Compositional and thermal differences between lithospheric and asthenospheric mantle and their influence on continental delamination

Abstract

The lower part of lithosphere in collisional orogens may delaminate due to density inversion between the asthenosphere and the cold thickened lithospheric mantle. Generally, standard delamination models have neglected density changes within the crust and the lithospheric mantle, which occur due to phase transitions and compositional variations upon changes of P-T parameters. Our attention is focused on effects of phase and density changes that may be very important and even dominant when compared with the effect of a simple change of the thermal mantle structure. The paper presents the results of numerical modeling for eclogitization of basalts of the lower crust as well as phase composition changes and density of underlying peridotite resulted from tectonic thickening of the lithosphere and its foundering into the asthenosphere. As the thickness of the lower crust increases, the mafic granulite (basalt) passes into eclogite, and density inversion occurs at the accepted crust-mantle boundary (P=20 kbar) because the newly formed eclogite is heavier than the underlying peridotite by 6 % (abyssal peridotite, according to [Boyd, 1989]). The density difference is a potential energy for delamination of the eclogitic portion of the crust. According to the model, P=70 kbar and T=1300 °C correspond to conditions at the lower boundary of the lithosphere. Assuming the temperature adiabatic distribution within the asthenosphere, its value at the given parameters ranges from 1350 °C to 1400 °C. Density inversion at dry conditions occurs with the identical lithospheric and asthenospheric compositions at the expense of the temperature difference at 100 °C with the density difference of only 0.0022 %. Differences of two other asthenospheric compositions (primitive mantle, and lherzolite KH) as compared to the lithosphere (abyssal peridotite) are not compensated for by a higher temperature. The asthenospheric density is higher than that of the lithospheric base. Density inversion occurs if one assumes the presence of the asthenosphereic material in the composition similar to that of the primitive mantle or lherzolite KH in amounts no less than 1.40 and 0.83 wt. %, respectively, of the conventionally neutral fluid. This amount of the fluid seems to be overestimated and thus does not fully correlate with the current estimates of the fluid content in the mantle. Therefore, the most appropriate material for delamination of the thickened lithosphere is only the fluid-bearing asthenosphere which composition corresponds to that of the depleted mantle of middle-ocean ridges (DMM) being the reservoir existing from the Precambrian. In our model, abyssal peridotite is most similar to DMM as compared with other more fertile compositions of the lithosphere. Heat advection due to uplift of fluid-bearing plumes that occurred much time after collisional events may initiate repeated delamination of gravitationally instable parts of the orogenic and cratonic lithosphere.