A comparison of the seismic structure of oceanic island arc crust and continental accreted arc terranes

Abstract:

Amalgamation of island arcs and their accretion to pre-existing continents is considered to have been one of the primary mechanisms of continental growth over the last 3 Ga, with arc terranes identified within Late Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic continental crust. Crustal-scale seismic refraction surveys can provide P wave velocity models that can be used as a proxy for crustal composition, and although they indicate some velocity variation in accreted arcs, these terranes have significantly lower velocities, and are hence significantly more felsic, than modern island arcs. Modern oceanic arcs exhibit significant variations in crustal thickness, from as little as 10 km in the Bonin arc to 35 km in the Aleutian and northern Izu arcs. Although globally island arcs appear to have a mafic composition, intermediate composition crust is inferred in central America and parts of the Izu arc. The absence of a sharp velocity contrast at the Moho appears to be a first order characteristic of island arc crust, and indicates the existence of a broad crust-mantle transition zone. Multichannel seismic reflection surveys complement refraction surveys by revealing structures associated with variations in density and seismic velocity at the scale of a few hundred meters or less to depths of 60 km or more. Surveys from the Mariana and Aleutian arcs show that modern middle and lower arc crust is mostly non-reflective, but reflections are observed from depths 5-25 km below the refraction Moho suggesting the localized presence of arc roots that may comprise gabbro, garnet gabbro, and pyroxenite within a broad transition from mafic lower crust to ultramafic mantle. Such reflective, high velocity roots are likely separated from the overlying arc crust prior to, or during arc-continent collision, and seismic reflections within accreted arc crust document the collisional process and final crustal architecture.