Mantle-upwelling tectonics: the Pangea-Panthalassa connection

Miguel Doblas

Científico Titular del CSIC, Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC-UCM), Facultad de Medicina (Edificio Entrepabellones 7 y 8),
c/ del Doctor Severo Ochoa 7, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, España, Email: doblas@mncn.csic.es 

ABSTRACT

            We suggest that large-scale mantle upwellings had a fundamental influence in Phanerozoic plate tectonics, within a two-stage model which might be termed mantle-upwelling tectonics, with: 1) A _Pangean'-type initial stage involving an insulation-induced megaswell beneath this supercontinent surrounded by subduction zones, the release of the heat there accumulated through superplume-related _exhaust valves', and supercontinent breakup. 2) A _Panthalassan'-type subsequent stage involving a megaswell beneath this superocean, the breakup of this plate and birth of the Pacific ocean at an anomalous rrr triple junction, and the impingement of a mid-Cretaceous superplume. The evolution of the swelled Pacific ocean gave rise to two contrasted margins: a western one where the subduction of hotter-than-normal lithosphere triggered a series of arcuate-shaped features and adakitic magmatism, and an eastern one involving eastward-directed lateral mantle flow. These proposals highlight that the  birth and mode of expansion of the superswelled new ocean, and the breakup and drifting behaviour of the superswelled supercontinent are connected phenomena via sequential large-scale vertical mantle processes: superswell-related breakup of the supercontinent, massive slab penetration through the mantle, upward advection of the thermal boundary layer at 670 km by mantle return flow, impingement of the superoceanic megaswell, and sinking of the subducted slabs into the D" core/mantle layer which reacts by expelling a suboceanic superplume. 

 

INTRODUCTION

            Classic plate tectonics gives a predominant role to the horizontal translations between lithospheric plates, with only minor and plate-independent participation of episodic large-scale mantle upwellings, i.e., megaswells, and superplumes (e.g., Griffiths and Campbell, 1990; Hill et al., 1992). However, it is now becoming evident that these cyclic mantle upwellings have decisively contributed to a series of global geological processes, including the breakup of superplates or the recycling of the Earth's oceanic crust. A geodynamic scheme accounting for both horizontal and vertical motions during the Phanerozoic evolution of the Earth is still lacking, even if several models have partially explained these major upwellings: hot-cell uprisings (Anderson, 1982), breaking-healing plate events (Gurnis, 1988), Wilsonian-Momo mantle episodes (Stein and Hofmann, 1994), or pulsation tectonics (Sheridan, 1997).

            The dispersal of continents could be the result of thermal insulation processes acting over supercontinental caps, thus giving rise to hotter-than-normal mantle conditions and generalized instability of the supercontinents (Anderson, 1982; Gurnis, 1988; Chase and Sprowl, 1983; Le Pichon and Huchon, 1984; Veevers, 1989). The resulting higher upper mantle temperature below supercontinents would promote hemispherical asymmetry of terrestrial heat loss, accelerating the circulation below the land hemisphere, and increasing the heat transfer to the oceanic cell (Le Pichon and Huchon, 1984).

            Classic concepts stress the idea that plume impingement at the base of the lithosphere is the cause of large-scale lithospheric swells (e.g., Crough, 1983; McNutt and Judge, 1990; Vaughan, 1995). However, many questions regarding the origin of plumes remain controversial. Several authors argue that superplumes beneath supercontinents might have been actually induced by the insulation processes previously mentioned (Le Pichon and Huchon, 1984; Duncan and Turcotte, 1994), or by the unstabilizing effect of subducted slabs reaching the core/mantle boundary (Larson and Kincaid, 1996).

            Several aspects concerning the origin of the Pacific ocean have always been puzzling: its birth from an anomalous rrr triple junction breaking up the central Panthalassa ocean, its rapid growth into a polygonal-shaped plate bounded by active ridges, and its final configuration into a subelliptical domain.

