Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Is subducted lithosphere trapped at the 670-km discontinuity?

  • Letter
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

Recent work1,2 on phase equilibria has shown that subducted oceanic lithosphere, which is differentiated into a basaltic crust and a harzburgitic residue layer, could be significantly denser than undifferentiated peridotite at depths between 650 and 700 km, but would be less dense in the range 700-740 km. It might thus be trapped in a gravitational!) stable layer between upper and lower mantle3. Here, using numerical experiments of isoviscous convec-tion, I explore the stability of such a layer, assuming that it had previously been formed. The results suggest that the survival of the intermediate layer is at best marginally feasible, provided that new subducted lithosphere is efficiently trapped.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Irifune, T. & Ringwood, A. E. in High Pressure Research in Geophysics (eds Manghnani,M. & Syono, Y.) 235–246 (American Geophysics Union, Washington, 1987).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Irifune, T. & Ringwood, A. E. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 86, 365–376 (1987).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ringwood, A. E. & Irifune, T. Nature 331, 131–136 (1988).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hansen, U. & Ebel, A. Geophys. J. 94, 181–192 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Christensen, U. Geophys. Res. Lett. 14, 220–223 (1987).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gurnis, M. J. geophys. Res. 91, 11407–11419 (1986).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Schubert, G., Yuen, D. A. & Turcotte, D. L. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 42, 707–735 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Christensen, U. & Yuen, D. A. J. geophys. Res. 90, 10291–10300 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ito, E. & Yamada, H. in High Pressure Research in Geophysics (eds Akimoto, S. & Manghnani, M.) 405–419 (Center of Academic Publishing, Tokyo, 1982).

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut fur Chemie, Saarstrasse 23, 6500, Mainz, FRG

    U. Christensen

Authors
  1. U. Christensen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Christensen, U. Is subducted lithosphere trapped at the 670-km discontinuity?. Nature 336, 462–463 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/336462a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/336462a0

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation