Towards Mapping the Three-Dimensional Distribution of Water in the Upper Mantle from Velocity and Attenuation Tomography

Abstract

A new method is developed to determine the three-dimensional variation in water content, temperature, and other parameters such as major element chemistry or the melt fraction from anomalies in seismic wave velocities and attenuation. The key to this method is mineral physics observations indicating different sensitivity of seismic wave velocities and attenuation to temperature, water content and other parameters such as major element chemistry, melt fraction or grain-size. Our analysis shows that among these parameters, temperature and water content generally have a more important influence on seismic wave velocities and attenuation than other factors such as major element chemistry, which are important only in limited regions. The method is applied to the upper mantle beneath northern Philippine Sea including the Izu-Bonin subduction zone, where high-resolution velocity and attenuation tomographic models are available down to a depth of ∼400 km. We show that the tomographic images of this region can be explained by lateral variations in temperature and water content, with only little influence of major element chemistry. A broad region of high attenuation with modestly low velocities at 300-400 km depth away from the slab in this region is interpreted as region of high water contents. We speculate that this water-rich region may have been formed by the efficient transport of water to deeper mantle by a fast (and cold) subducting slab in this region or water may come from the transition zone.