European Lithosphere Research Articles

East European sedimentary basins long heated by a fading mantle upwelling

A strong negative anomaly of seismic wave velocities at the core-mantle boundary (the Perm Anomaly) beneath the East European platform is attributed to the remnant of a deep mantle upwelling. The interaction between the upwelling and the East European lithosphere in the geological past and its resulting surface manifestations are still poorly understood. Using mantle plume modelling and global plate motion reconstructions, we show here that the East European lithosphere is likely to have been situated over the weakening Perm Anomaly upwelling for about 150–200 million years. As the East European platform moved above the Perm Anomaly in post-Jurassic times, the vertical tectonic movements recorded in sedimentary hydrocarbon-rich basins show either hiatus/uplift or insignificant subsidence. Analytical modelling of heat conduction through the lithosphere demonstrates that the basins have been slowly heated for a long time by the Perm Anomaly upwelling, creating suitable conditions for hydrocarbon maturation. This suggests a profound relationship between mantle plume dynamics, basin evolution, and hydrocarbon generation.

Seismic structure of the Eastern European crust and upper mantle from probabilistic ambient noise tomography

The Eastern European lithosphere is a natural laboratory to study continental formation and evolution through time, comprising Archean continental remnants, Proterozoic rifts and belts, and younger accreted terranes. We investigate the seismic structure of the East European Craton (EEC) crust and uppermost mantle, and the transition from Precambrian to Phanerozoic Europe across the Trans European Suture Zone (TESZ) using probabilistic transdimensional ambient noise tomography. We cross-correlate noise recorded at broadband seismic stations from Eastern, Northern, and Central Europe, remove earthquake signals using continuous wavelet transform, and extract Rayleigh wave phase velocity dispersion curves. We invert these for the highest resolution shear wave velocity model of the Eastern European lithosphere to date, using Markov chain Monte Carlo Bayesian inversion. Our shear wave velocity model exhibits spatial correlation with major tectonic units and bears similarities with active seismic survey profiles in terms of seismic velocity patterns and main discontinuities. The crust thickens across the TESZ boundary and the mantle is seismically faster than beneath younger terranes, consistent with a less dense Precambrian lithosphere in the EEC. The crust and lithosphere beneath the Pannonian region is hyper-extended but the adjacent Transylvanian basin crust shows significant heterogeneity. The Precambrian building blocks of the EEC exhibit contrasting seismic fabrics. The Baltic orogens of Fennoscandia are underlain by uniform crust with a flat Moho, while Sarmatia shows alternating high and low velocity layers and a regional south-dipping crustal boundary from beneath the Ukrainian Shield towards the Crimean Peninsula. The last observation supports a geodynamic style driven by horizontal rather than vertical tectonics, with fundamental implications for the formation and evolution of early continents.

Sp converted waves reveal the structure of the lithosphere below the Alps and their northern foreland

SUMMARY The structure of the lithosphere is reflecting its evolution. The Moho of the European lithosphere has already been studied intensively. This is, however, not yet the case for the lower boundary of the lithosphere, that is the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB). We are using S-to-P converted seismic waves to study the structures of the Moho and the LAB beneath Europe including the greater Alpine Area with data from the AlpArray project and the European networks of permanent seismic stations. We use plain waveform stacking of converted waves without deconvolution and compare the results with stacking of deconvolved traces. We also compare Moho depths determinations using S-to-P converted waves with those obtained by other seismic methods. We present more detailed information about negative velocity gradients (NVG) below the Moho. Its lower bound may be interpreted as representing the LAB. We found that the thickness of the European mantle lithosphere is increasing from about 50°N towards the Alps along the entire east–west extension of the Alps. The NVG has also an east dipping component towards the Pannonian Basin and the Bohemian Massif. The Alps and their northern foreland north of about 50°N are surrounded in the east, west and north by a north dipping mantle lithosphere. Along 50°N, where the NVG is reversing its dip direction towards the north, is also the area along which the volcanoes of the European Cenozoic Rift System are located. Our results possibly indicate that the Alpine collision has deformed the entire lithosphere of the Alpine foreland as far north as about 50°N.