            In this paper we will argue that large-scale mantle upwellings decisively contributed to disrupt the initial Pangea-Panthalassa configuration. We propose a two-stage model of what might be termed _mantle upwelling tectonics', involving a _Pangean'-type stage with a megaswell and two superplumes breaking up the supercontinent, and a _Panthalassan'-type stage fragmenting the superocean by means of a megaswell, and giving rise to the Pacific ocean (later affected by a superplume). Note that the mantle upwelling processes advocated in our model contribute to the breakup of both supercontinents (a widely recognized scenario) and superoceans (a less known mechanism). We further suggest that the birth and mode of expansion of the Pacific ocean, and the breakup and drifting behaviour of the Pangea are genetically connected to each other via large-scale mantle upwelling processes. 

FIGURE 1

Idealized sketches showing initial disruption of Pangea by Permo-Carboniferous time (A), and beginning of supercontinental breakup by Triassic-Jurassic time (B). CA: Central Atlantic. ELTS: European large thinspot. EUNWA: European northwestern African. (A) displays volcanics (black) and transcurrent and normal faults within EUNWA. (A) shows also compressional (Urals and Appalachian-Mauritanides) and extensional (Great Basin and Neotethys) terminations of EUNWA dextral transcurrent zone. B shows radial dyke swarms, plume head, and rifts within CA domain, and rifts within ELTS. Arrow indicate plume channeling from CA to ELTS. Pangean reconstructions modified from Ziegler (1989). Megaswells and superplumes shown in both diagrams as interpreted in a later section.

THE PANGEAN-PANTHALASSAN SCENARIO

            The most important events in Phanerozoic plate tectonics involved the breakup and drifting of the Pangean continental fragments, the breakup of the Panthalassa superocean, and the birth of the Pacific ocean.

            The Permo-Carboniferous European northwestern African realm in the center of the Pangea displays massive S-granitic intrusions, and calc-alkaline volcanism with crustal and/or mantle lithospheric characteristics followed by alkaline/subalkaline magmatism with HIMU-type signatures (Fig. 1A; Doblas et al., 1998). The geotectonic framework involved the gravitational collapse of the Variscan belt through simple/pure shear systems (Doblas et al., 1994; Burg et al., 1994). Coevally, this domain was disrupted by conjugate strike-slip faults resulting from a dextral transcurrent megashear zone with two compressional (Urals and Appalachian/Mauritanides) and two extensional (Neotethys and Great Basin) terminations (Doblas et al., 1998). The generalized instability of the Pangea was enhanced during these times by thermal insulation processes imposed by the supercontinental cap, thus triggering large-scale mantle upwelling phenomena (Veevers, 1989). These blanketing effects can still be observed nowadays in the form of the Atlantic-African residual geoid high, which grossly coincides with the shape and location of the Pangea during the late Variscan (Fig. 1A; Anderson, 1982; Gurnis, 1988; Veevers, 1989).

            Major mantle upwelling processes continued in the central Pangean realm during late Triassic to early Jurassic times in the triple junction between Africa, North America, and South America (the future central Atlantic; Fig. 1B). This region was the site of a large igneous province with tholeiitic magmatism covering an elliptical area of ~3000 x 4000 km with a nearly radial pattern of dykes (e.g. Ernst and Buchan, 1997; Oyarzun et al., 1997). The northeast-trending Variscan thinned-weakened corridor constituted a preferred sublithospheric channel along which large-scale mantle upwelling was laterally dragged toward the European realm which constituted a thin-spot-type disrupted extensional domain (european large thin-spot, Fig. 1B; Oyarzun et al., 1997). In this way, both weakened realms (the European thin-spot and the central Atlantic triple junction) were connected through the Variscan collapsed corridor, to give rise to the first protorifting stage of the Pangea, i.e., the central Atlantic (Oyarzun et al., 1997). This NE-directed sublithospheric channeling continued from the Cretaceous to the present in the eastern central Atlantic and European realms, as shown by a common mantle source reservoir for the magmatism extending from the Cape Verde islands to the rifts in central Europe (Hoernle et al., 1995; Oyarzun et al., 1997). The breakup of the supercontinent induced a belt of periPangean subduction zones which is still recorded in the present-day geoid in the form of a semi-continuous low anomaly region surrounding the Pacific ocean (Chase and Sprowl, 1983).

