Continental crust rises higher than oceanic crust because it is less dense: It is rich in Si and poor in Mg. However, basalt, which is derived from magma, is denser and has a higher ratio of Mg to Si than the rock that makes up mature continental crust. Cin-Ty Lee et al. argue that chemical weathering alters the composition of continental crust as it ages and helps give it its more buoyant char...

[1] A joint interpretation of swath bathymetric, seismic refraction, wide-angle reflection, and multichannel seismic data was used to derive a detailed tomographic image of the Nazca–South America subduction zone system offshore southern Arauco peninsula, Chile at 38 S. Here, the trench basin is filled with up to 2.2 km of sediments, and the Mocha Fracture Zone (FZ) is obliquely subducting unde...

Detailed studies of the seismicity of several subduction zones demonstrate that shallow-dipping thrust zones turn to steeper angles at depths of about 40 kilometers. An increased downward body force resulting from shallow phase changes in subducted oceanic crust may be the cause of this increased dip angle. In addition, the volume reduction associated with phase changes may produce sufficiently...

Where ρ0, α0, ∆T , η, κ are dimensional reference values of density of the background mantle, thermal expansivity, temperature difference between core-mantle boundary and surface, reference viscosity at temperature T = 0.5 (non-dimensional), and thermal diffusivity, respectively. g and h are dimensional gravitational acceleration and thickness of mantle, respectively. 1 Chemical complexity of h...

The decay of (187)Re to (187)Os (with a half-life of 42 billion years) provides a unique isotopic fingerprint for tracing the evolution of crustal materials and mantle residues in the convecting mantle. Ancient subcontinental mantle lithosphere has uniquely low Re/Os and (187)Os/(188)Os ratios due to large-degree melt extraction, recording ancient melt-depletion events as old as 3.2 billion yea...

Transtensional basins have formed along the Pacific-North America plate boundary in the Gulf of California and Salton Trough region during Late Cenozoic time. Axial basins occupy a 50–60 kmwide belt along themainplate boundary, and change from sedimentstarved oceanic spreading centers in the south that are oriented perpendicular to long NW-striking transform faults, to oblique N-trending pull-a...

The Bi'r Umq suture zone (BUSZ) in western Saudi Arabia comprises Neoproterozoic oceanic-arc plutonic, volcanosedimentary, and ophiolitic rocks that record some of the earliest magmatic and tectonic events of the East African Orogen in the Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS). New Nd isotopic analyses are combined with data on zircon inheritance and published isotopic studies to establish the case that ...

Continental crust rises higher than oceanic crust because it is less dense: It is rich in Si and poor in Mg. However, basalt, which is derived from magma, is denser and has a higher ratio of Mg to Si than the rock that makes up mature continental crust. Cin-Ty Lee et al. argue that chemical weathering alters the composition of continental crust as it ages and helps give it its more buoyant char...

We find that in young and warm subducting plates, earthquakes occur just below the Moho. In older plates, earthquakes occur throughout the subducting oceanic crust, as well as the subducting mantle. We document this behavior in several subduction zones where there are independent constraints on earthquake locations and slab structure, specifically for northern and southern Japan, Alaska, and te...