Thermo‐Kinematic Evolution of the Eastern European Alps Along the TRANSALP Transect

AbstractThe eastern European Alps are shaped by the indentation of Adria into Europe. Recent tomography, depicting detached slab fragments, has been interpreted as evidence of continuous southward subduction of European lithosphere, contrary to an often‐invoked subduction polarity reversal. Orogen‐scale exhumation, driven by rock displacement along active faults, may reflect subduction polarity within the framework of doubly‐vergent Coulomb wedge theory, provided the absence of rheological contrasts across the colliding plates. Low‐temperature thermochronology can evaluate crustal cooling in response to changes in tectonic and erosional boundary conditions. This study investigates the consistency of observed crustal re‐organization, exhumation, and mantle processes in the Eastern Alps. Thermo‐kinematic forward models driven by reconstructions of crustal shortening along the TRANSALP geophysical transect were subjected to variations in shortening rates, thermophysical parameters, and topographic evolution, supplemented by new fission‐track data. The thermo‐kinematic models reproduce: (a) the orogen‐scale structural geometry, (b) the distribution of thermochronometer ages, (c) observed time‐temperature paths, and (f) the present‐day surface heat flux. Results suggest that exhumation is driven by rock displacement along active faults without the need to involve mantle‐driven buoyancy forces. Taken together, the results identify two possible scenarios: if the Tauern Ramp is a retro‐thrust and the southward shift of deformation in the Southern Alps is a response to new Coulomb‐wedge conditions, then our results support a Mid‐Miocene reversal of the subduction polarity. Alternatively, crustal deformation does not reflect mantle processes entailing a high degree of inter‐plate decoupling.

Moho and LAB Across the Western Alps (Europe) From P and S Receiver Function Analysis

AbstractIn spite of numerous active and passive seismological investigations, the existence of continuous or interrupted continental subduction below the Western Alps is still open to debate. Many of the observations focus on the Moho or the deeper part of the mantle, while reliable information on the Lithosphere‐Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB) below the Alpine region is scarce. Exploiting the data from the dense, broadband AlpArray Seismic Network we present a set of Receiver Function (RF) measurements on the Moho and LAB of a region encompassing the Western Alps, which includes the Ivrea Geophysical Body (IGB), a fragment of mantle placed at a few kilometers depth at the collision margin between Eurasia and Adria plates. We derive seismic velocity profiles of the crust‐uppermost mantle below each station down to about 250 km, through the joint inversion of P and S RF. We constrain the lateral variations of the Moho and LAB topographies across the colliding plates, and quantify the errors related to our measurements. Our results allow us to considerably expand the published data of the Moho depth and to add a unique set of new measurements of the LAB. Our observations show that Eurasia and Adria lithospheres have a comparable thickness (on average 90–100 km), and are colliding below the IGB, and that Eurasia is not presently continuously subducting below Adria. These observations suggest that there is a gap between the superficial (continental) European lithosphere and the deep (oceanic) lithosphere, confirming the discontinuous structure imaged by some seismic tomography models.

Deep Electrical Resistivity Structure of the European Lithosphere in Poland Derived from 3-D Inversion of Magnetotelluric Data

Deep Electrical Resistivity Structure of the European Lithosphere in Poland Derived from 3-D Inversion of Magnetotelluric Data

Upper mantle control on the W isotope record of shallow level plume and intraplate volcanic settings

Several studies have revealed small heterogeneities in the relative abundance of 182W, the radiogenic nuclide of short-lived 182Hf (t1/2 = ∼9 Ma), in terrestrial rocks. Whereas the majority of Archean rocks display 182W excesses relative to bulk silicate Earth, many young ocean island basalts show small 182W deficits, in particular if they are sourced from deep-rooted mantle plumes. The origin of this anomaly is still ambiguous, proposed models focus on core-mantle interaction or the presence of reservoirs in the lower mantle that have been isolated since the Hadean. In order to evaluate the role of upper mantle reservoirs, we report the first 182W data for intraplate basalts where a deep plume origin is still debated (Ascension Island, Massif Central, Siebengebirge and Eifel) and intraplate volcanic rocks associated with either plume or subduction zone environments (Italian Magmatic Provinces) and compare them to new data for basalts that have a deep mantle plume origin (La Réunion and Baffin Island). The proto-Iceland plume basalts from Baffin Island have uniform and modern mantle-like μ182W of around 0 despite extremely high (3He/4He). In contrast, basalts from both volcanic edifices from La Réunion span a range from modern upper mantle values to deficits as low as μ182W = −8.8 ppm, indicating a heterogeneous source reservoir. The μ182W in all other intraplate volcanic provinces overlap the composition of modern upper mantle to within 3 ppm. The absence of resolvable 182W anomalies in these intraplate basalts, which partially tap the lithospheric mantle, suggests that primordial components are neither present in the central and southern European lithosphere nor in the European asthenospheric reservoir (EAR). The general absence of 182W anomalies in European plume-related basalts can either be explained by a shallow mantle source or by the absence of isotopically anomalous and isolated domains in the deep mantle beneath the northern hemisphere, as also suggested by geophysical evidence.