FIGURE 2

Idealized sketches showing progressive breakup of Panthalassa superocean, birth of Pacific ocean, and present subelliptical configuration of Pacific hemisphere. A: Mid-Jurassic (180 ma). B: Mid-Cretaceous (120 ma). C: Early Miocene (20 ma). D: Present. Diagrams show progressive growth and subduction of Pacific. CA: Caribbean arc. H: Hawaii. J: Jurassic crust. K: Cretaceous crust. NAO: North American orocline. OJ: Ontong-Java igneous province. PS: Polynesian superswell. SA: Scotia arc. SAO: South American orocline. Sketches A to C modified from Moores and Twiss (1995). Megaswells and superplumes shown in diagrams as interpreted in a later section.

The breakup of the Panthalassa superocean began by Jurassic time (190 Ma) with the birth of the Pacific ocean at an rrr triple junction, and continued later till the complete consumption of this superplate (Fig. 2; Engebretson et al., 1985; Moores and Twiss, 1995; Jolivet, 1997). The present-day subelliptical Pacific shows a grossly concentric ridge system disrupted by a radial pattern of transform faults, with ages increasing to the west (Fig. 2D). The Pacific plate drifts towards the west-northwest and is surrounded by subduction zones, displaying two contrasted western and eastern margins (Engebretson et al., 1985; Moores and Twiss, 1995). A central/western wide region (involving the Pacific as well as several neighbouring plates), characterized by a wide subelliptical region where large-scale mantle upwelling processes triggered the following (Fig. 2): 1) Mid-Cretaceous massive volcanism with HIMU-type geochemical signatures (e.g. Ontong-Java oceanic plateau), and global geological overturns and major circum-Pacific deformation and uplift (Larson, 1991; Vaughan, 1995; Larson and Kincaid, 1996; Tatsumi et al., 1998). 2) A series of present geophysical and geological features: the Polynesian superswell (the largest accumulation of hotspots in the Pacific), a major subequatorial positive geoid anomaly, high heat flows and seismic velocities, gravitational and bathymetrical anomalies, and a wide region with scattered volcanic edifices (Anderson, 1982; Chase and Sprowl, 1983; Le Pichon and Huchon, 1984; Engebretson et al., 1985; Veevers, 1989; McNutt and Judge, 1990; Cazenave and Feigl, 1994; Tatsumi et al., 1998). Many lines of evidence suggest that the westernmost Pacific and eastern Asian realms are also characterized by anomalous Cretaceous to Cenozoic mantle upwelling phenomena triggering a DUPAL-like asthenosphere (Deng et al., 1998; Flower et al., 1998; Smith, 1998). In the other side of the Pacific, the American continent and its western margin underwent east-directed large-scale trench-parallel mantle flow processes (Russo and Silver, 1996). 

FIGURE 3

Highly idealized equatorial sections of Earth depicting the _Mantle-upwellings tectonics' model suggested here. Two-stage scenario depicted by progressive evolving time-spans: A to C: _Pangean'-type stage; D and E: _Panthalassan'-type stage. A: Carboniferous. B: Late Carboniferous. C: Late Carboniferous to early Jurassic. D: Mid-Jurassic. E: Mid-Cretaceous. Sections not to scale to highlight discussed features.

PROPOSAL OF A MODEL

            The mantle-upwelling tectonics model proposes an evolving two-stage scenario accounting for the Phanerozoic disruption of the Pangea-Panthalassa superplate configuration, and the birth of new intracontinental and intraoceanic oceans (Fig. 3). These processes involved superoceanic and supercontinental megaswells and superplume activity in the Pangea and the Pacific.

