[1] We study the role of partialmelt‐ or lattice fabric‐induced, viscous anisotropy for lithosphere‐asthenosphere interactions using mantle flow models. Mechanical anisotropy has only a moderate influence on plate‐scale flow and global geoid predictions for the cases considered, and anisotropic weakening effects are similar to those due to effective, isotropic viscosity reduction. While anisotr...

"Lithosphere" is a mechanical concept implying strength and relative permanence. Unfortunately, the term has also been applied to the surface thermal boundary layer (TBL) and a shallow enriched geochemical reservoir, features having nothing to do with strength. The "strong" lithosphere is about one half the thickness of the TBL. The bottom of the elastic plate, the maximum depths of midplate an...

Gravitational lithosphere removal in continental interior has been inferred from various observations, including anomalous surface deflections and magmatism. We use numerical models and a simplified theoretical analysis to investigate how lithosphere removal can be recognized in the magmatic record. One style of removal is a Rayleigh-Taylor-type instability, where removal occurs through drippin...

The stretching and break-up of tectonic plates by rifting control the evolution of continents and oceans, but the processes by which lithosphere deforms and accommodates strain during rifting remain enigmatic. Using scattering of teleseismic shear waves beneath rifted zones and adjacent areas in Southern California, we resolve the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and lithospheric thickness va...

The tidal flow of electrically conductive oceans through the geomagnetic field results in the generation of secondary magnetic signals, which provide information on the subsurface structure. Data from the new generation of satellites were shown to contain magnetic signals due to tidal flow; however, there are no reports that these signals have been used to infer subsurface structure. We use sat...

_Abstract. Two major hypotheses have been advanced for the formation of the long wavelength (100-300 km) undulations of oceanic basement and overlying sediments developed in the central Indian Ocean basin: whole layer folding (buckling) and local thickening (inverse boudinage). Using appropriately scaled two-layer analogue models for the oceanic lithosphere comprising a brittle layer above a du...

[1] The shear tractions that mantle flow exerts on the base of Earth’s lithosphere contribute to plate-driving forces and lithospheric stresses. We investigate the sensitivity of these tractions to sub-lithospheric viscosity variations by comparing shear tractions computed from a mantle flow model featuring laterally-varying lithosphere and asthenosphere viscosity with those from a model with l...