Linking petrology and seismology of the southwest Greenland lithosphere

Abstract:

Mantle xenoliths from late-Proterozoic diamond-bearing kimberlitic dikes in the Kangerlussuaq, Sarfartoq and Maniitsoq areas of southwestern Greenland provide constraints on the composition and thermal state of lithospheric mantle beneath Greenland to depths of ~200 km [1]. Similarly, surface wave tomography studies carried out as part of the GLATIS project use a range of Rayleigh wave periods sensitive to structures at a similar depth interval within southwestern Greenland lithospheric mantle [2]. Here we link petrologic and seismologic constraints on the mantle lithosphere beneath Greenland utilizing methods of [3] that show that inferred chemical and mineralogical stratification inferred from petrology, showing mantle peridotite transitioning from garnet-free harzburgite to garnet lherzolite between ~70 and 180 km, cannot readily be resolved with fundamental mode Rayleigh waves. On the other hand, comparing phase velocities predicted from xenolith compositions, mineralogy and last equilibration temperatures and pressures, defining the continental geotherm during late-Proterozoic time, with those for the present-day mantle lithosphere suggest significant cooling of the cratonic mantle to a modern geotherm characterized by a heat flux of 30 mW/m² and average crustal heat production of 0.3 mW/m³ [4]. These preliminary findings point to the weak dependence of shear wave velocities on mantle peridotite composition and mineralogy, and further illustrate its strong temperature dependence. Comparison of ancient and modern continental geotherms made possible by combining petrologic and seismological data, as shown here for southwest Greenland, provide additional constraints on secular cooling of cratonic regions linked to large-scale tectonic processes. [1] Bizzarro et al., 2003, CMP, 146; Sand et al., Lithos, 112. [2] Darbyshire et al., 2004, GJI, 158. [3] Schutt and Lesher, 2006, JGR, 111. [4] Meirerbachtol et al., 2015, JGR/ES, 120.