Heat flow increase following the rise of mantle isotherms and crustal thinning

Heat flow measurements in the western United States define a zone of high heat flow which coincides with the Basin and Range Province where extension has taken place recently. In this region, the average reduced heat flow is approx 30 mW sq. meters higher than in stable continental provinces; locally (e.g., Battle Mountain High), the heat flow anomaly can be more than 100 mW/sq meters above average. Estimates of the amount of extension range between 30% and 100% for the past 30 Ma. In the Colorado Plateau, which has been uplifted without major tectonic deformation, the heat flow is only slightly above average. Analytical calculations show that an abrupt change in heat flow at the base of the lithosphere 30 Ma ago would not affect the surface significantly. Uplift would proceed at a slow rate. A thermal perturbation at the base of a 40 km thick crust, however, would reach the surface faster and, after 30 Ma, the increase in surface heat flow would be about 75% of the amplitude of the heat flow anomaly. The number of volcanic rocks in the Basin and Range suggests that magma intrusions may provide an effective heat transfer mechanism. It can be show that if the source of the intrusions is at the base of the lithosphere, the response time will be much longer than 30 Ma, and most ot the heat transferred from the asthenosphere will be absorbed in the lithosphere.