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The Global Crust and Mantle Gravity Disturbances and Their Implications on Mantle Structure and Dynamics

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Abstract

The gravity anomalies reflect density perturbations at different depths, which control the physical state and dynamics of the lithosphere and sub-lithospheric mantle. However, the gravity effect of the crust masks the mantle signals. In this study, we develop two frameworks (correction with density contrasts and actual densities) to calculate the gravity anomalies generated by the layered crust. We apply the proposed approaches to evaluate the global mantle gravity disturbances based on the new crustal models. Consistent patterns and an increasing linear trend of the mantle gravity disturbances with lithospheric thickness and Vs velocities at 150 km depth are obtained. Our results indicate denser lithospheric roots in most cratons and lighter materials in the oceanic mantle. Furthermore, our gravity map corresponds well to regional geological features, providing new insights into mantle structure and dynamics. Specifically, (1) reduced anomalies associated with the Superior and Rae cratons indicate more depleted roots compared with other cratons of North America. (2) Negative anomalies along the Cordillera (western North America) suggest mass deficits owing to the buoyant hot mantle. (3) Positive anomalies in the Baltic, East European, and Siberian cratons support thick, dense lithosphere with significant density heterogeneities, which could result from thermo-chemical modifications of the cratonic roots. (4) Pronounced positive anomalies correspond to stable blocks, e.g., Arabian Platform, Indian Craton, and Tarim basin, indicating a thick, dense lithosphere. (5) Low anomalies in the active tectonic units and back-arc basins suggest local mantle upwellings. (6) The cold subducting/detached plates may result in the high anomalies observed in the Zagros and Tibet.

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Data availability

The data and codes used for this study are available in the Figshare repository (Chen et al. 2022) via https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.20365548 with the CC BY 4.0 open-source license. The gravity field model EIGEN-6C4 (Ince et al. 2019) can be assessed from the International Centre for Global Earth Models (http://icgem.gfz-potsdam.de/home). The topography/bathymetry model ETOPO1 is available at https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/global/global.html. The CRUST1.0 is available at https://igppweb.ucsd.edu/~gabi/crust1.html. The global lithospheric thickness model CAM2016 (Priestley et al. 2019) is available at http://ds.iris.edu/ds/products/emc-cam2016/. The average global seismic models (Hosseini et al. 2018) are available at https://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~smachine/cgi/. The Moho depth and average crystalline crust P-wave velocity model are available by the reference (Szwillus et al. 2019).

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Acknowledgements

We thank three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42074109, 42204067). The authors thank the High Performance Computing Center of Central South University for support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Bo Chen & Dawei Gao

  2. Hunan Key Laboratory of Non-Ferrous Resources and Geological Hazard Detection, Changsha, 410083, China

    Bo Chen & Dawei Gao

  3. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 14473, Telegrafenberg, Germany

    Mikhail K. Kaban

  4. Key Laboratory of Earth Exploration and Information Technology of Ministry of Education, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, Sichuan, China

    Guangdong Zhao

  5. Hubei Subsurface Multi-Scale Imaging Key Laboratory, School of Geophysics and Geomatics, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Jinsong Du

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  1. Bo Chen
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Correspondence to Dawei Gao.

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Chen, B., Kaban, M.K., Zhao, G. et al. The Global Crust and Mantle Gravity Disturbances and Their Implications on Mantle Structure and Dynamics. Surv Geophys 45, 349–382 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-023-09810-y

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