Alan G. Jones

Partially molten middle crust beneath southern Tibet : Synthesis of project INDEPTH results

INDEPTH geophysical and geological observations imply that a partially molten midcrustal layer exists beneath southern Tibet. This partially molten layer has been produced by crustal thickening and behaves as a fluid on the time scale of Himalayan deformation. It is confined on the south by the structurally imbricated Indian crust underlying the Tethyan and High Himalaya and is underlain, apparently, by a stiff Indian mantle lid. The results suggest that during Neogene time the underthrusting Indian crust has acted as a plunger, displacing the molten middle crust to the north while at the same time contributing to this layer by melting and ductile flow. Viewed broadly, the Neogene evolution of the Himalaya is essentially a record of the southward extrusion of the partially molten middle crust underlying southern Tibet.

Multisite, multifrequency tensor decomposition of magnetotelluric data

Accurate interpretation of magnetotelluric data requires an understanding of the directionality and dimensionality inherent in the data, and valid implementation of an appropriate method for removing the effects of shallow, small-scale galvanic scatterers on the data to yield responses representative of regionalscale structures. The galvanic distortion analysis approach advocated by Groom and Bailey has become the most adopted method, rightly so given that the approach decomposes the magnetotelluric impedance tensor into determinable and indeterminable parts, and tests statistically the validity of the galvanic distortion assumption. As proposed by Groom and Bailey, one must determine the appropriate frequency-independent telluric distortion parameters and geoelectric strike by fitting the seven-parameter model on a frequencyby-frequency and site-by-site basis independently. Although this approach has the attraction that one gains a more intimate understanding of the data set, it is rather time-consuming and requires repetitive application. We propose an extension to Groom-Bailey decomposition in which a global minimum is sought to determine the most appropriate strike direction and telluric distortion parameters for a range of frequencies and a set of sites. Also, we show how an analytically-derived approximate Hessian of the objective function can reduce the required computing time. We illustrate application of the analysis to two synthetic data sets and to real data. Finally, we show how the analysis can be extended to cover the case of frequency-dependent distortion caused by the magnetic effects of the galvanic charges.

Crustal rheology of the Himalaya and Southern Tibet inferred from magnetotelluric data

The Cenozoic collision between the Indian and Asian continents formed the Tibetan plateau, beginning about 70 million years ago. Since this time, at least 1,400 km of convergence has been accommodated by a combination of underthrusting of Indian and Asian lithosphere, crustal shortening, horizontal extrusion and lithospheric delamination. Rocks exposed in the Himalaya show evidence of crustal melting and are thought to have been exhumed by rapid erosion and climatically forced crustal flow. Magnetotelluric data can be used to image subsurface electrical resistivity, a parameter sensitive to the presence of interconnected fluids in the host rock matrix, even at low volume fractions. Here we present magnetotelluric data from the Tibetan–Himalayan orogen from 77° E to 92° E, which show that low resistivity, interpreted as a partially molten layer, is present along at least 1,000 km of the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau. The inferred low viscosity of this layer is consistent with the development of climatically forced crustal flow in Southern Tibet.

The magnetotelluric method : theory and practice

The magnetotelluric method is a technique for imaging the electrical conductivity and structure of the Earth, from the near-surface down to the 410 km transition zone and beyond. It is increasingly used in geological applications and the petroleum industry. This book forms the first comprehensive overview of magnetotellurics, from the salient physics and its mathematical representation, to practical implementation in the field, data processing, modeling, and geological interpretation. Electromagnetic induction in 1D, 2D, and 3D media is explored, building from first principles, and with thorough coverage of the practical techniques of time-series processing, distortion, numerical modeling and inversion. The fundamental principles are illustrated with a series of case histories describing geological applications. Technical issues, instrumentation and field practices are described for both land and marine surveys. This book provides a rigorous introduction to the magnetotelluric method for academic researchers and advanced students, and will be of interest to industrial practitioners and geoscientists wanting to incorporate rock conductivity into their interpretations.

Electrically Conductive Crust in Southern Tibet from INDEPTH Magnetotelluric Surveying

The crust north of the Himalaya is generally electrically conductive below depths of 10 to 20 km. This conductive zone approaches the surface beneath the Kangmar dome (dipping north) and extends beneath the Zangbo suture. A profile crossing the northern Yadong-Gulu rift shows that the high conductivity region extends outside the rift, and its top within the rift coincides with a bright spot horizon imaged on the INDEPTH CMP (common midpoint) profiles. The high conductivity of the middle crust is atypical of stable continental regions and suggests that there is a regionally interconnected fluid phase in the crust of the region.

Imaging the continental upper mantle using electromagnetic methods

Abstract The internal structure of the continental lithosphere holds the key to its creation and development, and this internal structure can be determined using appropriate seismic and electromagnetic methods. These two are complementary in that the seismic parameters usually represent bulk properties of the rock, whereas electrical conductivity is primarily a function of the connectivity of a minor constituent of the rock matrix, such as the presence of a conducting mineral phase, e.g. carbon in graphite form, or of a fluid phase, e.g. partial melt or volatiles. In particular, conductivity is especially sensitive to the top of the asthenosphere, generally considered to be a region of interconnected partial melt. Knowledge of the geometry of the lithosphere/asthenosphere boundary is important as this boundary partially controls the geodynamic processes that create, modify, and destroy the lithosphere. Accordingly, collocated seismic and electromagnetic experiments result in superior knowledge than would be obtained from using each on its own. This paper describes the state of knowledge of the continental upper mantle obtained primarily from the natural-source magnetotelluric technique, and outlines how hypotheses and models regarding the development of cratonic lithosphere can be tested using deep-probing electromagnetic surveying. The resolution properties of the method show the difficulties that can be encountered if there is conducting material in the crust. Examples of data and interpretations from various regions around the globe are discussed to demonstrate the correlation of electromagnetic and seismic observations of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Also, the observations from laboratory measurements on candidate mineralogies representative of the mantle, such as olivine, are presented.

