Seismic evidence for a tilted mantle plume and north-south mantle flow beneath Iceland

Authors

Yang Shen, University of Rhode Island
Sean C. Solomon, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Ingi Th Bjarnason, Haskoli Islands
Guust Nolet, Princeton University
W. Jason Morgan, Princeton University
Richard M. Allen, Princeton University
Kristin Vogfjörd, National Energy Authority Reykjavik
Steinun Jakobsdóttir, Icelandic Meteorological Office
Ragnar Stefánsson, Icelandic Meteorological Office
B. R. Julian, United States Geological Survey Western Region
G. R. Foulger, Durham University

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

5-28-2002

Abstract

Shear waves converted from compressional waves at mantle discontinuities near 410- and 660-km depth recorded by two broadband seismic experiments in Iceland reveal that the center of an area of anomalously thin mantle transition zone lies at least 100 km south of the upper-mantle low-velocity anomaly imaged tomographically beneath the hotspot. This offset is evidence for a tilted plume conduit in the upper mantle, the result of either northward flow of the Icelandic asthenosphere or southward flow of the upper part of the lower mantle in a no-net-rotation reference frame. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Volume

197

Issue

3-4

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Shen, Yang, Sean C. Solomon, Ingi Th Bjarnason, Guust Nolet, W. J. Morgan, Richard M. Allen, Kristin Vogfjörd, Steinun Jakobsdóttir, Ragnar Stefánsson, B. R. Julian, and G. R. Foulger. "Seismic evidence for a tilted mantle plume and north-south mantle flow beneath Iceland." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 197, 3-4 (2002). doi: 10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00494-6.