Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Crustal and Upper-Mantle Structure Beneath Saudi Arabia from Receiver Functions and Surface Wave Analysis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Geological Setting, Palaeoenvironment and Archaeology of the Red Sea

Abstract

Using receiver-functions and surface-wave dispersion curves, we study the crustal and upper-mantle structure of Saudi Arabia. Our results reveal first-order differences in crustal thickness between the Arabian Shield in the west and the Arabian Platform in the east. Moho depths generally increase eastward, while crustal thickness varies strongly in the west over the volcanic regions and near the Red Sea. Localized zones of increased P-wave speed in the west may indicate solidified magmatic intrusions within the area of recent volcanism. Our receiver-function analysis for deep converted phases reveals that the transition zone thickness between the 410 km and the 660 km discontinuities is not anomalously thinned, refuting the hypothesis of a small localized mantle plume as the origin for the volcanic activity in western Saudi Arabia. Our results suggest that the volcanism in western Arabia may be due to the lithospheric mantle being heated from below by lateral flow from the Afar and (possibly) Jordan plumes. This triggers localized melts that ascend adiabatically through the lithosphere as magma diapirs. Recent xenolith measurements that provide information on temperatures and depths of melting are overall consistent with this hypothesis. However, further dedicated localized tomographic studies are needed to decipher the details of the origin of the volcanism and its relation to the overall geodynamics of the region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Al-Damegh K, Sandvol E, Barazangi M (2005) Crustal structure of the Arabian plate: new constraints from the analysis of teleseismic receiver functions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 231(3):177–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ammon CJ, Randall GE, Zandt G (1990) On the nonuniqueness of receiver function inversions. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 95(B10):15303–15318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berteussen KA (1977) Moho depth determinations based on spectral-ratio analysis of NORSAR long-period P waves. Phys Earth Planet Inter 15(1):13–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosworth W, Huchon P, McClay K (2005) The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden basins. J Afr Earth Sci 43(1):334–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown GF (1972) Tectonic map of the Arabian Peninsula (No. 72-52). US Geological Survey

    Google Scholar 

  • Camp VE, Roobol MJ (1992) Upwelling asthenosphere beneath western Arabia and its regional implications. J Geophys Res 97(B11):15255–15271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang SJ, Van der Lee S (2011) Mantle plumes and associated flow beneath Arabia and East Africa. Earth Planet Sci Lett 302(3):448–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang SJ, Merino M, Van der Lee S, Stein S, Stein CA (2011) Mantle flow beneath Arabia offset from the opening Red Sea. Geophys Res Lett 38(4):L04301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang SJ, Ferreira AMG, Ritsema J, van Heijst HJ, Woodhouse JH (2015) Joint inversion for global isotropic and radially anisotropic mantle structure including crustal thickness perturbations. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 120:4278–4300. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JB011824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran JR, Martinez F (1988) Evidence from the northern Red Sea on the transition from continental to oceanic rifting. Tectonophysics 153(1–4):25–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crotwell HP, Owens TJ, Ritsema J (1999) The TauP Toolkit: flexible seismic travel-time and ray-path utilities. Seismol Res Lett 70(2):154–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daradich A, Mitrovica JX, Pysklywec RN, Willett SD, Forte AM (2003) Mantle flow, dynamic topography, and rift-flank uplift of Arabia. Geology 31(10):901–904

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dziewonski AM, Anderson DL (1981) Preliminary reference Earth model. Phys Earth Planet Inter 25(4):297–356

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebinger CJ, Sleep NH (1998) Cenozoic magmatism throughout east Africa resulting from impact of a single plume. Nature 395(6704):788–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faccenna C, Becker T, Jolivet L, Keskin M (2013) Mantle convection in the Middle East: reconciling Afar upwelling, Arabia indentation and Aegean trench rollback. Earth Planet Sci Lett 375:254–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.05.043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fei Y, Mao H, Shu J, Parthasarathy G, Bassett WA, Ko J (1992) Simultaneous high-P, high-T X ray diffraction study of β-(Mg, Fe)2SiO4 to 26 GPa and 900 K. J Geophys Res 97(B4):4489–4495. https://doi.org/10.1029/92JB00076

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garfunkel Z, Beyth M (2006) Constraints on the structural development of Afar imposed by the kinematics of the major surrounding plates. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 259(1):23–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen SE, Rodgers AJ, Schwartz SY, Al-Amri AM (2007) Imaging ruptured lithosphere beneath the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula. Earth Planet Sci Lett 259(3):256–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen SE, DeShon HR, Moore-Driskell MM, Al-Amri AMS (2013) Investigating the P wave velocity structure beneath Harrat Lunayyir, northwestern Saudi Arabia, using double-difference tomography and earthquakes from the 2009 seismic swarm. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 118(9):4814–4826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Julià J (2007) Constraining velocity and density contrasts across the crust-mantle boundary with receiver function amplitudes. Geophys J Int 171(1):286–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Julià J, Vila J, Macià R (1998) The receiver structure beneath the Ebro basin, Iberian Peninsula. Bull Seismol Soc Am 88(6):1538–1547

