Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data
A magnetotelluric survey in the Barotse Basin of western Zambia shows clear evidence for thinned lithosphere beneath an orogenic belt. The uppermost asthenosphere, at a depth of 60–70 km, is highly conductive, suggestive of the presence of a small amount of partial melt, despite the fact that there...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/140389 |
| _version_ | 1811077038659862528 |
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| author | Evans, R. L. Elsenbeck, J. Zhu, J. Abdelsalam, M. G. Sarafian, E. Mutamina, D. Chilongola, F. Atekwana, E. A. Jones, A. G. |
| author2 | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| author_facet | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Evans, R. L. Elsenbeck, J. Zhu, J. Abdelsalam, M. G. Sarafian, E. Mutamina, D. Chilongola, F. Atekwana, E. A. Jones, A. G. |
| author_sort | Evans, R. L. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | A magnetotelluric survey in the Barotse Basin of western Zambia shows clear evidence for thinned lithosphere beneath an orogenic belt. The uppermost asthenosphere, at a depth of 60–70 km, is highly conductive, suggestive of the presence of a small amount of partial melt, despite the fact that there is no surface expression of volcanism in the region. Although the data support the presence of thicker cratonic lithosphere to the southeast of the basin, the lithospheric thickness is not well resolved and models show variations ranging from ~80 to 150 km in this region. Similarly variable is the conductivity of the mantle beneath the basin and immediately beneath the cratonic lithosphere to the southeast, although the conductivity is required to be elevated compared to normal lithospheric mantle. In a general sense, two classes of model are compatible with the magnetotelluric data: one with a moderately conductive mantle and one with more elevated conductivities. This latter class would be consistent with the impingement of a stringer of plume-fed melt beneath the cratonic lithosphere, with the melt migrating upslope to thermally erode lithosphere beneath the orogenic belt that is overlain by the Barotse Basin. Such processes are potentially important for intraplate volcanism and also for development or propagation of rifting as lithosphere is thinned and weakened by melt. Both models show clear evidence for thinning of the lithosphere beneath the orogenic belt, consistent with elevated heat flow data in the region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:36:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/140389 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:36:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1403892024-06-06T20:18:47Z Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data Evans, R. L. Elsenbeck, J. Zhu, J. Abdelsalam, M. G. Sarafian, E. Mutamina, D. Chilongola, F. Atekwana, E. A. Jones, A. G. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution A magnetotelluric survey in the Barotse Basin of western Zambia shows clear evidence for thinned lithosphere beneath an orogenic belt. The uppermost asthenosphere, at a depth of 60–70 km, is highly conductive, suggestive of the presence of a small amount of partial melt, despite the fact that there is no surface expression of volcanism in the region. Although the data support the presence of thicker cratonic lithosphere to the southeast of the basin, the lithospheric thickness is not well resolved and models show variations ranging from ~80 to 150 km in this region. Similarly variable is the conductivity of the mantle beneath the basin and immediately beneath the cratonic lithosphere to the southeast, although the conductivity is required to be elevated compared to normal lithospheric mantle. In a general sense, two classes of model are compatible with the magnetotelluric data: one with a moderately conductive mantle and one with more elevated conductivities. This latter class would be consistent with the impingement of a stringer of plume-fed melt beneath the cratonic lithosphere, with the melt migrating upslope to thermally erode lithosphere beneath the orogenic belt that is overlain by the Barotse Basin. Such processes are potentially important for intraplate volcanism and also for development or propagation of rifting as lithosphere is thinned and weakened by melt. Both models show clear evidence for thinning of the lithosphere beneath the orogenic belt, consistent with elevated heat flow data in the region. 2022-02-15T20:19:33Z 2022-02-15T20:19:33Z 2019-01-30 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0278-7407 1944-9194 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/140389 Evans, R. L., Elsenbeck, J., Zhu, J., Abdelsalam, M. G., Sarafian, E., Mutamina, D., et al. (2019). Structure of the lithosphere beneath the Barotse Basin, western Zambia, from magnetotelluric data. Tectonics, 38, 666– 686. en http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2018tc005246 Tectonics Article 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. application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) Wiley |
| spellingShingle | Evans, R. L. Elsenbeck, J. Zhu, J. Abdelsalam, M. G. Sarafian, E. Mutamina, D. Chilongola, F. Atekwana, E. A. Jones, A. G. Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data |
| title | Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data |
| title_full | Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data |
| title_fullStr | Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data |
| title_short | Structure of the Lithosphere Beneath the Barotse Basin, Western Zambia, From Magnetotelluric Data |
| title_sort | structure of the lithosphere beneath the barotse basin western zambia from magnetotelluric data |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/140389 |
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