Evidence for long-lived subduction of an ancient tectonic plate beneath the southern Indian Ocean: Ancient Slab Beneath the Indian Ocean

Simmons, N. A.; Myers, S. C.; Johannesson, G.; Matzel, E.; Grand, S. P.

doi:10.1002/2015GL066237

Title: Evidence for long-lived subduction of an ancient tectonic plate beneath the southern Indian Ocean: Ancient Slab Beneath the Indian Ocean

Journal Article · Sat Nov 14 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066237· OSTI ID:1245705

Simmons, N. A. ^[1]; Myers, S. C. ^[1]; Johannesson, G. ^[2]; Matzel, E. ^[1]; Grand, S. P. ^[3]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Geophysical Monitoring Programs
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Systems and Decision Sciences
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Jackson School of Geosciences

In this study, ancient subducted tectonic plates have been observed in past seismic images of the mantle beneath North America and Eurasia, and it is likely that other ancient slab structures have remained largely hidden, particularly in the seismic-data-limited regions beneath the vast oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present a new global tomographic image, which shows a slab-like structure beneath the southern Indian Ocean with coherency from the upper mantle to the core-mantle boundary region—a feature that has never been identified. We postulate that the structure is an ancient tectonic plate that sank into the mantle along an extensive intraoceanic subduction zone that migrated southwestward across the ancient Tethys Ocean in the Mesozoic Era. Slab material still trapped in the transition zone is positioned near the edge of East Gondwana at 140 Ma suggesting that subduction terminated near the margin of the ancient continent prior to breakup and subsequent dispersal of its subcontinents.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 1245705

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-668546

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 21; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 57 works

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