Crustal thickness is a critical parameter for understanding the processes of continental rifting and breakup and the evolution of petroleum systems within passive margins. However, direct measurements of crustal thickness are sparse and expensive, highlighting the need for methodologies using gravity anomaly data, jointly with other geophysical data, to estimate crustal thickness. We evaluated ...

[1] Three-dimensional models of the uplift of Beta Regio caused by a mantle plume satisfy constraints on gravity, topography, rheology, and the uplift rate substantially better than two-dimensional models. In particular, the uplift time of Beta Regio is reduced to an acceptable 800 million years. Three-dimensional models give the plume formation depth around 3000 km, which approximately corresp...

We examine, as a function of depth, the relationship between a tectonic regionalization and upper-mantle shear-wave heterogeneity represented by a recent seismic tomographic model. We perform Monte Carlo simulations that incorporate the spectral properties of both the regions and the seismic signal. Our results indicate that ridges can be readily distinguished from older oceans to a depth of ab...

Eruptive phenomena at all scales, from hydrothermal geysers to flood basalts, can potentially be initiated or modulated by external mechanical perturbations. We present evidence for the triggering of magmatism on a global scale by the Chicxulub meteorite impact at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, recorded by transiently increased crustal production at mid-ocean ridges. Concentrated pos...

Introduction: The internal structures of terrestrial planets are commonly constrained by seismic data and geochemical considerations. We suggest that these constraints may be augmented by gravity drilling that focuses on interpreting satellite altitude free-air gravity observations for boundary undulations of the internal density layers related to mass flow. This approach involves separating th...

Seismological detections of complex structures in the lowermost mantle boundary layer (the D′′ region) motivate a conceptual model of a compositionally stratified thermo-chemical boundary layer (TCBL) within which lateral temperature variations (sustained by large-scale mid-mantle flow) cause variations of partial melt fraction. Partial melt fractions of from 0 to 30% in the TCBL occur due to t...

The past two decades have witnessed tremendous progress in seismological, geodynamical, geomagnetic, and mineral physics efforts to quantify deep Earth processes. Our understanding of structures and processes in the lowermost mantle has advanced accordingly, and there is now widespread agreement that some form of major thermo-chemical boundary layer (TCBL) exists on the mantle side of the core-...