Mantle Shear-wave velocity structure beneath the Hawaiian hot spot
Wolfe, C.J.; Solomon, S.C.; Laske, G.; Collins, J.A.; Detrick, R.S.; Orcutt, J.A.; Bercovici, D.; Hauri, E.H. (2009). Mantle Shear-wave velocity structure beneath the Hawaiian hot spot. Science (Wash.) 326(5958): 1388-1390. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1180165
In: Science (Washington). American Association for the Advancement of Science: New York, N.Y. ISSN 0036-8075; e-ISSN 1095-9203, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Wolfe, C.J.
- Solomon, S.C.
- Laske, G.
- Collins, J.A.
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- Detrick, R.S.
- Orcutt, J.A.
- Bercovici, D.
- Hauri, E.H.
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| Abstract |
Defining the mantle structure that lies beneath hot spots is important for revealing their depth of origin. Three-dimensional images of shear-wave velocity beneath the Hawaiian Islands, obtained from a network of sea-floor and land seismometers, show an upper-mantle low-velocity anomaly that is elongated in the direction of the island chain and surrounded by a parabola-shaped high-velocity anomaly. Low velocities continue downward to the mantle transition zone between 410 and 660 kilometers depth, a result that is in agreement with prior observations of transition-zone thinning. The inclusion of SKS observations extends the resolution downward to a depth of 1500 kilometers and reveals a several-hundred-kilometer-wide region of low velocities beneath and southeast of Hawaii. These images suggest that the Hawaiian hot spot is the result of an upwelling high-temperature plume from the lower mantle. |
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