Two subduction-related heterogeneities beneath the Eastern Alps and the Bohemian Massif imaged by high-resolution P-wave tomography

Abstract. We present high-resolution tomographic images of the upper mantle beneath the Eastern Alps and the adjacent Bohemian Massif (BM) in the north based on recordings from the AlpArray-EASI and AlpArray seismic networks. The tomography locates the Alpine high-velocity perturbations between the Periadriatic Lineament and the Northern Alpine Front. The northward-dipping lithosphere is imaged down to ∼ 200–250 km of depth, without signs of delamination. The small amount of crustal shortening compared to that in the Western Alps and the bimodal character of the positive perturbations with a separation beneath the Tauern Window indicate a dual source of the velocity heterogeneity, most probably formed by a mixture of a fragment of detached European plate and the Adriatic plate subductions. A detached high-velocity heterogeneity, sub-parallel to and distinct from the Eastern Alps heterogeneity, is imaged at ∼ 100–200 km beneath the southern part of the BM. We associate this anomaly with the western end of a SW–NE-striking heterogeneity beneath the south-eastern part of the BM, imaged in models of larger extent. The strike, parallel with the Moldanubian–Brunovistulian mantle–lithosphere boundary in the BM and with the westernmost part of the Carpathian front, leads us to consider potential scenarios relating the heterogeneity to (1) a remnant of the delaminated European plate, (2) a piece of continental-and-oceanic lithosphere mixture related to the building of the BM, particularly to the closure of the old Rheic ocean during the MD–BV collision, or (3) a lithospheric fragment going through to the NW between the Eastern Alps and Western Carpathians fronts in a preceding subduction phase. The study is dedicated to our outstanding and respected colleague Vladislav Babuška, who coined innovative views on the European lithosphere and died on 30 March 2021.

Breakup with benefits - hydrothermal mineral systems related to the disintegration of a supercontinent

Mesozoic hydrothermal systems host the majority of Europe's fluorspar and barite resources as well as significant amounts of metals such as Ag, Co, Zn, Pb, Ni and Cu. Their genetic link to extensional tectonics in conjunction with the opening of the North Atlantic has long been suspected, but their spatial and temporal relation to the tectonic evolution of Europe has remained enigmatic. A thorough evaluation of available geochronological data for fluorite-barite-Pb-Zn, native-metal-arsenide-carbonate and MVT-type mineralization in Continental Europe and North Africa reveals a distinct, as yet unrecognized, time-space relationship between the distribution of hydrothermal mineral systems and the tectonic evolution of the Tethys-Atlantic-Caribbean rift system. The observed time-space relationship and ore-forming mechanisms are evaluated to constrain the underlying driving force for hydrothermal mineralization in the context of the geodynamic evolution of the European lithosphere. Based on this assessment we propose the first continental-scale model for the genesis of Mesozoic hydrothermal ore deposits associated to the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea.

Orogenic lithosphere and slabs in the greater Alpine area – interpretations based on teleseismic P-wave tomography