    Google Scholar 

  • Julià J, Ammon CJ, Herrmann RB, Correig AM (2000) Joint inversion of receiver function and surface wave dispersion observations. Geophys J Int 143(1):99–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Julià J, Ammon CJ, Herrmann RB (2003) Lithospheric structure of the Arabian Shield from the joint inversion of receiver functions and surface-wave group velocities. Tectonophysics 371(1):1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaliwoda M, Altherr R, Meyer HP (2007) Composition and thermal evolution of the lithospheric mantle beneath the Harrat Uwayrid, eastern flank of the Red Sea rift (Saudi Arabia). Lithos 99(1):105–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennett BLN, Engdahl ER, Buland R (1995) Constraints on seismic velocities in the Earth from traveltimes. Geophys J Int 122(1):108–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kern H, Richter A (1981) Temperature derivatives of compressional and shear-wave velocities in crustal and mantle rocks at 6 kbar confining pressure. J Geophys 49(1):47–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Konrad K, Graham DW, Thornber CR, Duncan RA, Kent AJ, Al-Amri AM (2016) Asthenosphere–lithosphere interactions in Western Saudi Arabia: Inferences from 3He/4He in xenoliths and lava flows from Harrat Hutaymah. Lithos 248:339–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koulakov I, El Khrepy S, Al-Arifi N, Kuznetsov P, Kasatkina E (2015) Structural cause of a missed eruption in the Harrat Lunayyir basaltic field (Saudi Arabia) in 2009. Geology 43(5):395–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar MR, Ramesh DS, Saul J, Sarkar D, Kind R (2002) Crustal structure and upper mantle stratigraphy of the Arabian shield. Geophys Res Lett 29(8):1301–1304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langston CA (1979) Structure under Mount Rainier, Washington, inferred from teleseismic body waves. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 84(B9):4749–4762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ligorría JP, Ammon CJ (1999) Iterative deconvolution and receiver-function estimation. Bull Seismol Soc Am 89(5):1395–1400

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuire AV (1988) The mantle beneath the Red Sea margin: xenoliths from western Saudi Arabia. Tectonophysics 150(1):101–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGuire AV, Bohannon RG (1989) Timing of mantle upwelling: evidence for a passive origin for the Red Sea rift. J Geophys Res 94:1677–1682. https://doi.org/10.1029/88JB03905

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohsen A, Hofstetter R, Bock G, Kind R, Weber M, Wylegalla K, DESERT Group (2005) A receiver function study across the Dead Sea Transform. Geophys J Int 160(3):948–960

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owens TJ, Zandt G, Taylor SR (1984) Seismic evidence for an ancient rift beneath the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee: a detailed analysis of broadband teleseismic P waveforms. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 89(B9):7783–7795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owens TJ, Nyblade AA, Gurrola H, Langston CA (2000) Mantle transition zone structure beneath Tanzania, East Africa. Geophys Res Lett 27(6):827–830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pallister JS, McCausland WA, Jónsson S, Lu Z, Zahran HM, El Hadidy S, Aburukbah A, Stewart ICF, Lundgren PR, White RA, Moufti MRH (2010) Broad accommodation of rift-related extension recorded by dike intrusion in Saudi Arabia. Nat Geosci 3(10):705–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasyanos ME (2005) A variable resolution surface wave dispersion study of Eurasia, North Africa, and surrounding regions. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 110(B12):B12301. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB003749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandvol E, Seber D, Calvert A, Barazangi M (1998) Grid search modeling of receiver functions: implications for crustal structure in the Middle East and North Africa. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 103(B11):26899–26917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt DL, Hadley DG, Stoeser DB (1979) Late Proterozoic crustal history of the Arabian Shield, southern Najd Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In: Tarhouns A (ed) Evolution and mineralization of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, vol 2. Institute for Applied Geology, Jeddah, pp 41–58

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw JE, Baker JA, Kent AJR, Ibrahim KM, Menzies MA (2007) The geochemistry of the Arabian lithospheric mantle—a source for intraplate volcanism? J Petrology 48(8):1495–1512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoeser DB, Camp VE (1985) Pan-African microplate accretion of the Arabian Shield. Geol Soc Am Bull 96(7):817–826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang Z, Julià J, Zahran H, Mai PM (2016) The lithospheric shear-wave velocity structure of Saudi Arabia: young volcanism in an old shield. Tectonophysics 680:8–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tkalčić H, Pasyanos ME, Rodgers AJ, Gök R, Walter WR, Al-Amri A (2006) A multistep approach for joint modeling of surface wave dispersion and teleseismic receiver functions: Implications for lithospheric structure of the Arabian Peninsula. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 111(B11):B11311. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB004130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu W, Jónsson S (2014) The 2007–8 volcanic eruption on Jebel at Tair Island (Red Sea) observed by satellite radar and optical images. Bull Volcanol 76(2):1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Kanamori H (2000) Moho depth variation in southern California from teleseismic receiver functions. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 105(B2):2969–2980

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) for sharing their seismic data with us, in particular Hani Zahran and Mahmoud Salam. Laura Parisi helped to create Fig. 6. Many thanks to Najeeb Rasul (SGS, Jeddah) for organizing the workshop on “The Geological Setting, Oceanography and Environment of the Red Sea” in February 2016 in Jeddah, which inspired this chapter. We are grateful to anonymous reviewers for their constructive criticism and careful reviews that helped to improve this study. The research reported in this publication was supported by funding from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), grant number BAS/1/1339-01-01. We also acknowledge support by Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte for hosting Z.T. during two research visits.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

    P. Martin Mai & Zheng Tang

  2. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

    Jordi Julià

Authors
  1. P. Martin Mai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jordi Julià
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Zheng Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Martin Mai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Marine Geology, Saudi Geological Survey, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Najeeb M.A. Rasul

  2. Stewart Geophysical Consultants Pty. Ltd., College Park, SA, Australia

    Ian C.F. Stewart

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Martin Mai, P., Julià, J., Tang, Z. (2019). Crustal and Upper-Mantle Structure Beneath Saudi Arabia from Receiver Functions and Surface Wave Analysis. In: Rasul, N., Stewart, I. (eds) Geological Setting, Palaeoenvironment and Archaeology of the Red Sea. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99408-6_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation