The study highlights that experimental simulations, coupled with various geological, geophysical, and geodetic data, provide an explanation for the basin's subsidence in the middle of a rising plateau. The analysis introduces a new category of tectonic activity with potential applications for understanding planetary bodies like Mars and Venus, which lack Earth-like plate tectonics.
Published in 'Nature Communications', the research attributes the changes to "lithospheric dripping," where fragments of dense rock beneath the surface sink into the mantle, resulting in significant surface features like basins and mountainous crust folds.
"Looking at the satellite data, we observed a circular feature at the Konya Basin where the crust is subsiding or the basin is deepening," says Julia Andersen, a PhD candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Science at U of T and the study's lead author. "This prompted us to look at other geophysical data beneath the surface where we saw a seismic anomaly in the upper mantle and a thickened crust, telling us there is high-density material there and indicating a likely mantle lithospheric drip."
The results mirror the researchers' earlier study of the Arizaro Basin in the Andes, hinting that lithospheric dripping could be a widespread process in mountain plateau regions worldwide.
Previous research has shown that the Central Anatolian Plateau has risen by up to one kilometer over the past 10 million years due to lithospheric dripping. Professor Russell Pysklywec, a co-author of the study, comments, "As the lithosphere thickened and dripped below the region, it formed a basin at the surface that later sprang up when the weight below broke off and sank into the deeper depths of the mantle."
The study further links basin formation and plateau uplift through the evolution of primary and secondary lithospheric removal. Andersen states, "Essentially, subsidence is occurring alongside the ongoing uplifting of the plateau."
The research team, including collaborators from Istanbul Technical University and Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, conducted laboratory experiments to simulate this process. By using a silicone polymer fluid to mimic the Earth's mantle and a combination of materials to represent the crust and upper mantle, they recreated the dripping process. Their experiments demonstrated that lithospheric drips can trigger subsequent activity in the planetary interior.
Andersen notes, "What we noticed was that over time, this secondary drip did pull the crust downward and started to create a basin, despite no horizontal movements in the crust at the surface. The findings show these major tectonic events are linked, with one lithospheric drip potentially triggering a host of further activity deep in the planetary interior."
Research Report:Multistage lithospheric drips control active basin formation within an uplifting orogenic plateau
Related Links
University of Toronto
Tectonic Science and News
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
