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A curved post-garnet boundary enhances slab and plume dynamics in the Earth’s mantle

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The post-garnet transition has been found to have a curved phase boundary, with negative slopes in cold regions and positive slopes in hot regions of the Earth’s mantle. This varying slope could be a reason for the puzzling dynamics of subducting slabs and upwelling plumes observed seismically in the upper part of the lower mantle.

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Fig. 1: The curved post-garnet (Pgt) phase boundary and its implications for mantle dynamics, in the upper part of the lower mantle.

References

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This is a summary of: Ishii, T. et al. Buoyancy of slabs and plumes enhanced by curved post-garnet phase boundary. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01244-w (2023).

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A curved post-garnet boundary enhances slab and plume dynamics in the Earth’s mantle. Nat. Geosci. 16, 766–767 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01245-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01245-9

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