            The _Pangean'-type stage was characterized by major mantle upwelling events taking place in the center of this supercontinent (Fig. 3 A,B,C). The generation of the Permo-Carboniferous European northwestern African tectonomagmatic province might be the result of the impingement and trapping of a superplume head beneath a still thick lithosphere (shortly before extension), with only restricted melting, thus giving rise to a _scattered igneous province' (Doblas et al., 1998). Magmatism acted as an exhaust valve releasing the heat accumulated beneath the Pangaean supercontinent by blanketing processes. This ultimately would have triggered large-scale mantle-wide upward convection in the form of a supercontinental megaswell. Similarly, the generation of the Triassic/Jurassic central Atlantic tectonomagmatic province might be interpreted in terms of a second superplume (Oyarzun et al., 1997) constituting another exhaust valve contributing to further release the Pangean heat. North-northeast-directed large-scale sublithospheric plume channeling occurred  along the NE-oriented southern sector of the collapsed Variscan belt, towards the European large thin-spot (Oyarzun et al., 1997). We suggest that the large-scale mantle megaswell generated beneath this supercontinent, resulted from a mixed scenario: insulation processes and periPangean inwards-deeping subduction zones defining an inverted funnel-like geometry in depth (Fig. 3 B,C). This geometry controled and facilitated the ascent of mantle upwellings impinging at the base of the continental lithosphere (Fig. 3B). The ultimate major consequences of this scenario include supercontinent breakup, plate drifting, and generation of new oceanic crust between the continental fragments (e.g., Atlantic and Indian; Fig. 3D).

            The subsequent superoceanic _Panthalassan'-type stage (Fig. 3 D,E) might also be explained in terms of large-scale mantle upwelling processes. We believe that the mid-Jurassic to present evolution of a central Pacific megaswell explains the anomalous characteristics of this superplate. Plate tectonics accounts for the breakup of supercontinents with the participation of large-scale mantle upwellings. However, this theory does not offer a similar explanation for the breakup of a superoceanic plate in its center. Larson and Kincaid (1996) have suggested a convincing mechanism to account for the origin of the Panthalassa superoceanic megaswell proposed here (Fig. 3D). Enhanced periPangean subductions rates and subsequent massive slab penetration through the mantle resulting from the breakup of the supercontinent, would have triggered a rapid upward advection of the thermal boundary layer at 670 km by mantle return flow, thus inducing a megaswell beneath the weaker central part of the superocean. Thus, the _Pangean'- and _Panthalassan'-type stages would be connected to each other via large-scale vertical mantle processes. The birth of the Pacific ocean from an rrr triple junction and its growth into a polygonal-shaped plate bounded by active ridges is by no way normal. Rrr triple junctions beneath continents usually evolve either into linear-shaped oceans (central/southern Atlantic) with one ridge aborting into an aulacogen (e.g., St. Hellen and the Benue trough in western Africa), or irregularly-shaped oceans where the three original ridges fully develop (e.g., Bouvet and Reunion in the south Atlantic and Indian oceans). However, the anomalous Pacific-type intraoceanic rrr triple junction evolved initially to give rise to a triangular-shaped ocean bounded by three new rrr triple junctions (Fig. 2A; Jolivet, 1997). We suggest that this central Pacific anomalous triple junction represents the already breaking apical weaker zone of the large-scale mantle megaswell (Fig. 3D). The continued growth of the Pacific ocean from the initial megaswell configuration, triggered a subelliptical oceanic domain surrounded by concentric ridge systems and by radial transform faults (Fig. 2D). These radial transform faults can be interpreted as mechanical equivalents to the giant radiating dyke swarms which are associated with mantle plume upwellings (Ernst and Buchan, 1997). The impingement of a mid-Cretaceous superplume in the center of the Pacific (Fig. 3E) with minimum dimensions of about 6000 x 10000 km (Larson, 1991), might be a later consequence of the large-scale mantle upwelling processes which triggered the megaswell. Larson and Kincaid (1996) propose a plausible idea to account for this superplume (Fig. 3E): once the old periPangean subducted slabs reached the D" core/mantle layer, they compressed it, expelling warm and old material in the form of a superplume. It is conceivable that the large-scale upward advection induced by the megaswell might have facilitated the ascent of this superplume just beneath the oceanic plate. The two contrasted margins observed at present in the Pacific (Fig. 2D) might be explained by the evolution of these large-scale mantle upwelling processes. A wide western _Pacific' domain (including portions of several plates such as the Pacific, Philippines, Caroline, Japan, Australia, India, and Asia) where megaswell-related hotter-than-normal lithosphere began to subduct. This last aspect would account for the existence of adakitic volcanism in the western/northern Pacific realm, whose geochemical signatures (low values of FeO/MgO, Ni, Cr, HFSE, HREE, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, and a high content of LILE and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd) indicate direct melting of an overheated subducted oceanic crust transformed into eclogite (e.g., Defant and Drummond, 1990; Peacox et al., 1994; Maury et al., 1996). The subduction of this hotter-than-normal lithosphere triggered in the western Pacific realm a series of _ductile-looking' arcuate-shaped features such as intraoceanic subduction zones and microplates, and a southeast-escaping Asian continental block. It is noticeable that the collision of India against Asia (triggering the Himalayas) only produced major escaping continental blocks in its eastern realm. We suggest that this might have been facilitated by the anomalously hot lithosphere in the western Pacific, i.e., a weaker front. A wide eastern _Pacific' realm was decisively influenced by a generalized eastward-directed lateral mantle flow coming from the central Pacific megaswell domain, with the following consequences: subtrench-parallel flow and the overall curvature of the western Americas active margin, central oroclines in the two american plates, and mantle corner flow creating the Caribbean and Scotia arcs (Russo and Silver, 1996). The Pacific Ocean records two parallel mantle-upwelling trails in relation to its northwestward drifting: the Hawaiian hotspot trail, and a possible megaplume trail going from the mid-cretaceous Ontong-Java plateau towards the present Polynesian swell (Fig. 2D).

