NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Seismic evidence for volatiles at large depth in the EarthHigh resolution tomographic images that have been obtained of the subduction zones in the west Pacific do not only show very low P wave velocities above the leading edge of the slab at shallow depth, but also below 300 km. The two zones are generally, but not always, separated by a zone of normal shear velocity near 200 km depth. These findings confirm some earlier inferences from local seismic data in Japan, and similar findings of low Vp and low Q zones beneath South America. Surprisingly, such deep seismic low velocity zones have recently also been discovered beneath the locations of ancient subduction zones. A study of upper mantle shear velocity in Central Europe shows a similar distribution of low velocity zones beneath the Tornquist-Teisseyre line, the former west coast of the old continent of Baltica, and the site of the subducting Tornquist ocean in the early Palezoic. Preliminary results from a Russian-French experiment shows low P velocities below 250 km under the Urals, while an older tomographic study shows such low P velocities beneath the northern Appalachians.
Document ID
19950015391
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Nolet, Guust
(Princeton Univ. NJ, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Conference on Deep Earth and Planetary Volatiles
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
95N21808
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available