Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
History of geomagnetism wikipedia , lookup
Spherical Earth wikipedia , lookup
Geochemistry wikipedia , lookup
Post-glacial rebound wikipedia , lookup
History of geology wikipedia , lookup
Oceanic trench wikipedia , lookup
History of Earth wikipedia , lookup
Age of the Earth wikipedia , lookup
Plate tectonics wikipedia , lookup
Remote Sensing of the Earth’s Interior • Earth’s interior is largely inaccessible Origin and Layering of the Earth: Geochemical Perspectives • Composition of Earth cannot be understood in isolation – Sun and meteorites are closely linked • Solar system formed in Milky Way galaxy @ Big Bang 15 Ma – Nucleosynthesis in stars, H+He ejected > rotating gas/dust cloud – Material in compressed disk heats, volatilizes, cools • Most refractory dust particles cooled first – Accretion in several stages: • Planetesimals 10 m to 1000 km diameter form (10 kyr time scale) • Planetesimals gow by collisions/intersecting orbits (106 yr scale) • Planetary “embryos” form (108 yr time scale) – Embryos collided to form planets – Earth-Moon system may reflect such a collision – Sun’s composition gives best estimate for that of Solar Nebula • Mainly H + He • Relative abundances of other elements nearly identical to meteorites 1 Remote Sensing of the Earth’s Interior • Geophysics: – Tools • seismic waves (velocity, tomography) • gravity • heat flow/temperature distribution • magnetic field past and present • satellite (GPS) geodesy – Inferences • gross composition of crust, mantle, core • boundaries of property-specific regions • scale of convection/tectonics • structure & dynamics of mantle & crust Remote Sensing of the Earth’s Interior • Geochemistry – Tools: • Major, trace & volatile element distribution – melts vs. residua • Mineralogy • Experimental petrology • “Memory” of past events in radioisotopic systems – Inferences: • composition of crust, mantle, core • mechanisms and depth of mantle melting • quantitative history from radioisotopic dating • signatures of tectonic processes present and past • structure & dynamics of mantle & crust 2 Earth’s Internal Structure • Established using seismic reflection, refraction • Crust – Continental • Less dense • 20-70 km thick – Oceanic • more dense • 5-10 km thick • Mohorovicic discontinuity – Boundary separating crust from mantle – defined by increase in P-wave velocity (to 8 km/sec) Earth’s Internal Structure • The Mantle – Ultramafic Rock – Lithosphere • Crust & uppermost mantle – Asthenosphere • Low velocity zone • lubrication for plate tectonics – Lower mantle • boundaries at 400 & 670 km • Pressure increases with depth • more dense mineral structures 3 Plate Tectonics Paradigm • • • • Consequence of heat loss Convection transfers heat effectively Mantle flows on geologic timescales Lithospheric plates meet along 3 boundaries – Divergent – Convergent – Transform • Melting, volcanism coincide with plate boundaries – Exception: “Hot spot” or intraplate magmatism • Plate tectonics influences magma generation 4 From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. Plate Tectonics Paradigm • Plate tectonics influences magma generation – Decompression melting • active upwelling of buoyant mantle plumes • passive upwelling associated with removal of lithospheric lid at divergent boundary (MOR) – Hydrous (fluxed) melting • subduction zones – Relative volumes – Chemical & isotopic “fingerprinting” of lavas • provides information about mantle that has melted 5 From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. 6 Mid-Ocean Ridge System 8 km From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. Subduction Zones From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. 7 Subduction Zones: Seismic Tomographic Image From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. Plume magmatism Fate of subducted slabs From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. 8 •Magma erupted at •mid-ocean ridges (MORB) •plumes (OIB) •subduction zones (IAB) •Sample mantle from which they come •Chemical “fingerprinting” •Trace elements •Isotopes •Clues to origin & history of mantle From: Perfit and Davidson (2000) in Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, H. Sigurdsson, ed. 9