Abstract. Based on recent results of AlpArray, we propose a new model of Alpine collision that involves subduction and detachment of thick (∼ 180 km) European lithosphere. Our approach combines teleseismic P-wave tomography and existing local earthquake tomography (LET), allowing us to image the Alpine slabs and their connections with the overlying orogenic lithosphere at an unprecedented resolution. The images call into question the conventional notion that downward-moving lithosphere and slabs comprise only seismically fast lithosphere. We propose that the European lithosphere is heterogeneous, locally containing layered positive and negative Vp anomalies of up to 5 %–6 %. We attribute this layered heterogeneity to seismic anisotropy and/or compositional differences inherited from the Variscan and pre-Variscan orogenic cycles rather than to thermal anomalies. The lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) of the European Plate therefore lies below the conventionally defined seismological LAB. In contrast, the lithosphere of the Adriatic Plate is thinner and has a lower boundary approximately at the base of strong positive Vp anomalies at 100–120 km. Horizontal and vertical tomographic slices reveal that beneath the central and western Alps, the European slab dips steeply to the south and southeast and is only locally still attached to the Alpine lithosphere. However, in the eastern Alps and Carpathians, this slab is completely detached from the orogenic crust and dips steeply to the north to northeast. This along-strike change in attachment coincides with an abrupt decrease in Moho depth below the Tauern Window, the Moho being underlain by a pronounced negative Vp anomaly that reaches eastward into the Pannonian Basin area. This negative Vp anomaly is interpreted as representing hot upwelling asthenosphere that heated the overlying crust, allowing it to accommodate Neogene orogen-parallel lateral extrusion and thinning of the ALCAPA tectonic unit (upper plate crustal edifice of Alps and Carpathians) to the east. A European origin of the northward-dipping, detached slab segment beneath the eastern Alps is likely since its down-dip length matches estimated Tertiary shortening in the eastern Alps accommodated by originally south-dipping subduction of European lithosphere. A slab anomaly beneath the Dinarides is of Adriatic origin and dips to the northeast. There is no evidence that this slab dips beneath the Alps. The slab anomaly beneath the Northern Apennines, also of Adriatic origin, hangs subvertically and is detached from the Apenninic orogenic crust and foreland. Except for its northernmost segment where it locally overlies the southern end of the European slab of the Alps, this slab is clearly separated from the latter by a broad zone of low Vp velocities located south of the Alpine slab beneath the Po Basin. Considered as a whole, the slabs of the Alpine chain are interpreted as highly attenuated, largely detached sheets of continental margin and Alpine Tethyan oceanic lithosphere that locally reach down to a slab graveyard in the mantle transition zone (MTZ).

Crustal-scale balanced cross-section and restorations of the Central Pyrenean belt (Nestes-Cinca transect): Highlighting the structural control of Variscan belt and Permian-Mesozoic rift systems on mountain building

In this paper, we combined new field geological, structural, paleo-temperature and subsurface data together with deep geophysical data to build a new 210 km-long crustal-scale balanced and sequentially restored cross-section in the Central Pyrenean belt (Nestes-Cinca transect). The present-day surficial thrust system geometry of the belt consists of bi-vergent basement-cover thrust sheets with inverted extensional basins and halokinetic structures. Its crustal geometry consists of a thrust wedge geometry of the European lithosphere between the Axial Zone imbricate system of the Iberian upper crust and the north-directed subduction of the Iberian lower crust. Along the study transect, the contractional belt corresponds to the inversion of the Mesozoic Pyrenean Rift system, which consisted in a hyper-extended relay zone of two metamorphic zones with exhumation of lithospheric mantle, the Montillet and Baronnies zones, separated by the Barousse upper crustal boudin. Surface and subsurface data show that the European and Iberian crusts include major inherited structures of the Variscan belt and Permian Rift. These old crustal features controlled the location and geometry of the Mesozoic Pyrenean Rift system. During the upper Cretaceous-lower Miocene contraction, both Paleozoic and Mesozoic inherited features controlled the thrust kinematics and the structural architecture of the Pyrenean orogen. Palinspastic restorations show that the orogenic shortening recorded in the Central Pyrenean belt reaches 127 km (39%) including the closure of the hyper-extended Pyrenean Rift system that initially archived 56 km of extension. This study emphasizes the long-term influence of Paleozoic-Mesozoic structural and thermal inheritances for the evolution of orogenic belts.

Refining the thermal structure of the European lithosphere by inversion of subsurface temperature data

Abstract We present an updated thermal model of the European lithosphere based on a new stochastic modeling work flow. We developed this work flow to estimate subsurface temperatures from site- to regional-scale, up to the depth of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). Our model is composed of four layers, consisting of sediments, upper crust, lower crust and lithospheric mantle. We asigned thermal properties, including radiogenic heat production and temperature- and pressure-dependent bulk thermal conductivity on the base of broad-scale lithological variation within the European crust. We corrected thermal properties with a 1D steady-state temperature approximation, assuming only vertical heat flow. Using these corrected thermal properties, we calculated the 3D thermal field with a conjugate-gradient method, assuming fixed temperatures at the surface and at the base of the lithosphere. To obtain more robust results for our thermal model, we applied data assimilation, aiming at consistency between temperature and heat flow observations and tectonic model predictions. We used an Ensemble Smoother Multiple with Data Assimilation (ES-MDA) method to update prior estimates of thermal properties and the thermal field with temperature data. We calibrated our European thermal model with available regional thermal models due to the present lack of a unified dataset with public borehole temperature measurements. A large dichotomy is observed in the model along the Trans-European Suture Zone (TESZ). Northeast of the TESZ, geothermal gradients up to 10 km depth are mainly below 20 °C km−1. Southwest of the TESZ, gradients range from 20 °C km−1 near the Adriatic coast to more than 50 °C km−1 in volcanically and tectonically active regions. We show that the large scale thermal structure is locally and regionally perturbed by non-conductive heat transfer and affected by transient effects.

