Zircons found in mantle-sourced kimberlite provide probes into the isotopic chemistry of the asthenosphere and subcontinental lithospheric mantle. However, little is known about the conditions of formation of these zircons. A suite of 88 zircons found in kimberlites from Africa, Siberia, Brazil, and the United States have been analyzed for their Ti concentration and selected zircons were analyz...

[1] Abstract: We predict plate motions from a comprehensive inversion of theoretical estimates of tectonic forces in order to evaluate the relative importance of these and the uncertainties of such models. Plate-driving forces from the mantle are calculated using global flow models that are driven by tomography and subduction-derived density fields. Observed and predicted plate velocities agree...

Sublithospheric small-scale convection (SSC) is thought to be responsible for the flattening of the seafloor depth and surface heat flow observed in mature plates. Although the existence of SSC is generally accepted, its ability to effectively produce a constant lithospheric thickness (i.e. flattening of observables) is a matter of debate. Here we study the development and evolution of SSC with...

In this dissertation, I investigate the assembly and evolution of the Archean cratonic lithosphere by using two complementary seismological methods to image the lithospheric structure of the Slave craton in Canada. First, I perform surface wave tomographic inversions to constrain the depth dependence of Rayleigh wave phase velocity, shear wave velocity, and azimuthal anisotropy of the Slave cra...

[1] The trace of the Snake River–Yellowstone hot spot is the world’s best example of a mantle plume that has been overridden by continental lithosphere. The ‘‘standard model’’ calls for the plume head to rise under northern Nevada and be forced northward to form basalts of the Columbia Plateau; subsequent movement of North America to the southwest over the plume tail created a hot spot trace on...

[1] We present a new quantitative framework to understand the process of mantle melting based on the velocity structure of igneous crust. Our approach focuses on the lower crustal section, which is expected to be least affected by porosity and seawater alteration, especially for thick igneous crust. Our methodology is thus best for constraining the origin of large igneous provinces. First, a qu...

New shear-wave splitting measurements at permanent broadband seismic stations in the south-central United States reveal the orientation and degree of polarization of mantle fabrics, and provide constraints on models for the formation of these fabrics. For stations on the stable North American craton, correspondence between observed polarization direction of the fast wave and the trend of Proter...

The core-mantle boundary region is often considered to be the source of narrow upwellings which drive or influence plate motions and continental breakup, fuel large igneous provinces and generate volcanic chains. The plume hypothesis has influenced most fields of geochemistry, petrology, geodynamics and mantle evolution. The key axioms underlying the plume paradigm are identified: Axioms are se...

Two dives of the DSV Shinkai 6500 in the Mariana Trough back-arc basin in the western Pacific sampled back-arc basin mantle exposures. Reports of peridotite exposures in back-arc basin setting are very limited and the lack of samples has hindered our understanding of this important aspect of lithospheric evolution. The Mariana Trough is a slow-spreading ridge, and ultramafic exposures with asso...