Heat flow–heat production relationship not found: what drives heat flow variability of the Western Canadian foreland basin?

Majorowicz, Jacek

doi:10.1007/s00531-016-1352-x

Cited by 12 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The thick (>10-km) granitic layer that enriched in heat generation elements could serve as a sufficient heat reservoir and cause an elevated heat flow in this region. The dominant crustal contribution of the surface heat flow infers a relatively constant and low mantle heat flux (15 ± 5 mW/m 2 ; Majorowicz, 2018) beneath the WCSB, which is supported by the lack of correlation between mantle velocity and heat flow in our study.…”

Section: Comparisons Of Seismic Velocities To Heat Flowsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…The correlations among thermal thickness, seismic velocity, and tectonic age have been examined on both global (Artemieva, , ; Artemieva & Mooney, ; Röhm et al, ) and continental (Furlong et al, ; Godey et al, ; Goes et al, ) scales. In this study, we investigate this correlation beneath the western margin of Laurentia based on the combination of our models and a compilation of thermal data from Majorowicz (). The heat flow varies substantially from high values (80 ± 10 mW/m 2 ) in the northern part of our study region to low values (50 ± 7 mW/m 2 ) in southern Alberta (Figure a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This strong regional variability could reflect a change in the dominant heat flow sources of the crustal heat production and mantle heat flow. Earlier studies have suggested that the thickness of high heat production layer was required to vary by as much as a factor of 2 to account for the large heat flow perturbation across the WCSB (see Figure a; Majorowicz, ). This argument is supported by a pronounced heat flow high that flanks the STZ to the south in central Alberta (see Figure a), a region intruded by granitic rocks at upper‐middle crustal depths (Bouzidi et al, ; Chen et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(a) Heat flow of the WCSB (Majorowicz, ). The enclosed area shows high heat flow, which overlaps with an earlier reported crustal low‐velocity zone (Chen et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A New Appraisal of Lithospheric Structures of the Cordillera‐Craton Boundary Region in Western Canada

Chen

Hung

2018

Tectonics

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The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin marks a boundary zone between the Precambrian North American craton and the Phanerozoic Cordillera. Its crystalline basement has documented more than 3 billion years of evolution history of western Laurentia. Here we conduct a high‐resolution survey of the mantle P and S wave velocities using finite‐frequency tomography. Our models show pronounced eastward increases of 4% P and 6% S wave velocities beneath the foreland region, which define a sharp seismic Cordillera‐Craton boundary. In the cratonic region, distinctive high‐ (>2%) velocity anomalies representing depleted mantle lithospheres are well correlated with major Precambrian crustal domains. The largest lithosphere thickness contrast coincides with the Snowbird Tectonic Zone, where the Hearne province extends down to ~300 km, nearly 100 km deeper than the Proterozoic terranes in northern Alberta. In the latter region, a pronounced cylindrical negative velocity anomaly extends subvertically from 75 to ~300‐km depth, which potentially results from significant tectonothermal modifications during subduction and/or plume activities. At the basin scale, mantle velocities show no apparent correlations with surface heat flux, suggesting a minimum mantle contribution to the regional thermal variability. Furthermore, the long‐wavelength isostatic gravity correlates negatively with the velocities, which confirms that the melt extraction from Precambrian cratons is responsible for the formation of highly depleted mantle lithospheres. Moreover, our model reveals the increased concentrations of kimberlites and lamproites near the zones of high horizontal velocity gradients. The distinct spatial pattern may reflect either preferential formation or eruption of potentially diamondiferous rocks at lithospheric weak zones near the western margin of Laurentia.

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Section: Comparisons Of Seismic Velocities To Heat Flowsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(a) Heat flow of the WCSB (Majorowicz, ). The enclosed area shows high heat flow, which overlaps with an earlier reported crustal low‐velocity zone (Chen et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A New Appraisal of Lithospheric Structures of the Cordillera‐Craton Boundary Region in Western Canada

Chen

Hung

2018

Tectonics

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“…At crustal depths, azimuthal anisotropy and the associated stress directions have been inferred from borehole breakout (Reiter et al, 2014) and time-dependent splitting parameters of direct S waves (Li et al, 2019). These crustal and sedimentary observations consistently exhibit a dominant NE-SW trend, approximately aligned with the orientation of the maximum compression axis determined from focal mechanisms of recent induced earthquakes (Wang et al, 2017;2018). In comparison with the relatively well- (Ross et al, 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Shear Velocity and Radial Anisotropy beneath Southwestern Canada: Evidence for Crustal Extension and Thick‐Skinned Tectonics

Wang

Chen

2020

JGR Solid Earth

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Deformation‐associated craton assembly and Cordilleran orogenesis played major roles during the crustal formation beneath the western margin of North America. To improve the understanding of the deformation history in this region, we investigate the crustal shear velocity and anisotropy by analyzing fundamental mode Rayleigh and Love waves from ambient seismic noise. Continuous recordings from 118 regional broadband stations reveal lateral variations in both velocity and anisotropy with strong spatial affinities to major geological domains. Strong variations in radial anisotropy, which dips westward and extends to at least midcrustal depths, suggest a “thick‐skinned” foreland thrust‐and‐fold belt beneath the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Our regional data also suggest increased horizontal shear velocities beneath the southern Canadian Cordillera, particularly near the Omineca Belt, which may have resulted from strong zonal deformation within the Cordilleran crust. This anisotropic anomaly migrates southward, and its spatial extent agrees well with the normal fault distribution to the west of the Rocky Mountain Trench. Our observations offer new evidence for the Eocene extension of the orogenic hinterland during the trans‐tensional motion of the Cordillera to the North American craton.

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Heat transition for major communities supported by geothermal energy development of the Alberta Basin, Canada

Majorowicz

Grasby

2020

Geothermics

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Heat flow–heat production relationship not found: what drives heat flow variability of the Western Canadian foreland basin?

Cited by 12 publications

References 40 publications

A New Appraisal of Lithospheric Structures of the Cordillera‐Craton Boundary Region in Western Canada

A New Appraisal of Lithospheric Structures of the Cordillera‐Craton Boundary Region in Western Canada

Shear Velocity and Radial Anisotropy beneath Southwestern Canada: Evidence for Crustal Extension and Thick‐Skinned Tectonics

Heat transition for major communities supported by geothermal energy development of the Alberta Basin, Canada

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