Small-scale convection under the oceanic lithosphere which begins in the first 5 m.y. of cooling can produce a gravity signal with the amplitude and wavelength observed for large areas of the central Pacific and southern Indian oceans using Seasat altimeter data. The trend of the observed anomalies is parallel to the direction of plate motion as might be expected if they were produced by small-...

Peak heat flow occurs at mid-ocean ridges and decreases with the age of the oceanic lithosphere. Several plate models, including the Parsons and Sclater (PSM) model, Global Depth and Heat (GDH1) model and Constant Heat flow Applied on the Bottom Lithospheric Isotherm (CHABLIS) model, have been used to predict heat flow in the ocean lithosphere. The discrepancy between the predicted and measured...

voluminous quaternary extrusive rocks, associated with widespread volcanic activities, occur in the northwestern iran and across the turkish-iranian plateau. field and petrographic studies reveal that these volcanic rocks, consisting of basalt to trachyandesite, occur as lava flows, columnar basalts, and cinder cones in three distinct areas of northern (bazergan-maku-burlan), middle (chalderan)...

[1] Mercury’s coupled 3:2 spin‐orbit resonance in conjunction with its relatively high eccentricity of ∼0.2 and near‐zero obliquity results in both a latitudinal and longitudinal variation in annual average solar insolation and thus equatorial hot and cold regions. This results in an asymmetric temperature distribution in the lithosphere and a long wavelength lateral variation in lithosphere st...

It is well accepted that subduction of the cold lithosphere is a crucial component of the Earth's plate tectonic style of mantle convection. But whether and how subducting plates penetrate into the lower mantle is the subject of continuing debate, which has substantial implications for the chemical and thermal evolution of the mantle. Here we identify lower-mantle slab penetration events by com...

[1] Super‐continental insulation refers to an increase in mantle temperature below a supercontinent due to the heat transfer inefficiency of thick, stagnant continental lithosphere relative to thinner, subducting oceanic lithosphere. We use thermal network theory, numerical simulations, and laboratory experiments to provide tighter physical insight into this process. We isolate two end‐member d...

In this thesis we calculate the effect of small-scale convection on the thickness and temperature structure of the lithosphere for three cases where geophysical and geological data may allow us to see these effects. The problems are: (1) the cooling of the oceanic lithosphere; (2) the cooling of a passive rift temperature structure; and (3) the rate of thinning of lithosphere which has been thi...