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Topography of the 410 and 660 Km Discontinuities Beneath the Cenozoic Okavango Rift Zone and Adjacent Precambrian Provinces
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
  • Youqiang Yu
  • Stephen S. Gao, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • Kelly H. Liu, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Abstract

By taking advantage of the recent availability of a broadband seismic data set from Networks NR and BX covering the entire country of Botswana, we conduct a systematic receiver function investigation of the topography of the 410 and 660 km discontinuities beneath the incipient Okavango rift zone (ORZ) in northern Botswana and its adjacent Archean-Proterozoic tectonic provinces in southern Africa. Similar to a previous mantle transition zone (MTZ) discontinuity study using data from a 1-D profile traversing the ORZ, a normal MTZ thickness is observed in most parts of the study area. This is inconsistent with the existence of widespread positive thermal anomalies in the MTZ and further implies that active thermal upwelling from the lower mantle plays an insignificant role in the initiation of continental rifting. The results also suggest that cold temperature presumably associated with thick cratonic keels has indiscernible influence on the thermal structure of the MTZ. The expanded data set reveals several isolated areas of slight (~10 km or smaller) MTZ thinning. The largest of such areas has a NE-SW elongated shape and is mostly caused by relative deepening of the 410 km discontinuity rather than shallowing of the 660 km discontinuity. These characteristics are different from those expected for a typical mantle plume. We speculate that the thinner-than-normal MTZ may be induced by minor thermal upwelling associated with late Mesozoic-early Cenozoic lithospheric delamination, a recently proposed mechanism that might be responsible for the high elevation of southern Africa.

Department(s)
Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering
Research Center/Lab(s)
Center for High Performance Computing Research
Keywords and Phrases
  • Botswana,
  • incipient rifting,
  • mantle transition zone,
  • Okavango rift,
  • receiver function
Time Period
Precambrian
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2020 American Geophysical Union, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
9-1-2020
Publication Date
01 Sep 2020
Citation Information
Youqiang Yu, Stephen S. Gao and Kelly H. Liu. "Topography of the 410 and 660 Km Discontinuities Beneath the Cenozoic Okavango Rift Zone and Adjacent Precambrian Provinces" Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth Vol. 125 Iss. 9 (2020) ISSN: 2169-9313; 2169-9356
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kelly-liu/155/