Zur deutung der geoid- und wärme flussanomalie n der erde: eine antwort

Abstract

Abstract In the author's article (Wunderlich, 1966b) the anomalies of the geoid and of the heat flow were attributed to subcrustal flow. This interpretation is not dependent on whether the geoid surface, as computed by Guier (1965), is the expression of actual elevations and depressions or whether it is caused by local differences in density in the interior of the earth. If density fluctuations are responsible for the form of the geoid then these are probably the result of phase changes caused by compression and decompression in certain zones of converging and diverging flow lines in the mantle. No direct connection is recognizable between the anomalies of the geoid and the orientation of the earth's young mountain belts (see Fig.1). Therefore these mountain belts can hardly be explained by “gravitational spreading” of megaundations coinciding with the anomalies of the geoid. Fig.2 suggests instead an influence of Coriolis forces, generated by the rotation of the earth, on the subcrustal flow causing a deflection of the flow lines at every crossing of the equator. Active flow at depth is indicated by the fact that the deflection is directed towards the right in the Northern Hemisphere whereas it turns towards the left in the Southern Hemisphere.