Title
Mantle dynamics of the Andean Subduction Zone from continent-scale teleseismic S-wave tomography
Date Issued
01 March 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Rodríguez E.E.
Portner D.E.
Beck S.L.
Rocha M.P.
Bianchi M.B.
Assumpção M.
Ruiz M.
Alvarado P.
Lynner C.
Publisher(s)
Oxford University Press
Abstract
The Andean Subduction Zone is one of the longest continuous subduction zones on Earth. The relative simplicity of the two-plate system has makes it an ideal natural laboratory to study the dynamics in subduction zones. We measure teleseismic S and SKS traveltime residuals at >1000 seismic stations that have been deployed across South America over the last 30 yr to produce a finite-frequency teleseismic S-wave tomography model of the mantle beneath the Andean Subduction Zone related to the Nazca Plate, spanning from ~5°N to 45°S and from depths of ~130 to 1200 km. Within our model, the subducted Nazca slab is imaged as a fast velocity seismic anomaly. The geometry and amplitude of the Nazca slab anomaly varies along the margin while the slab anomaly continues into the lower mantle along the entirety of the subduction margin. Beneath northern Brazil, the Nazca slab appears to stagnate at ~1000 km depth and extend eastward subhorizontally for >2000 km. South of 25°S the slab anomaly in the lower mantle extends offshore of eastern Argentina, hence we do not image if a similar stagnation occurs. We image several distinct features surrounding the slab including two vertically oriented slow seismic velocity anomalies: one beneath the Peruvian flat slab and the other beneath the Paraná Basin of Brazil. The presence of the latter anomaly directly adjacent to the stagnant Nazca slab suggests that the plume, known as the Paraná Plume, may be a focused upwelling formed in response to slab stagnation in the lower mantle. Additionally, we image a high amplitude fast seismic velocity anomaly beneath the Chile trench at the latitude of the Sierras Pampeanas which extends from ~400 to ~1000 km depth. This anomaly may be the remnants of an older, detached slab, however its relationship with the Nazca-South America subduction zone remains enigmatic.
Start page
1553
End page
1571
Volume
224
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Geoquímica, Geofísica
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85099626737
Source
Geophysical Journal International
ISSN of the container
0956540X
Sponsor(s)
We would like to thank Brandon Schmandt for sharing his teleseismic tomography code and Nicholas Rawlinson for his help in incorporating 3-D ray tracing into our inversion process. Additionally, we would like to thank Brandon Bishop for his always thoughtful discussions. We also thank the many investigators who collected the vast data set used in this study and the IRIS, GFZ and USP data centres for making that data easily accessible. We also thank our anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on and improvements to our manuscript. Rodr?guez received support from ChevronTexaco Geology Fellowships and the UA College of Science Galileo Scholarship. This research is supported by the National Science Foundation grants EAR-1565475 and EAR- 1415914 and FAPESP (S?o Paulo State Research Foundation) grant 2013/24215-6. The majority of figures were made using Generic Mapping Tools (Wessel & Smith 1991). The tomography model from this study (SAM5 S 2020) will be made available online at IRIS EMC (http://ds.iris.edu/ds/products/emc/).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus