Thin elastic shells with variable thickness for lithospheric flexure of one-plate planets

Planetary topography can either be modeled as a load supported by the lithosphere, or as a dynamical effect due to lithospheric flexure caused by mantle convection. In both cases the response of the lithosphere to external forces can be calculated with the theory of thin elastic plates or shells. On one-plate planets the spherical geometry of the lithospheric shell plays an important role in the flexure mechanism. So far the equations governing the deformations and stresses of a spherical shell have only been derived under the assumption of a shell of constant thickness. However local studies of gravity and topography data suggest large variations in the thickness of the lithosphere. In this article we obtain the scalar flexure equations governing the deformations of a thin spherical shell with variable thickness or variable Young’s modulus. The resulting equations can be solved in succession, except for a system of two simultaneous equations, the solutions of which are the transverse deflection and an associated stress function. In order to include bottom loading generated by mantle convection, we extend the method of stress functions to include loads with a toroidal tangential component. We further show that toroidal tangential displacement always occurs if the shell thickness varies, even in the absence of toroidal loads. We finally prove that the degree-one harmonic component of the transverse deflection is independent of the elastic properties of the shell and that it is determined by the global equilibrium of external forces. The flexure equations for a shell of variable thickness are useful not only for the prediction of the gravity signal in local admittance studies, but also for the construction of stress maps in tectonic analysis.