Deep structure of Pyrenees range (SW Europe) imaged by joint inversion of gravity and teleseismic delay time

We present a new model of the lithosphere and asthenosphere structure down to 300 km depth beneath the Pyrenees from the joint inversion of recent gravity and teleseismic data. Unlike previous studies, crustal correction was not applied on teleseismic data in order (i) to preserve the consistency between gravity data, which are mainly sensitive to the density structure of the crust lithosphere, and traveltime data, and (ii) to avoid the introduction of biases resulting from crustal reductions. The density model down to 100 km depth is preferentially used here to discuss the lithospheric structure of the Pyrenees, whereas the asthenospheric structure from 100 to 300 km depth is discussed from our velocity model. The absence of a high density anomaly in our model between 30 and 100 km depth (except the Labourd density anomaly) in the northern part of the Pyrenees seems to preclude eclogitization of the subducted Iberian crust at the scale of the entire Pyrenean range. Local eclogitization of the deep Pyrenean crust beneath the western part of the Axial Zone (west of Andorra) associated with the positive central density anomaly is proposed. The Pyrenean lithosphere in density and velocity models appears segmented from east to west. No clear relation between the along-strike segmentation and mapped major faults is visible in our models. The Pyrenees’ lithosphere segments are associated with different seismicity pattern in the Pyrenees suggesting a possible relation between the deep structure of the Pyrenees and its seismicity in the upper crust. The concentration of earthquakes localized just straight up the central density anomaly can reflect the subsidence and/or delamination of an eclogitized Pyrenean deep root. The velocity model in the asthenosphere is similar to previous studies. The absence of a high-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle and transition zone (i.e. 125 to 225 km depth) seems to preclude the presence of a detached oceanic lithosphere beneath the European lithosphere.

Mantle wedge exhumation beneath the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome unravelled by local earthquake tomography (Western Alps)

In continental subduction zones, the behaviour of the mantle wedge during exhumation of (ultra)high-pressure [(U)HP] rocks provides a key to distinguish among competing exhumation mechanisms. However, in spite of the relevant implications for understanding orogenic evolution, a high-resolution image of the mantle wedge beneath the Western Alps is still lacking. In order to fill this gap, we perform a detailed analysis of the velocity structure of the Alpine belt beneath the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome, based on local earthquake tomography independently validated by receiver function analysis. Our results point to a composite structure of the mantle wedge above the subducted European lithosphere. We found that the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome lays directly above partly serpentinized peridotites (Vp ~7.5km/s; Vp/Vs=1.70–1.72), documented from ~10km depth down to the top of the eclogitized lower crust of the European plate. These serpentinized peridotites, possibly formed by fluid release from the subducting European slab to the Alpine mantle wedge, are juxtaposed against dry mantle peridotites of the Adriatic upper plate along an active fault rooted in the lithospheric mantle. We propose that serpentinized mantle-wedge peridotites were exhumed at shallow crustal levels during late Eocene transtensional tectonics, also triggering the rapid exhumation of (U)HP rocks, and were subsequently indented under the Alpine metamorphic wedge in the early Oligocene. Our findings suggest that mantle-wedge exhumation may represent a major feature of the deep structure of exhumed continental subduction zones. The deep orogenic levels here imaged by seismic tomography may be exposed today in older (U)HP belts, where mantle-wedge serpentinites are commonly associated with coesite-bearing continental metamorphic rocks.

Tectonics of the central Swiss Molasse Basin: Post‐Miocene transition to incipient thick‐skinned tectonics?

