Publication Date:
2017-09-14
Description:
Thermo-mechanical modeling of plume-induced continental break-up reveals that the initial location of a mantle anomaly relative to a lithosphere inhomogeneity has a major impact on the geometry and timing of a rift-to-spreading system. Models with a warmer Moho temperature are more likely to result in ‘plume-centered’ mode, where the rift and subsequent spreading axis grow directly above the plume. Models with weak far-field forcing are inclined to develop a ‘structural inherited’ mode, with lithosphere deformation localized at the lateral lithospheric boundary. Models of a third group cultivate two break-up branches (both ‘plume-centered’ and ‘structural inherited’) that form consecutively with a few million years delay. With our experimental setup, this break-up mode is sensitive to relatively small lateral variations of the initial anomaly position. We argue that one single mantle anomaly can be responsible for non-simultaneous initiation and development of two rift-to-spreading systems in a lithosphere with a lateral strength contrast.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
