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Heat transport in the Hadean mantle: From heat pipes to plates
Author(s) -
Kankanamge Duminda G. J.,
Moore William B.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl067411
Subject(s) - lithosphere , geology , plate tectonics , volcanism , geophysics , ridge push , mantle (geology) , hotspot (geology) , mantle convection , earth's internal heat budget , solidus , tectonics , mid ocean ridge , seismology , materials science , alloy , composite material
Plate tectonics is a unique feature of Earth, and it plays a dominant role in transporting Earth's internally generated heat. It also governs the nature, shape, and the motion of the surface of Earth. The initiation of plate tectonics on Earth has been difficult to establish observationally, and modeling of the plate breaking process has not consistently accounted for the nature of the preplate tectonic Earth. We have performed numerical simulations of heat transport in the preplate tectonic Earth to understand the transition to plate tectonic behavior. This period of time is dominated by volcanic heat transport called the heat pipe mode of planetary cooling. These simulations of Earth's mantle include heat transport by melting and melt segregation (volcanism), Newtonian temperature‐dependent viscosity, and internal heating. We show that when heat pipes are active, the lithosphere thickens and lithospheric isotherms are kept flat by the solidus. Both of these effects act to suppress plate tectonics. As volcanism wanes, conduction begins to control lithospheric thickness, and large slopes arise at the base of the lithosphere. This produces large lithospheric stress and focuses it on the thinner regions of the lithosphere resulting in plate breaking events.