Mantle convection and possible mantle plumes beneath Antarctica – insights from geodynamic models and implications for topography

Abstract

Abstract This chapter describes large-scale mantle flow structures beneath Antarctica as derived from global seismic tomography models of the present-day state. In combination with plate reconstructions, the time-dependent pattern of palaeosubduction can be simulated and is shown from the rarely seen Antarctic perspective. Furthermore, a dynamic topography model demonstrates which kind and scales of surface manifestations can be expected as a direct and observable result of mantle convection. The last section of this chapter features an overview of the classical concept of deep-mantle plumes from a geodynamic point of view and how recent insights, mostly from seismic tomography, have changed the understanding of plume structures and dynamics over past decades. The long-standing and controversial hypothesis of a mantle plume beneath West Antarctica is summarized and addressed with geodynamic models, which estimate the excess heat flow of a potential plume at the bedrock surface. However, the predicted heat flow is small, while differences in surface heat-flux estimates are large; therefore, the results are not conclusive with regard to the existence of a West Antarctic mantle plume. Finally, it is shown that global mantle flow would cause the tilting of whole-mantle plume conduits beneath West Antarctica such that their base is predicted to be displaced about 20° northward relative to the surface position, closer to the southern margin of the Pacific Large Low-Shear Velocity Province.