AbstractIn this paper we investigate the tectonics of the central Swiss Molasse Basin (SMB), situated between the central European Alps and the Jura fold‐and‐thrust belt. Based on (re)interpreted 2‐D reflection seismic data and geological 3‐D modeling, we present new insights into the structural configuration and evolution of the central SMB. During the thin‐skinned, main deformation phase of the Jura fold‐and‐thrust belt (~12–4 Ma), the central SMB was riding passively above a major detachment horizon within Triassic evaporites, which roots beneath the External Crystalline Massifs of the Central Alps. In the SMB, low‐amplitude detachment folds and detachment‐rooted WSW‐ENE striking thrust and reverse faults are related to this event. Younger, major NNE‐SSW and NNW‐SSE trending strike‐slip fault zones cross the basin over a length of several kilometers, affecting the Cenozoic and Mesozoic cover units and extending into the pre‐Mesozoic crystalline basement. In cases, the fault zones apparently reactivate inherited, Permo‐Carboniferous trough (PCT) bounding, Paleozoic normal faults. Seismic data further reveal mild inversion of WSW‐ENE striking PCTs. These structures clearly cut the basement‐cover contact, thus postdating the main deformation phase of the Jura fold‐and‐thrust belt. Present‐day earthquake focal mechanisms and epicenter distribution show strike‐slip faulting and basement‐seated seismicity, respectively, thus corroborating our observations from seismic interpretation. Our data suggest a change from late Miocene thin‐skinned to Pliocene to present‐day incipient thick‐skinned tectonics. This major change reflects the establishment of a midcrustal detachment and may be related to changes in slab dynamics of the subducting European lithosphere.

Quantification of vertical movement of low elevation topography combining a new compilation of global sea-level curves and scattered marine deposits (Armorican Massif, western France)

A wide range of methods are available to quantify Earth's surface vertical movements but most of these methods cannot track low amplitude (<1 km, e.g. thermochronology) or old (>5 Ma, e.g. cosmogenic isotope studies) vertical movements characteristic of plate interiors. The difference between the present-day elevation of ancient sea-level markers (deduced from well dated marine deposits corrected from their bathymetry of deposition) and a global sea-level (GSL) curve are sometimes used to estimate these intraplate vertical movements. Here, we formalized this method by re-assessing the reliability of published GSL curves to build a composite curve that combines the most reliable ones at each stage, based on the potential bias and uncertainties inherent to each curve. We suggest i) that curves which reflect ocean basin volume changes are suitable for the ca. 100 to 35 Ma “greenhouse” period ii) whereas curves that reflects ocean water volume changes are better suited for the ca. 35 to 0 Ma “icehouse” interval and iii) that, for these respective periods, the fit is best when using curves that accounts for both volume changes. We used this composite GSL curve to investigate the poorly constrained Paleogene to Neogene vertical motions of the Armorican Massif (western France). It is characterized by a low elevation topography, a Variscan basement with numerous well dated Cenozoic marine deposits scattered upon it. Using our method, we identify low amplitude vertical movements ranging from 66 m of subsidence to 89 m of uplift over that time period. Their spatial distribution argues for a preferred scale of deformation at medium wavelengths (i.e., order 100 km), which we relate to the deformation history of northwestern European lithosphere in three distinct episodes. i) A phase of no deformation between 38 and 34 Ma, that has been previously recognized at the scale of northwestern Europe, ii) a phase of low subsidence between 30 and 3.6 Ma, possibly related to buckling of the lithosphere and iii) a phase of more pronounced uplift between 2.6 Ma and present, which we relate to the acceleration of the Africa–Apulia convergence or to enhanced erosion in the rapidly cooling climate of the Pleistocene.

Shear wave velocities in the upper mantle of the Western Alps: new constraints using array analysis of seismic surface waves

