Topography of the mantle discontinuities beneath the South Pacific superswell as inferred from broadband waveforms on seafloor

Abstract

We analyzed seismic waveforms recorded by the broadband ocean bottom seismographs deployed in the South Pacific superswell to determine the depths of the mantle discontinuities using a receiver function method. We estimated the thickness of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) to be 245 km on average beneath the superswell region, which is close to the global average. The MTZ is found to be thinned locally beneath the Society hot spot by 30 km. Temperature anomalies computed from the thinned transition zone and the Clapeyron slope of the olivine phase transformations are 150–200 K beneath the Society hot spot. Previous studies, using land-based data, suggested the presence of a hot MTZ beneath the Pitcairn hot spot. The locally hot transition zone beneath the hot spots is attributed to narrow mantle plumes probably rising from the lower mantle. The normal average thickness obtained from the present study indicates that there is no broad upwelling across the transition zone beneath the entire superswell region at present.