Lasting mantle scars lead to perennial plate tectonics

Abstract

Mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, subduction and continental collisions form the conventional theory of plate tectonics to explain non-rigid behaviour at plate boundaries. However, the theory does not explain directly the processes involved in intraplate deformation and seismicity. Recently, damage structures in the lithosphere have been linked to the origin of plate tectonics. Despite seismological imaging suggesting that inherited mantle lithosphere heterogeneities are ubiquitous, their plate tectonic role is rarely considered. Here we show that deep lithospheric anomalies can dominate shallow geological features in activating tectonics in plate interiors. In numerical experiments, we found that structures frozen into the mantle lithosphere through plate tectonic processes can behave as quasi-plate boundaries reactivated under far-field compressional forcing. Intraplate locations where proto-lithospheric plates have been scarred by earlier suturing could be regions where latent plate boundaries remain, and where plate tectonics processes are expressed as a ‘perennial' phenomenon.

Proxies for Basement Structure and Its Implications for Mesoproterozoic Metallogenic Provinces in the Gawler Craton

“…Our interpreted crustal architecture aligns with the mantle architecture interpreted by Skirrow et al () (Figure ), where both IOCG and CGG deposits lie along major structural breaks that connect different compartments of the mantle to the crust along long‐lasting lithospheric scars (in the sense of Heron et al, ). The oldest crustal fragment represented by Domain C is mostly rooted by the metasomatized lithospheric mantle.…”

“…Most large mineral systems require the existence of geological structures (e.g., sets of faults, shear zones, and folds) that provide physical pathways for crucial large‐scale fluid plumbing through the lithosphere to the crust (Huston et al, ). However, the identification of these structures is difficult because rocks are often reworked, structures are reactivated, and deformation superimposed over time or is buried by younger rocks (Heron et al, ). Furthermore, the task of distinguishing between shallow and deep penetrating structures is challenging due to data resolution, the ambiguity of geophysical techniques, and the physical properties of geological materials (Huston et al, ; Korsch & Doublier, ).…”

Segmentation of Rifts Through Structural Inheritance: Creation of the Davis Strait

“…It should be noted that it is indeed unexpected that applying a North Atlantic Craton mantle suture (Figure b) in the presence of an extension field that is relevant in velocity and orientation to the Paleogene (Figure ) would produce appropriate rift dynamics for the Davis Strait system (Figure ). However, the study here complements a growing body of work that highlights the potential of the mantle lithosphere to play an important role in tectonic processes (Pysklywec & Beaumont, ; Babuška & Plomerová, ; Heron et al, ; Jourdon et al, ; Salazar‐Mora et al, ; Phillips et al, ; Balázs et al, ; Heron et al, ).…”

“…Numerous previous studies have shown the potential for mantle lithosphere structures to control the evolution of shallow tectonics (Balázs et al, ; Heron et al, ; Heron et al, ; Jourdon et al, ; Pysklywec & Beaumont, ; Phillips et al, ; Salazar‐Mora et al, ; Schiffer et al, ), highlighting a deep genesis for lithosphere‐scale deformation (e.g., Holdsworth et al, ; Vauchez et al, ). Reactivation of features formed through previous collisional or rifting events (Wilson, ) is well established and thought to occur along well‐defined, preexisting structures such as faults, shear zones, or lithological contacts (Holdsworth et al, ).…”

From orogen to rifted passive margin formation in Brazil: Geodynamic numerical modeling considering the effects of structural inheritance and rheology

“…Deep seismic reflection surveys have long suggested relics of subduction zones in the mantle lithosphere (Morgan et al, 1994), and their link to suture zones has been well-pointed by the compilations of Heron et al (2016). For instance, in the rifted conjugate margins between Norway and Greenland in the North Sea (North Atlantic), relicts of subduction zones were seismically interpreted and associated to the Caledonian orogenic belt (Schiffer et al, 2014), which is the suture through which the following North Sea rifting took place.…”