has a nearly constant minimum axial depth for a distance of 140 km the summit is broad and flat and an axial summit caldera is present for the entire length of the ridge segment however the width and cross sectional shape of the crestal high vary systematically along the axis it is broad with gentle slopes in the center of the segment but becomes progressively narrower and steeper toward the ends of the ridge segment the ridge crest is marked by a free air gravity anomaly high about 15 20 km wide with an amplitude of 10 15 mgal relative to the ridge flanks mantle bouguer anomalies vary systematically along the axis with minimum values found near the center of the segment the axial mantle bouguer anomalies thus do not reflect the axial depth but are correlated with changes in the cross sectional area of the crestal bathymetric high the effects of cooling and subsidence away from the axis were removed from the bathymetry and free air anomalies to isolate residual topographic and gravity anomalies associated with the ridge crest the residual crestal bathymetric high was modeled as a flexural feature resulting from the upward buoyant load of a region of low density material centered beneath the axis the lithosphere was treated as a broken plate either with a constant flexural rigidity or an effective elastic thickness te which grows at a rate proportional to the square root of distance from the axis the best fitting values of te for the constant rigidity case are in the range of 0 3 0 6 km for the growing plate model te increases at a rate of 0 2 0 3 km the gravity constrains the mass deficiency to extend to a depth of 20 30 km for both lithospheric models we interpret this low density material as a region of partial melt feeding magma to the ridge axis the best fitting density anomalies imply that a 4 9 melt fraction is present beneath the crestal high upwelling of melt to the axis is thus confined to a narrow zone within about 10 km of the axis the mass deficiency and thus the upwelling partial melt are not distributed evenly along the ridge axis but rather are concentrated in the central portion of the ridge segment it thus appears that differences between the along axis gravity and depth patterns observed at slow spreading and at fast spreading ridges are not the result of a change from three dimensional focused upwelling at slow spreading ridges to two dimensional sheetlike upwelling at fast spreading ridges rather the differences in axial gravity and depth between fast and slow spreading ridges reflect differences in the efficiency of the shallow along axis magma distribution

an ordovician lost city venting serpentinite and life oases on iapetus seafloor highly brecciated carbonate rich serpentinites or ophicalcites of early ordovician age in the dunnage zone of quebec are host to fracture fill high temperature 80 230 c carbonate cements away from or crosscut by the fractures centimetre to decimetre thick crusts made up of massive to laminated micrite peloidal layers and threads are associated with low temperature botryoidal calcite cements the peloidal masses are characterized by a clotted texture that is reminiscent of interpreted fossilized ordovician microbial communities the ophicalcite contains carbonate botryoids morphology commonly found at shallow reefal margins but also at modern cold ch4 seeps and recently documented at hot ch4 vents from serpentinite such as the modern lost city hydrothermal field in the atlantic ocean the 18ovpdb ratios of the calcite botryoids and peloidal layers indicate formation and or precipitation out of cold ordovician deep marine waters to the contrary of botryoids at cold methane seeps the botryo

rayleigh taylor instability as a mechanism for corona formation on venus abstract in this study we explore the idea that coronae have formed on venus as a result of gravitational rayleigh taylor instability of the lithosphere the lithosphere is represented by a system of stratified homogeneous viscous layers low density crust over high density mantle over lower density layer beneath the lithosphere a small harmonic perturbation imposed on the base of the lithosphere is observed to result in gravitational instability under the constraint of assumed axisymmetry topography develops with time under the influence of dynamic stress associated with downwelling or upwelling and spatially variable crustal thickening or thinning topography may therefore be elevated or depressed above a mantle downwelling but the computed gravity anomaly is always negative above a mantle downwelling in a homogeneous asthenosphere the ratio of peak gravity to topography anomaly depends primarily on the ratio of crust to lithospheric viscosity average observed ratios are well resolved for two groups of coronae 40 mgal km 1 consistent with models in which the crust is perhaps 5 times stronger than the lithosphere group 3a rim surrounding elevated central region coronae are inferred to arise from a central upwelling model whereas group 8 depression coronae are inferred to arise from central downwelling observed average coronae radii are consistent with a lithospheric thickness of only 50 km an upper low density crustal layer is 10 20 km thick as inferred from the amplitude of gravity and topography anomalies

