[1] Low-angle subduction of oceanic lithosphere may be an important process in modifying continental lithosphere. A classic example is the underthrusting of the Farallon plate beneath North America during the Laramide orogeny. To assess the relevance of this process to the evolution and composition of continental lithosphere, the mantle stratigraphy beneath the Mojave Desert was constrained usi...

[1] There is a contradiction between two widely accepted pillars of global tectonics, (1) the central plate tectonic assumption of plate rigidity and (2) the explanation of the relief of the seafloor as being due to lithospheric subsidence from thermal contraction. Here we quantify the rate of predictable horizontal thermal contraction of the lithosphere using depth averages of widely accepted ...

Despite strong anisotropy seen in analysis of seismic data from the NoMelt experiment in 70 Ma Pacific seafloor, a previous analysis of coincident magnetotelluric (MT) data showed no evidence for anisotropy in the electrical conductivity structure of either lithosphere or asthenosphere. We revisit the MT data and use 1D anisotropic models of the lithosphere to demonstrate the limits of acceptab...

This paper addresses briefly some of the major difficulties in attempting to understand and model the geological and tectonic change of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic portions of the rock record as occurring during the span of but a single year—the year of the biblical Flood. A relatively simple tectonic model is proposed that assumes a pre-Flood earth with a single supercontinent, an intact lithos...

Viscous and viscoelastic models for a subduction zone with a faulted lithosphere and internal buoyancy can self-consistently and simultaneously predict long-wavelength geoid highs over slabs, short-wavelength gravity lows over trenches, trench-forebulge morphology, and explain the high apparent strength of oceanic lithosphere in trench environments. The models use two different free-surface for...

Internal processes operating within low-density satellites, although they are poorly understood at present, are extremely significant in determining the scale and type of surface processes and features and the geologic evolution of such satellites. The two Galilean satellites Ganymede and Callisto are examples of such low-density (p < 2) bodies, and they are likely to have undergone a thermal e...

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Keywords: lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary Northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau Receiver functions Whether or not the Asian lithosphere has underthrusted beneath the Tibetan Plateau is important for understanding the mechanisms of the plateau's growth. Using data from the permanent seismic stations in northeastern Tibetan Plateau, we studied seismic...

A joint analysis of global seismicity and seismic tomography indicates that the seismic potential of continental intraplate regions is correlated with the seismic properties of the lithosphere. Archean and Early Proterozoic cratons with cold, stable continental lithospheric roots have fewer crustal earthquakes and a lower maximum earthquake catalog moment magnitude (Mcmax). The geographic shear...

The Earth is composed of layers of different composition and physical properties, principally the solid central core, the fluid peripheral core, the viscous mantle, and the solid lithosphere. The lithosphere is comprised of the upper mantle and the crust, the outer shell of the Earth. There are two types of lithosphere, according to the crust resting on the solid mantle lithosphere (lithospheri...

[1] The shear tractions that mantle flow exerts on the base of Earth’s lithosphere contribute to plate-driving forces and lithospheric stresses. We investigate the sensitivity of these tractions to sub-lithospheric viscosity variations by comparing shear tractions computed from a mantle flow model featuring laterally-varying lithosphere and asthenosphere viscosity with those from a model with l...