Premium
Viscoelastic membrane tectonics
Author(s) -
Dickman S. R.,
Williams David R.
Publication year - 1981
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 - 10.1029/gl008i003p00199
Subject(s) - lithosphere , intraplate earthquake , geology , viscoelasticity , tectonics , curvature , viscosity , geophysics , seismology , relaxation (psychology) , plate tectonics , newtonian fluid , mechanics , physics , geometry , thermodynamics , mathematics , psychology , social psychology
The theory of membrane tectonics proposed by Turcotte and Oxburgh [1973] to explain intraplate tensional features and earthquakes, and developed by Turcotte [1974] for an elastic lithospheric membrane, is extended to the case of a viscoelastic lithosphere. Such an extension may be expected to seriously modify the theory since, for all lithospheric viscosities except the very highest, the time scale for viscous relaxation is comparable to the time scale for changes in plate curvature. It is found that for most viscosities considered, the membrane stresses generated by changes in plate curvature do not exceed ∼10² bars. We conclude that either the effective viscosity of the lithosphere is much higher than indicated by most studies, or membrane tectonic stresses play a secondary role in the generation of intraplate features and earthquakes.