TY  - JOUR
A1  - Weber, Michael H.
A1  - Wicks, Charles
A1  - Le Stunff, Yves
A1  - Romanowicz, Barbara
A1  - Krüger, Frank
T1  - Seismic evidence for a steeply dipping reflector-stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone
JF  - Geophysical journal international
N2  - Studies of seismic tomography have been highly successful at imaging the deep structure of subduction zones. In a study complementary to these tomographic studies, we use array seismology and reflected waves to image a stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone. Using P and S (SH) waves we find a steeply dipping reflector centred at ca. 400 km depth and ca. 550 km west of the present Mariana subduction zone (at 20N, 140E). The discovery of this anomaly in tomography and independently in array seismology (this paper) helps in understanding the evolution of the Mariana margin. The reflector/stagnant slab may be the remains of the hypothetical North New Guinea Plate, which was theorized to have subducted ca. 50 Ma.
KW  - Mantle processes
KW  - Composition of the mantle
KW  - Seismic tomography
KW  - Wave scattering and diffraction
KW  - Subduction zone processes
KW  - Volcanic arc processes
KW  - Continental margins: convergent
KW  - Pacific Ocean
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu438
SN  - 0956-540X
SN  - 1365-246X
VL  - 200
IS  - 2
SP  - 1235
EP  - 1251
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  -