Large-scale three-dimensional gravity analysis of the lithosphere below the transition zone from Western Europe to the East European Platform

Abstract

Large-scale three-dimensional gravity modelling using data averaged on a 1° grid has been carried out for the transition area from Western Europe to the East European craton. The model consists of two regional layers of variable thickness — the sedimentary cover and the crystalline crust — with lateral variation of average density. Removal of the calculated gravity effect of the crustal model from the observed gravity field reveals residual anomalies of mantle origin. This is confirmed by the correlation between mantle gravity anomalies and upper mantle velocity heterogeneities imaged by seismotomographic studies. The Tornquist–Teisseyre Zone (TTZ), marked in general by a gradient zone of mantle gravity anomalies, is considered as a deep density section traced in the upper mantle down to a depth of 200km. Across this suture zone a dramatic change of the structure, physical properties and composition of the lithosphere of the continent occurs. The different characters of the mantle gravity anomalies over the two main parts of the TTZ — the Danish–Scandinavian and Polish segments — are explained by the peculiarities of their evolution and the different character of the prevailing tectonic regimes during the Proterozoic–Cenozoic.