Surface motions and intraplate continental deformation in Alaska driven by mantle flow

Finzel, Emily S and Flesch, Lucy M and Ridgway, Kenneth D and Holt, William E and Ghosh, Attreyee (2015) Surface motions and intraplate continental deformation in Alaska driven by mantle flow. In: GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 42 (11). pp. 4350-4358.

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Abstract

The degree to which the lithosphere and mantle are coupled and contribute to surface deformation beneath continental regions remains a fundamental question in the field of geodynamics. Here we use a new approach with a surface deformation field constrained by GPS, geologic, and seismicity data, together with a lithospheric geodynamic model, to solve for tractions inferred to be generated by mantle convection that (1) drive extension within interior Alaska generating southward directed surface motions toward the southern convergent plate boundary, (2) result in accommodation of the relative motions between the Pacific and North America in a comparatively small zone near the plate boundary, and (3) generate the observed convergence within the North American plate interior in the Mackenzie mountains in northwestern Canada. The evidence for deeper mantle influence on surface deformation beneath a continental region suggests that this mechanism may be an important contributing driver to continental plate assemblage and breakup.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Publisher:	AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION, 2000 FLORIDA AVE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20009 USA
Keywords:	mantle tractions; Alaska; geodynamics; continental deformation
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Earth Sciences
Date Deposited:	05 Aug 2015 05:07
Last Modified:	05 Aug 2015 05:07
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/52033

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