Conductivity discontinuities in the upper mantle beneath a stable craton

We present evidence for approximate collocation of seismic and electrical transitions in the upper mantle. More than two years of very long period magnetotelluric (MT) data were recorded at a lakebottom observatory in the central Canadian Shield. After processing to contend with non-stationary source effects, and removal of galvanic distortion, the underlying structure is 1D for periods of one hour to four days. The response was extended to periods of 100 days by appending Geomagnetic Depth Sounding data to the MT curves. Minimum structure linearised inversion, nonlinear extremal inversion, and a new genetic algorithm for nonlinear hypothesis testing, reveal discrete jumps in conductivity at depths near the major upper mantle seismic discontinuities. The jumps occur over limited depth ranges.

Lithosphere development in the Slave craton: a linked crustal and mantle perspective

The late tectonic evolution of the Slave craton involves extensive magmatism, deformation, and high temperature-low pressure (HT-LP) metamorphism. We argue that the nature of these tectonic events is difficult to reconcile with early, pre-2.7 Ga development and preservation of a thick tectosphere, and suggest that crust–mantle coupling and stabilization occurred only late in the orogenic development of the craton. The extent and repetitiveness of the tectonic reworking documented within the Mesoarchean basement complex of the western Slave, together with the development of large-volume, extensional mafic magmatism at 2.7 Ga within the basement complex argue against preservation of a widespread, thick, cool Mesoarchean tectosphere beneath the western Slave craton prior to Neoarchean tectonism. Broad-scale geological and geophysical features of the Slave craton, including orientation of an early F1 fold belt, distribution of ca. 2.63–2.62 Ga plutonic rocks, and the distribution of geochemical, petrological and geophysical domains within the mantle lithosphere collectively highlight the importance of an NE–SW structural grain to the craton. These trends are oblique to the earlier, ca. 2.7 Ga north–south trending boundary between Mesoarchean and Neoarchean crustal domains, and are interpreted to represent a younger structural feature imposed during northwest or southeast-vergent tectonism at ca. 2.64–2.61 Ga. Extensive plutonism, in part mantle-derived, crustal melting and associated HT-LP metamorphism argue for widespread mantle heat input to the crust, a feature most consistent with thin (<100 km) lithosphere at that time. We propose that the mantle lithosphere developed by tectonic imbrication of one or more slabs subducted beneath the craton at the time of development of the D1 structural grain, producing the early 2.63–2.62 Ga arc-like plutonic rocks. Subsequent collision (external to the present craton boundaries) possibly accompanied by partial delamination of some of the underthrust lithosphere, produced widespread deformation (D2) and granite plutonism throughout the province at 2.6–2.58 Ga. An implication of this model is that diamond formation in the Slave should be Neoarchean in age. D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

THE PROBLEM OF CURRENT CHANNELLING: A CRITICAL REVIEW

The notion that currents induced ‘elsewhere’, by external source fields, could wend their way in a frequency-independent ohmic-like manner through a region of interest has been the cause of many recent disputes within the geomagnetic induction community. In particular, two-dimensional (2D) models of the Rhinegraben, and of the region known as the ‘Eskdalemuir anomaly’ in southern Scotland, have been dismissed as erroneous by those who believe that the observations are more correctly interpreted as due to the effects of ‘channelled’ currents rather than ‘induced’ currents. In this review, attention is paid primarily to consider under what circumstances any perturbation of current flow, which may manifest itself as a ‘DC-like’ channelled current, could cause a ‘problem’ for those wishing to interpret their observations. Various concepts are introduced, particularly the ratio of 3D/2D current channelling numbers for the induction problem, which is shown to be the ratio of the length of the 3D body to the skin depth in the host medium. It is stressed that the worker must analyse his data by adequate statistical techniques, and that the simplest physical models possible, that describes the observations, must be sought. Finally, suggestions are made for further work to be undertaken.

Electric lithosphere of the Slave craton

The Archean Slave craton in northwestern Canada is an ideal natural laboratory for investigating lithosphere formation and evolution, and has become an international focus of broad geoscientific investigation following the discovery of economic diamondiferous kimberlite pipes. Three deep-probing magnetotelluric surveys have recently been carried out on the craton using novel acquisition procedures. The magnetotelluric responses reveal an unexpected and remarkable anomaly in electrical conductivity, collocated with the kimberlite field that is modeled as a spatially confined upper mantle region of low resistivity (<30 Ω·m) at depths of 80–100+ km, and is interpreted to be due to dissolved hydrogen or carbon in graphite form. This geophysically anomalous upper mantle region is also spatially coincident with a geochemically defined ultradepleted harzburgitic layer. The tectonic processes that emplaced this structure are possibly related to the lithospheric subduction and trapping of overlying oceanic mantle at 2630–2620 Ma.