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Seismic evidence for a steeply dipping reflector-stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone
- 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.
| Author details: | Michael H. WeberORCiDGND, Charles Wicks, Yves Le Stunff, Barbara Romanowicz, Frank KrügerGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu438 |
| ISSN: | 0956-540X |
| ISSN: | 1365-246X |
| Title of parent work (English): | Geophysical journal international |
| Publisher: | Oxford Univ. Press |
| Place of publishing: | Oxford |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of first publication: | 2015 |
| Publication year: | 2015 |
| Release date: | 2017/03/27 |
| Tag: | Composition of the mantle; Continental margins: convergent; Mantle processes; Pacific Ocean; Seismic tomography; Subduction zone processes; Volcanic arc processes; Wave scattering and diffraction |
| Volume: | 200 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Number of pages: | 17 |
| First page: | 1235 |
| Last Page: | 1251 |
| Funding institution: | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft |
| Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
| Institution name at the time of the publication: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Erd- und Umweltwissenschaften |