mantle exhumation and metamorphism in the basque cantabrian basin n spain stable and clumped isotope analysis in carbonates and comparison with ophicalcites in the north pyrenean zone urdach and lherz the presence of ophicalcites in serpentinized peridotites together with fragments of these rocks in cretaceous breccias along several north pyrenean basins led to the interpretation of complete mantle exhumation to the seafloor the westernmost outcrop of peridotites in the pyrenean cantabrian belt is located in ziga eastern basque cantabrian basin associated to a band of ht metamorphism related to the leiza fault marble unit we present a petrological and geochemical study of the marbles and ziga peridotite hosted calcite including standard stable isotope composition and clumped isotope geothermometry these isotopic techniques allow the determination of different types of formational fluids and crystallization temperatures and are a useful tool for studying carbonation processes in hyperextended basins fieldwork and analytical studies lead us to conclude that during the opening of the bay of biscay mantle rocks were unroofed at the base of the sedimentary pile of the eastern basque cantabrian basin however the ophicalcite veins were recrystallized from meteoric fluids at low temperatures 49 c the primary carbonate phase may have been formed either during the mid cretaceous unroofing of the mantle or in a post exhumation stage the process of mantle exhumation was accompanied with ht lp metamorphism and fluid circulation along major faults that reset the marine isotopic signature in the nearest marbles for comparison ophicalcites from urdach and lherz north pyrenean zone were included in the clumped isotope study results show that they were recrystallized from hot 200 230 c saline fluids and from meteoric fluids at near ambient temperatures 32 42 c respectively

convergence and extension driven by lithospheric gravitational instability evolution of the alpine carpathian pannonian system summary lithospheric gravitational instability may play a significant role in the neogene alpine carpathian pannonian system where the extensional pannonian basin formed over a 10 myr period simultaneously with contraction in the surrounding alpine and carpathian orogens we investigate the idea that gravitational collapse of low density crust previously thickened in the collision of the european plate with adria has caused the simultaneous development of depth variable lithospheric thinning beneath the pannonian basin and contractional deformation in the carpathian arc implicit in this model is asthenospheric upwelling beneath the basin and lithospheric downwelling beneath the surrounding mountains we investigate the interplay between convergence and extension in this type of continental orogen using 2 d axisymmetric finite element models we show how key model parameters such as crust to lithosphere thickness and viscosity ratios affect the evolution of the system an initially thicker lithosphere enhances mantle instability and leads to a greater degree of thinning of the crust and lithospheric mantle and stronger downwelling in the mantle increasing the viscosity of the crust relative to the mantle slows the growth of the instability and reduces crustal deformation relatively low crustal viscosity however implies too rapid a collapse of initial topography and rapid re equilibration after deformation induced by mantle flow non newtonian viscosity localizes the deformation in a narrower spatial region and a shorter time interval following a relatively slower phase of initial growth in the alpine carpathian pannonian system development of the instability requires lithospheric thickness prior to extension on the order of 150 km and lithospheric mantle viscosity on the order of 2 10 20 pa s with crustal strength similar to that of the mantle

accretional curvature of lithosphere at magmatic spreading centers and the flexural support of axial highs fluid magma should tend to rise up to the level of local isostatic equilibrium at an axis of plate spreading the magma and underlying partial melt accretes to the side of the separating plates and gets denser as it cools and freezes this load bends down the lithosphere and additional accretion forms a plate with concave upward curvature the topography resulting from a curved plate passively moving off axis can be described analytically for accretion on the vertical side of uniform lithosphere when its flexural response is that of a thin elastic plate model predictions are consistent with the shape of the axial highs at fast spreading centers typically 400m high and 20 km wide as well as related gravity anomalies this model requires at least several kilometers of lithospheric thickening within a few kilometers of the ridge axis seismic data appear consistent with this lithospheric structure the magnitude and lateral distribution of faulting on the flanks of axial highs is crudely consistent with formation during plate unbending as lithosphere moves away from the axis according to this model abandoned fast spreading centers should retain an elastically supported axial high while for previous models abandoned highs should collapse

abyssal hills formed by stretching oceanic lithosphere tectonic plates are formed and move apart at mid ocean ridges some portion of this plate separation process can occur by stretching of the crust resulting in a complex pattern of extensional faults abyssal hills the most ubiquitous topographic features on earth1 are thought to be a product of this faulting2 3 here we report the results of a self consistent numerical model of lithospheric formation and stretching that includes spontaneous fault creation in this model an axial valley develops where the fault activity is most concentrated the frozen fault generated topography rafted out of the axial valley is visually and statistically similar to observed abyssal hills formed at many slower spreading ridges faults appear to be replaced by new faults because their offset changes the local stress field we accordingly need no temporal variation in magmatism as required by some previous models4 5 6 to control the spacing or offset of faults our model results suggest instead that the irregularity of abyssal hill relief may result from a self organized critical stress state at spreading centres

