Previously developed continental-scale surface wave models for Antarctica provide only broad interpretations of the mantle structure, and the best resolved features in recent regional-scale seismic models are restricted above ~300-400 km depth. We have developed the first continental-scale P-wave velocity model beneath Antarctica using an adaptively parameterized tomography approach that includes data from many new seismic networks. Our model shows considerable, previously unrecognized mantle heterogeneity, especially beneath West Antarctica. A pronounced slow velocity anomaly extends between Ross Island and Victoria Land, further grid south than previous studies indicate. However, at least for mantle depths  ~200 km, this anomaly does not extend grid north along the Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) and beneath the West Antarctic Rift System. The boundary between these slow velocities and fast velocities underlying East Antarctica is ~100-150 km beneath the front of the TAMs, consistent with flexural uplift models. The lateral extent of the low velocity anomaly is best explained by focused, rift-related decompression melting. In West Antarctica, Marie Byrd Land is underlain by a deep (~800 km) low velocity anomaly. Synthetic tests illustrate that the low velocities also extend laterally below the transition zone, consistent with a mantle plume ponded below the 660 km discontinuity. The slow anomalies beneath Ross Island and Marie Byrd Land are separate features, highlighting the heterogeneous upper mantle of West Antarctica.

The Transantarctic Mountains (TAMs) are the largest noncollisional mountain range on Earth. Their origin, as well as the origin of the Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) along the inland side of the TAMs, has been widely debated, and a key constraint to distinguish between competing models is the underlying crustal structure. Previous investigations have examined this structure but have primarily focused on a small region of the central TAMs near Ross Island, providing little along‐strike constraint. In this study, we use data from the new Transantarctic Mountains Northern Network and from five stations operated by the Korea Polar Research Institute to investigate the crustal structure beneath a previously unexplored portion of the TAMs. Using S wave receiver functions and Rayleigh wave phase velocities, crustal thickness and average crustal shear velocity ( Vtrue¯s) are resolved within ±4 km and ±0.1 km/s, respectively. The crust thickens from ~20 km near the Ross Sea coast to ~46 km beneath the northern TAMs, which is somewhat thicker than that imaged in previous studies beneath the central TAMs. The crust thins to ~41 km beneath the WSB. Vtrue¯s ranges from ~3.1–3.9 km/s, with slower velocities near the coast. Our findings are consistent with a flexural origin for the TAMs and WSB, where these features result from broad flexure of the East Antarctic lithosphere and uplift along its western edge due to thermal conduction from hotter mantle beneath West Antarctica. Locally, thicker crust may explain the ~1 km of additional topography in the northern TAMs compared to the central TAMs.

No abstract