Focal depths of intracontinental and intraplate earthquakes and their implications for the thermal and mechanical properties of the lithosphere

Abstract

We investigate the distribution of focal depths for earthquakes that do not appear to be associated with zones of recent subduction, using both new results from analyses of individual events recorded at teleseismic distances and published data for both microearthquakes and larger events. The deepest events in oceanic regions occur in old lithosphere (≥100 Ma), and excluding earthquakes in active mountain belts, the deepest crustal events occur in old cratons (tectonic age ≥800 Ma). Therefore, the temperature at the source region is likely to be an important factor determining whether deformation occurs seismically or not. From estimates of the temperatures at depths of the deepest events, we conclude that those limiting temperatures are about 250°–450°C and 600°–800°C for crustal and mantle materials, respectively. In several regions of recent continental convergence, in addition to shallow crustal seismicity, there is seismic activity in the uppermost mantle. The lower crust, however, is essentially aseismic. We infer that both the upper crustal and the mantle seismic regions correspond to zones of relatively high strength and that they are separated by a zone of lower strength in the lower crust where aseismic, ductile deformation predominates. This simple interpretation is qualitatively in agreement with extrapolated values of brittle and ductile strengths of geologic materials studied under appropriate pressure and temperature conditions in the laboratory. A low‐strength zone in the lower crust might allow detachment of crystalline nappes from the underlying mantle (and lower crustal) lithosphere. The apparently greater strength of mantle materials than crustal materials at the same temperature implies that oceanic lithosphere is much stronger than continental lithosphere, and this difference may account for why plate tectonics works well in oceanic regions but not in continents.