lithospheric flexure and thermal anomalies plots of effective elastic thickness te of the oceanic lithosphere as a function of age when elastically deformed show a general increase in te with the square root of age although there is much scatter some of the scatter can be eliminated by correcting for the effect of finite yield strength in rocks which makes te for more sharply bent plates underestimate the true depth tm to the rheological boundary at the base of the high strength mechanical lithosphere after converting effective values te to true thicknesses tm it appears that the mechanical lithosphere is always thinner beneath islands and seamounts compared to lithosphere of similar age flexed at subduction zones from several other lines of evidence such as depth anomalies seamount subsidence and heat flow data it has been suggested that the thermal structure in plates subjected to hot spot type volcanism is reset to values appropriate for much younger lithosphere the reduction in mechanical plate thickness beneath hot spot volcanoes is also consistent with this concept of thermal rejuvenation since the strength of rocks decreases exponentially with rising temperature this dependence implies that variations in mechanical plate thickness can be used to map temperature anomalies in the lithosphere since the mechanical plate thickness depends principally upon the temperature at one depth specifically the depth at which the temperature reaches 550 600 c depending on strain rate flexural data are particularly sensitive indicators of the vertical structure of lithospheric reheating compared to quantities dependent on depth integrals of temperature such as swell height and subsidence the thermal rejuvenation hypothesis predicts that the flexural profile should mimic viscoelastic relaxation in the first 10 ma after loading if initially reheating is confined to depths close to and below the 550 c isotherm the flexural data combined with depth anomaly information for hawaii point to extremely rapid reheating localized in the lower lithosphere rejuvenation in the society islands on the other hand is compatible with slower methods of heat injection involving the entire lithospheric column

evolution of the pannonian basin system 2 subsidence and thermal history analysis of sedimentation and thermal data indicates that for most parts of the pannonian basin observed heat flow thermal gradients rates of thermal subsidence and vitrinite reflectance are about twice those predicted by assuming a uniform extension model for basin formation in late miocene time a modified extension model whereby large amounts of heat are added to the uppermost mantle during extension roughly equivalent to replacing the entire sub crustal lithosphere by asthenosphere produced results in good agreement with observation and could also account for periods of uplift observed during extension crustal extension beneath most parts of the basin is estimated to have been about 80 to 170 1 8 to 2 7 although in the deepest parts of the basin deeper than 4 km crustal extension could have been much greater analysis of extension within the danube and zala basins indicates that the late miocene extension in these basins involved the entire lithosphere but subsidence and heat flow data are not well enough constrained to determine if extra heating is required during extension on the basis of tectonic and structural data the vienna basin has been interpreted as the result of thin skinned extensional tectonics above a shallow detachment surface within the upper crust royden et al this issue analysis of thermal and subsidence data from the northern vienna basin suggests that little or no heating occurred during basin extension these data are consistent with a thin skinned extensional origin for the vienna basin and are in better agreement with this interpretation than with the assumption of a uniformly extended lithosphere beneath the basin this study emphasizes the need for good thermal subsidence and structural data in making reconstructions of extensional and thermal histories of sedimentary basins when such data are available it is found that a simple uniform extension model does not explain very well the evolution of some sedimentary basins such as the vienna and pannonian basins in the first instance the basin is thought to be the result of upper crustal extension only due to its special tectonic setting in the second instance the extra heating during extension is due to some unknown processes in the lower lithosphere that may be a general feature of lithospheric extension thus lithospheric extension and associated heating may be distributed in a variety of ways not all extensional sedimentary basins form in the same way application of a uniform subsidence model to basins for which good thermal subsidence and structural data are not available or not properly analysed can lead to reconstructions of thermal histories in error by a factor of 2 or more

modeling the behavior of the continental mantle lithosphere during plate convergence in studying orogenic processes the mechanism of viscous rayleigh taylor type removal of gravitationally unstable lithosphere is often invoked to explain the behavior of the mantle lithosphere using numerical models we consider this mechanism and explore alternate styles of deep lithospheric deformation during tectonic convergence the numerical experiments incorporate a mix of viscous and plastic rheologies to model the mechanical evolution of the lithosphere asthenosphere system our results suggest that there are a number of deformational modes of the model mantle lithosphere 1 a dripping or rayleigh taylor type instability 2 an asymmetric underthrusting or subduction 3 symmetric ablative plate consumption 4 slab breakoff the failure and detachment of the strong lithosphere and 5 mixed modes with combinations of these processes the development of the modes is controlled by the rate of convergence associated with the background tectonic regime the density field and the rheology of the mantle lithosphere it is important to determine whether these modes occur in the earth beneath collisional orogens

subduction of asian lithospheric mantle beneath tibet inferred from models of continental collision the relative northward motion of the indian subcontinent that followed the onset of continental collision with asia has produced extensive deformation of the earth s crust giving rise to the world s highest mountains in the himalayan chain and the world s largest high elevation region the tibetan plateau the formation of the broad mountain belt implies that contrary to the original tenets of plate tectonics the lithospheric plates have experienced widespread deformation far from the plate boundary1 several models have been proposed2 6 to explain the manner in which this post collisional deformation is distributed within the continental lithosphere of the indian and asian plates here we propose an alternative model in which subduction of the asian lithospheric mantle develops following the collision of india our model is supported by numerical calculations of crustal deformation and thickening and is consistent with available geological and geophysical data7 9 this picture suggests that lithospheric mantle is not deformed along with the crust and would imply that continental collision zones are more analogous to oceanic subduction zones than was previously believed