Stability of the boundary layer between the lithosphere and convecting mantle and the steady-state lithospheric geotherm

Abstract

In the steady state, the convective boundary layer (CBL) (the transition from the lithosphere to the convecting mantle, the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary) is on the verge of stability. This determines its depth, thickness, and the steady-state temperature distribution in the lithosphere. Had the mantle been homogeneous, the base of the lithosphere at the current potential temperature would lie globally at the same depth H rh of 50 to 70 km. Actually, the regime of interaction of the mantle convection with the lithosphere is determined by the relationship between this depth and the thickness H depl of the chemical boundary layer including the crust and the layer of the depleted rock. If the thickness of the chemical boundary layer is small H depl H rh, the subcontinental regime of the interaction of the mantle convection with the lithosphere is established. In this case, the CBL is immediately adjacent to the depleted lithosphere, its top is located at depth H depl, and the surface heat flow q(T p, H depl) not only depends on the potential temperature T p but also on the the thickness of the depleted lithosphere H depl; it decreases with increasing H depl and, therefore, with the age of the lithosphere. Given the potential temperature, the dependence q(T p, H depl) agrees well with the envelope of the results of kimberlite xenolith thermobarometry presented in the diagram of the deepest xenolith depth as a function of the heat flow. It is likely that in the lowest part of the continental lithosphere there is a zone of horizontal shear deformation, from where kimberlites entrain the strongly deformed and, at the same time, the deepest xenoliths. Besides, the azimuthal anisotropy of seismic velocities can be associated with this zone. The change in its direction with depth can be observed as the Lehmann discontinuity.