Deep extensions of low seismic velocities in the mantle beneath volcanic centers are commonly attributed to high temperatures and have been used as a possible characteristic of hot plumes originating at the core-mantle boundary. To address this issue, we examine the effect of volatiles on melting to determine if regions of low seismic velocities may also be interpreted as regions of melting wit...

Understanding the deformation mechanisms of olivine is important for addressing the dynamic processes in Earth's upper mantle. It has been thought that dislocation creep is the dominant mechanism because of extrapolated laboratory data on the plasticity of olivine at pressures below 0.5 GPa. However, we found that dislocation-accommodated grain boundary sliding (DisGBS), rather than dislocation...

Periclase (MgO) is the second most abundant mineral after bridgmanite in the Earth's lower mantle, and its melting behaviour under pressure is important to constrain rheological properties and melting behaviours of the lower mantle materials. Significant discrepancies exist between the melting temperatures of MgO determined by laser-heated diamond anvil cell (LHDAC) and those based on dynamic c...

[1] We conduct three-dimensional subduction experiments by a finite element approach to study flow around slabs, which are prescribed based on a transient stage of upper mantle subduction from a laboratory model. Instantaneous velocity field solutions are examined, focusing on the toroidal vs. poloidal components as a function of boundary conditions, plate width, and viscosity contrast between ...

The statistical correlation between the locations of hot spots at the surface of Earth and the distribution of ultra-low-velocity zones at the base of the mantle has about a 1 percent chance of arising randomly. This correlation is more significant than that between hot spots and negative velocity anomalies in tomographic models of deep mantle compressional and shear velocity. This correlation ...

In the framework of dynamical modelling of the geoid, we have estimated basic features of the radial profile of temperature in the mantle. The applied parameterization of the geotherm directly characterizes thermal boundary layers and values of the thermal gradient in the upper and lower mantle. In the inverse modelling scheme these parameters are related to the observables (geoid and seismic s...

The possibility of a hidden geochemical reservoir in the deep mantle has long been debated in geophysics and geochemistry, because of its bearings on the structure of the core–mantle boundary region, the origin of hotspots, the style of mantle convection, the history of the geomagnetic field, and the thermal evolution of Earth. The presence of such hidden reservoir, however, may invalidate exis...

The origin of mantle hotspots is a controversial topic. Only seven (‘primary’) out of 49 hotspots meet criteria aimed at detecting a very deep origin (three in the Pacific, four in the Indo-Atlantic hemisphere). In each hemisphere these move slowly, whereas there has been up to 50 mm/a motion between the two hemispheres prior to 50 Ma ago. This correlates with latitudinal shifts in the Hawaiian...

Introduction: An overarching geologic theory, GEOMARS, coherently explains many otherwise anomalous aspects of the geological history of Mars [1]. Premises for a theory of martian geologic evolution include: (1) Mars is a water-rich terrestrial planet, (2) terrestrial planets should evolve through progressive stages of dynamical history (accretion, differentiation, tectonism) and mantle convect...

In numerical simulations of mantle convection it is commonly assumed that the coefficients of thermal expansion a and thermal conduction k are either constant or pressure-dependent. Pressure changes are generally computed using parametrizations that rely on extrapolations of low-pressure data for a single upper-mantle phase. Here we collect data for both the pressure and temperature dependence ...