Lithospheric structure north of Scothland--I. P-wave modelling deep reflection profiles and gravity

Abstract

The W-reflector and the Flannan reflector are two enigmatic planar structures in the lithospheric mantle north of Scotland, mapped in three dimensions using deep reflection profiling. The Flannan reflector dips eastwards from the Moho to a depth of 80 km at an angle of ∼30°, whilst the W-reflector is subhorizontal, lying 10–20 km beneath the Moho and terminating westwards against the Flannan. Both reflectors have a strong impedance contrast and are laterally coherent over tens of kilometres. Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data are used here to constrain the P-wave velocity structure of the lithosphere in this region and to investigate the physical properties and geometry of these reflective structures. We report the results from an integrated seismic survey in which a series of explosive shots fired at sea were recorded by ocean bottom seismographs, land stations and a streamer towed by a second ship in an expanding spread configuration. A well resolved P-wave velocity structure for the lithosphere above the mantle reflectors is derived by inverting the seismic traveltimes to optimize the fit of the model to the data, and by generating synthetic seismograms from the model to match the relative amplitudes of the observed seismic phases. A high-amplitude post-critical reflection indicates the existence of a discrete reflecting interface dipping gently westwards between 40 and 50 km depth in the lithospheric mantle. The P-wave velocity model is converted to two-way reflection time and correlated with normal-incidence reflection data: the Moho structure agrees well, and the reflecting interface defined by the wide-angle data is coincident with the subhorizontal W-reflector. Less distinct later arrivals observed in the data are consistent with modelled reflections from the Flannan reflector in the mantle and from the extrapolated position of the Outer Isles Fault in the lower crust. Modelling of the relative amplitudes and critical distances of the wide-angle mantle reflection shows that the reflecting layer must be at least 3 km thick and that it has considerably higher velocity (8.5 km s−1) and density (3.5 g cm−3) than normal mantle. Further modelling tests the vertical structure within the layer, and constrains the sharpness of the upper interface and whether the reflection amplitude could have been enhanced by internal layering. Gravity data measured over the region are consistent with the velocity model and with the high-density layer in the mantle, which is constrained by the gravity modelling to be less than 10 km thick. Published laboratory measurements of the physical properties of mantle rocks indicate that mafic eclogite with high velocity and density satisfies all the observations from the mantle layer. Our preferred hypothesis for the origin for such a layer is that it is a fragment of oceanic crust that has been subducted and metamorphosed to eclogite facies.