It remains challenging to obtain absolute shear wave velocities of heterogeneities of small lateral extension in the uppermost mantle. This study presents a cross-section of Vs across the strongly heterogeneous 3-D structure of the western European Alps, based on array analysis of data from 92 broad-band seismic stations from the CIFALPS experiment and from permanent networks in France and Italy. Half of the stations were located along a dense sublinear array. Using a combination of these stations and off-profile stations, fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave dispersion curves were calculated using a combined frequency-time beamforming approach. We calculated dispersion curves for seven arrays of approximately 100 km aperture and 14 arrays of approximately 50 km aperture, the latter with the aim of obtaining a 2-D vertical cross-section of Vs beneath the western Alps. The dispersion curves were inverted for Vs(z), with crustal interfaces imposed from a previous receiver function study. The array approach proved feasible, as Vs(z) from independent arrays vary smoothly across the profile length. Results from the seven large arrays show that the shear velocity of the upper mantle beneath the European plate is overall low compared to AK135 with the lowest velocities in the internal part of the western Alps, and higher velocities east of the Alps beneath the Po plain. The 2-D Vs model is coherent with (i) a ∼100 km thick eastward-dipping European lithosphere west of the Alps, (ii) very high velocities beneath the Po plain, coherent with the presence of the Alpine (European) slab and (iii) a narrow low-velocity anomaly beneath the core of the western Alps (from the Brianconnais to the Dora Maira massif), and approximately colocated with a similar anomaly observed in a recent teleseismic P-wave tomography. This intriguing anomaly is also supported by traveltime variations of subvertically propagating body waves from two teleseismic events that are approximately located on the profile great circle.

Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of the Central European lithosphere

The upper crust of central Europe preserves a mosaic of tectonic blocks brought together by the Caledonian and Variscan Orogenies. The lower crust, in contrast, appears to have undergone extensive reworking: the flat Moho across broad areas and the absence of contrasts in seismic properties across tectonic boundaries suggest that the Moho and lower crust are, effectively, younger than the upper crust. The evolution of the mantle lithosphere below the Moho has been particularly difficult to constrain. In this paper, we use seismic, geological and geochemical evidence to show that central Europe's mantle lithosphere has evolved continuously throughout the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras, with episodes of lithospheric thinning causing surface uplift and volcanism and lithospheric thickening – subsidence and sedimentation. High-resolution surface wave tomography reveals a strong spatial correlation between locations of recent basaltic volcanism and currently thin lithosphere. We infer that intraplate volcanism further back in the geological past is also an indication of lithospheric thinning at the time. The north-central Europe's lithosphere was, thus, thinned at the time of the Permian volcanism, with its subsequent, Post-Permian cooling and thickening causing the subsidence and sedimentation in the North German and neighboring basins. This explains the presence of Permian volcanics atop presently thickened lithosphere. South of these basins, lithospheric thinning (evidenced by seismic data) is associated with the volcanism of the Central European Cenozoic Igneous Province and surface uplift. Thin lithosphere here also correlates spatially with high melting rates, high silica contents, high temperatures and shallow magma generation. This synthesis highlights the dynamic nature of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary beneath central Europe and, more generally, Phanerozoic continents. The boundary's depth varies in time; its deepening (lithospheric cooling and thickening) causes subsidence and sedimentation; its shallowing (lithospheric thinning by thermal erosion or delamination) is marked with uplift and intraplate volcanism.

Geodynamical framework and hydrocarbon plays of a salt giant: the NW Mediterranean Basin

The NW Mediterranean Basin developed during the Oligocene–Miocene rifting of the Eastern Iberian–European magma-poor continental margin. The margin developed as a result of back-arc extension associated with the rollback of the retreating Calabrian–Tethys subduction zone. Reinterpretation of 2D regional seismic reflection data suggests that rifting took place by hyperextension of the Iberian–European lithosphere. This process led to the seawards arrangement of distinct crustal domains: namely, proximal, necking and distal. The late post-rift Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) gave rise to significant margin erosion and canyon incision, the lowstand sedimentary by-products of which were largely deposited prior to the Messinian evaporitic sequences. Mesozoic–Cenozoic and Messinian–Recent salt tectonics events have been recognized. A regional hydrocarbon play concept is proposed here for shelf–deep-water settings, including pre-salt, Messinian and post-salt plays.

Slab rollback orogeny in the Alps and evolution of the Swiss Molasse basin.

The stratigraphies of foreland basins have been related to orogeny, where continent–continent collision causes the construction of topography and the downwarping of the foreland plate. These mechanisms have been inferred for the Molasse basin, stretching along the northern margin of the European Alps. Continuous flexural bending of the subducting European lithosphere as a consequence of topographic loads alone would imply that the Alpine topography would have increased at least between 30 Ma and ca. 5–10 Ma when the basin accumulated the erosional detritus. This, however, is neither consistent with observations nor with isostatic mass balancing models because paleoaltimetry estimates suggest that the topography has not increased since 20 Ma. Here we show that a rollback mechanism for the European plate is capable of explaining the construction of thick sedimentary successions in the Molasse foreland basin where the extra slab load has maintained the Alpine surface at low, but constant, elevations.