 CONCLUSIONS

            The mantle-upwelling tectonics model suggested in this paper involves a two-stage scenario contributing to breakup the Pangean-Panthalassa superplate configuration: 1) A _Pangean'-type initial stage involving an insulation-induced megaswell beneath this supercontinent, the release of the heat through superplume-related _exhaust valves', and supercontinent breakup. 2) A _Panthalassan'-type subsequent stage involving a megaswell beneath the superocean, the breakup of the superplate and the birth of the Pacific ocean at an anomalous rrr triple junction, the impingement of a mid-cretaceous superplume, and the continued growth of the Pacific megaswell to trigger a huge subelliptical ocean with two contrasted margins. We believe that our model might contribute to explain why plate tectonics is in fact a cyclic phenomenon, because supercontinental and superoceanic breakup and dispersal are sequential interconnected phenomena via large-scale mantle upwelling processes.

            The two-stage model presented here seem to have been effective in other geological periods of supercontinental aggregation. The Rodinia supercontinent which assembled by the early NeoProterozoic (1000 Ma) in the equatorial region of the Earth, began to breakup by 700 Ma in a triple junction located in the center of this supercontinent (Li, 1998), accompanied by massive volcanism and radial dyke swarms (e.g., the Franklin-Natkusiak dykes in North America and Greenland; Ernst and Buchan, 1997). We speculate that this realm might have constituted a large igneous province resulting from the impingement of a superplume exhaust valve relieving the heat accumulated beneath Rodinia by insulation conditions. The old surrounding oceans were progressively replaced by a new one (an ancestral version of the Pacific).

            Our hypothesis might contribute to explain some puzzling geometrical differences between linear (e.g., Urals, southern Andes) and arcuate-shaped orogenic belts (e.g., Alps, european Variscides, Himalayas, central Andes), the latter influenced by superplume-related anomalously hot sublithospheric mantle. In relation to this subducting anomalous mantle, our model might explain another intriguing aspect of plate tectonics, i.e., the generation of intraoceanic arcuate-shaped subduction zones.

            It is conceivable that the degree and time of activity of the plumes described here, as well as the rheological conditions of the lithosphere affected by them, might also have played a role in this scenario. Thus, the Permo-Carboniferous European northwestern African domain was affected by a low-activity and short-lived superplume, whose manifestations were probably refrained by a still thick continental lithosphere. On the contrary, the Triassic-Jurassic Central Atlantic superplume was long-lived and highly active, facilitated by a thinned continental lithosphere. Similarly, the high activity and long-lived character of the Cretaceous Pacific superplume was probably enhanced by a thinner and weaker ocenic lithosphere (as compared to the continents).

            Finally, this approach reconciles the once opposed views held by verticalists and horizontalists, as the _mantle-upwelling tectonics' model suggests that both types of large-scale motions are basically compatible and that, together, they better account for the Phanerozoic geological evolution. As noted by Gurnis (1992) "For although plate tectonics has been immensely succesfull at providing a kinematic framework of large-scale horizontal motions, it cannot explain vertical motions of continents.".

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I thank  José Arroyo for drawing  the figures.

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