Mantle upwelling beneath the Apennines identified by receiver function imaging

Abstract

Magmatism, uplift and extension diffusely take place along collisional belts. Even though links between mantle dynamics and shallow deformation are becoming more evident, there is still poor understanding of how deep and surface processes are connected. In this work, we present new observations on the structure of the uppermost mantle beneath the Apennines belt. Receiver functions and seismic tomography consistently define a broad zone in the shallow mantle beneath the mountain belt where the shear wave velocities are lower than about 5% and the Vp/Vs ratio is higher than 3% than the reference values for these depths. We interpret these anomalies as a pronounced mantle upwelling with accumulation of melts at the crust-mantle interface, on top of which extensional seismicity responds to the crustal bending. The melted region extends from the Tyrrhenian side to the central part of the belt, with upraise of fluids within the crust favored by the current extension concentrated in the Apennines mountain range. More in general, mantle upwelling, following detachment of continental lithosphere, is a likely cause for elevated topography, magmatism and extension in post-collisional belts.