On the orientation of tensile dikes in a ridge-centered plume

Abstract

We present three-dimensional numerical models of the ascent of a plume under a spreading ridge and the concomitant melt generation and crust formation using a mantle viscosity which depends on pressure, temperature, melt content, and, optionally, water content. From the velocity field of these convection models we compute the viscous stress tensor in the mantle. Assuming that melt-rich channels or melt-filled dikes are oriented parallel to the maximum compressional stress, we calculate the orientation of such dikes in the partially molten zone of the plume head and beneath the ridge. For the central part of the plume we find dike orientations parallel to the ridge in shallow parts of the plume head, while they are ridge-perpendicular at greater depth. The boundary between these two regimes is shifted downwards for a water-rich plume which dehydrates upon melting. The two regimes of different dike or melt channel orientations seem to be in good agreement with seismic observations on depth-dependent seismic anisotropy, indicating a preference of our wet model. We find a modest focusing of melt towards the spreading center beneath normal ridge in both models, but also in the fully dehydrated parts of the plume head in the model where water was included; those are regions where upwelling is essentially passive. In contrast, the plume in the water-free model and the only partly dehydrated parts of the plume in the water-bearing model tend to develop a dike orientation which moves melt away from the spreading center; these regions are characterized by active upwelling. The defocusing of melt in actively upwelling plume mantle has radial symmetry about the plume axis, i.e. an outward orientation of the dikes is not only visible in planes perpendicular to the ridge, but also along the ridge.