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The Transition Zone Beneath West Argentina‐Central Chile Using P ‐to‐ S Converted Waves
Author(s) -
Bonatto Luciana,
Piromallo Claudia,
Cottaar Sanne
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: solid earth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.983
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 2169-9356
pISSN - 2169-9313
DOI - 10.1029/2020jb019446
Subject(s) - classification of discontinuities , transition zone , amplitude , geology , jump , mantle (geology) , seismology , receiver function , subduction , velocity gradient , geodesy , geophysics , mineralogy , physics , tectonics , lithosphere , optics , thermodynamics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , quantum mechanics
We investigate the mantle transition zone beneath the Chile‐Argentina flat subduction region by means of P ‐to‐ S conversions at mantle discontinuities from teleseismic events recorded at 103 seismic stations. From the analysis of receiver functions, we obtain clear converted phases from the 410 and 660 discontinuities, and we identify a robust precursory signal to P 660 s , of negative amplitude, that we name P 590 s . We observe little frequency dependence in the amplitude of the P 410 s converted phase, while the P 660 s is less visible toward higher frequencies. The 410 is on average deeper than 410 km by 10 ± 1 km in the higher‐frequency bands, and it is relatively sharp, being consistent with a 10% velocity jump over less than 20 km. The observed 660 depth varies with frequency; it is deeper by up to 18 ± 2 km for lower frequencies and close to reference at higher frequencies, being consistent with a 13% broad velocity gradient over 30–40 km, probably caused by a composite of multiple phase transitions. The transition zone thickness is controlled by the frequency‐dependent depth variability of the 660. Our findings of relative depth, width, and velocity jump of the detected discontinuities, combined with tomographic images of the mantle transition zone, cannot be explained by thermal variations alone. Compositional constraints from mineral physics show that a near pyrolitic mantle is consistent with the ratio of the estimated velocity jumps. However, the negative P 590 s phase in this region could be signal from the velocity reduction due to basalt accumulation at the base of the transition zone.