Open AccessThe upper mantle under Central Europe: indications for the Eifel plume
Author(s) -
Grunewald Steffen,
Weber Michael,
Kind Rainer
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical journal international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0956-540X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-246x.2001.01553.x
Subject(s) - geology , massif , transition zone , receiver function , mantle (geology) , classification of discontinuities , subduction , discontinuity (linguistics) , mantle plume , seismology , geophysics , paleontology , lithosphere , tectonics , mathematical analysis , mathematics
SUMMARY The topographies of the upper mantle discontinuities at 410 and 660 km depth under Central Europe have been mapped. Using a modified receiver function approach, we processed data recorded at selected Central European broad‐band stations during the years 1981–1998. Below the Rhenish massif near the Eifel region we identified a significantly deepened 410 discontinuity that may have its origin in an upgoing mantle plume, in agreement with recently derived results from seismic tomography. We have furthermore found evidence for a northward‐dipping structure at the lower boundary of the mantle transition zone below the Alps, possibly related to the subduction that occurred during the closing of the Tethys.