Abstract : The dynamics of the Earth’s mantle is still poorly constrained due to the lack of understanding the transfer of matter between the upper and the lower mantle and their convective vigor. The transition zone (TZ) might play a crucial role as the interface connecting the upper to the lower mantle. Here, we examine the rheology of the main TZ minerals, wadsleyite, ringwoodite and majorite garnet based on a mineral physics approach. Using the results of lattice friction modeling and dislocation glide mobilities together with the available data on self-diffusion in the TZ minerals, we quantify their plastic deformation by diffusion and dislocation creep from theoretical plasticity models. We show that pure climb creep is expected to contribute to the plasticity of the TZ without the need of significant diffusion-related hydrolytic weakening, matching well the geophysical observations. Our model results predict that crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) might only develop along with stress concentrations as present around cold subducting slabs which can be locally weaker than the surrounding TZ despite their lower temperatures.
https://hal.univ-lille.fr/hal-02924953
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Soumis le : vendredi 28 août 2020 - 15:32:37 Dernière modification le : mardi 13 octobre 2020 - 13:39:51 Archivage à long terme le : : dimanche 29 novembre 2020 - 12:39:45
Sebastian Ritterbex, Philippe Carrez, Patrick Cordier. Deformation across the mantle transition zone: A theoretical mineral physics view. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Elsevier, 2020, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 547, pp.116438. ⟨10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116438⟩. ⟨hal-02924953⟩