Piecewise delamination of Moroccan lithosphere from beneath the Atlas Mountains

Simple item page
dc.citation.firstpage975en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber4en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleGeochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystemsen_US
dc.citation.lastpage985en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber15en_US
dc.contributor.authorBezada, M.J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHumphreys, E.D.en_US
dc.contributor.authorDavila, J.M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorCarbonell, R.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHarnafi, M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorPalomeras, I.en_US
dc.contributor.authorLevander, A.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-28T18:32:41Zen_US
dc.date.available2016-01-28T18:32:41Zen_US
dc.date.issued2014en_US
dc.description.abstractThe elevation of the intracontinental Atlas Mountains of Morocco and surrounding regions requires a mantle component of buoyancy, and there is consensus that this buoyancy results from an abnormally thin lithosphere. Lithospheric delamination under the Atlas Mountains and thermal erosion caused by upwelling mantle have each been suggested as thinning mechanisms. We use seismic tomography to image the upper mantle of Morocco. Our imaging resolves the location and shape of lithospheric cavities and of delaminated lithosphere ∼400 km beneath the Middle Atlas. We propose discontinuous delamination of an intrinsically unstable Atlas lithosphere, enabled by the presence of anomalously hot mantle, as a mechanism for producing the imaged structures. The Atlas lithosphere was made unstable by a combination of tectonic shortening and eclogite loading during Mesozoic rifting and Cenozoic magmatism. The presence of hot mantle sourced from regional upwellings in northern Africa or the Canary Islands enhanced the instability of this lithosphere. Flow around the retreating Alboran slab focused upwelling mantle under the Middle Atlas, which we infer to be the site of the most recent delamination. The Atlas Mountains of Morocco stand as an example of large-scale lithospheric loss in a mildly contractional orogen.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBezada, M.J., Humphreys, E.D., Davila, J.M., et al.. "Piecewise delamination of Moroccan lithosphere from beneath the Atlas Mountains." <i>Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems,</i> 15, no. 4 (2014) American Geophysical Union: 975-985. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013GC005059.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013GC005059en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/88229en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Geophysical Unionen_US
dc.rightsArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.en_US
dc.subject.keywordlithospheric delaminationen_US
dc.subject.keywordseismic tomographyen_US
dc.subject.keywordAtlas Mountainsen_US
dc.titlePiecewise delamination of Moroccan lithosphere from beneath the Atlas Mountainsen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Bezada_et_al-2014.pdf
Size:
5.37 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
Faculty Publications
Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Publications