Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 42 (2015): 8333–8340, doi:10.1002/2015GL065459.
Description:
We calculate the viscosity structure of the lower continental crust as a function of its bulk composition using multiphase mixing theory. We use the Gibbs free-energy minimization routine Perple_X to calculate mineral assemblages for different crustal compositions under pressure and temperature conditions appropriate for the lower continental crust. The effective aggregate viscosities are then calculated using a rheologic mixing model and flow laws for the major crust-forming minerals. We investigate the viscosity of two lower crustal compositions: (i) basaltic (53 wt % SiO2) and (ii) andesitic (64 wt % SiO2). The andesitic model predicts aggregate viscosities similar to feldspar and approximately 1 order of magnitude greater than that of wet quartz. The viscosity range calculated for the andesitic crustal composition (particularly when hydrous phases are stable) is most similar to independent estimates of lower crust viscosity in actively deforming regions based on postglacial isostatic rebound, postseismic relaxation, and paleolake shoreline deflection.
Description:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Summer Student Fellowship Program; NSF. Grant Numbers EAR-13-16333, EAR-1220075
Description:
2016-04-23
Keywords:
Crustal viscosity
;
Crustal composition
;
Flow laws
;
Lower crust
;
Andesite
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/msword
Format:
application/pdf
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