TY - JOUR
T1 - Age-dependent seismic thickness and mechanical strength of the Australian lithosphere
AU - Simons, Frederik Jozef
AU - van der Hilst, Rob D.
PY - 2002/6/1
Y1 - 2002/6/1
N2 - We present constraints on the regional variations of the seismic and mechanical thickness of the Australian lithosphere. We infer the seismic thickness from a waveform tomographic model of S-wave speed, and as a proxy for the elastic thickness we use the wavelength at which the coherence of surface topography and Bouguer gravity drops below hald of its long-wavelength maximum. Our results show that on scales <1000 km the relationship between the age of the crust and the thickness of the lithosphere is more complicated than longer-wavelength or global averages suggest. Recent geochemical and geodynamical evidence for small-scale secular variations of the composition and stability of continental cratons further illustrates the complexity of the age dependence of seismo-mechanical lithospheric properties on regional scales.
AB - We present constraints on the regional variations of the seismic and mechanical thickness of the Australian lithosphere. We infer the seismic thickness from a waveform tomographic model of S-wave speed, and as a proxy for the elastic thickness we use the wavelength at which the coherence of surface topography and Bouguer gravity drops below hald of its long-wavelength maximum. Our results show that on scales <1000 km the relationship between the age of the crust and the thickness of the lithosphere is more complicated than longer-wavelength or global averages suggest. Recent geochemical and geodynamical evidence for small-scale secular variations of the composition and stability of continental cratons further illustrates the complexity of the age dependence of seismo-mechanical lithospheric properties on regional scales.
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U2 - 10.1029/2002GL014962
DO - 10.1029/2002GL014962
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0036624099
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 29
SP - 24-1-24-4
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 11
ER -