Mapping elastic lithospheric thickness variations in Canada

Abstract

The variation of elastic lithospheric thickness within the Canadian landmass is determined using the coherence between surface topography and Bouguer gravity anomalies. Estimates of elastic thickness (or, equivalently, rigidity) are derived by minimizing the difference between the observed coherence and that predicted by an isostatic model consisting of a thin elastic plate which is subject to surface and subsurface loading and overlies a fluid substratum (the asthenosphere). Estimates of the elastic thickness vary from 17–18 km in coastal Labrador and Baffin Island to > 150 km near Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. A broad correlation exists between lithospheric thickness and age. Exceptions to this correlation are areas of reduced plate thickness in North Atlantic coastal regions where magmatic activity associated with rifting and the formation of a passive margin may have been sufficient to reduce the plate strength but not enough to reset the thermal age of the basement rocks. Areas of greater plate thickness than that predicted by thermal cooling occur in the continental interior and may reflect lithospheric thickening due to the chemical and mechanical effects accompanying continental agglomeration.