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Mesozoic subducted slabs under Siberia

Nature volume 397, pages 246–249 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Recent results from seismic tomography demonstrate that subducted oceanic lithosphere can be observed globally as slabs of relatively high seismic velocity in the upper as well as lower mantle1,2. The Asian mantle is no exception, with high-velocity slabs being observed downwards from the west Pacific subduction zones under the Kurile Islands, Japan and farther south3,4,5, as well as under Asia's ancient Tethyan margin. Here we present evidence for the presence of slab remnants of Jurassic age that were subducted when the Mongol–Okhotsk and Kular–Nera oceans closed between Siberia, the combined Mongolia–North China blocks and the Omolon block6,7,8. We identify these proposed slab remnants in the lower mantle west of Lake Baikal down to depths of at least 2,500 km, where they join what has been interpreted as a ‘graveyard’9 of subducted lithosphere at the bottom of the mantle. Our interpretation implies that slab remnants in the mantle can still be recognized some 150 million years or more after they have been subducted and that such structures may be useful in associating geodynamic to surface-tectonic processes.

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Figure 1: Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic palaeoreconstructions of Siberia (SIB) and adjacent Asian blocks8.
Figure 2: Tomographic P-wave velocity anomaly patterns in the deep mantle under Asia, for four different depths between 1,500 and 2,700 km.
Figure 3: Cross-section through tomographic model.
Figure 4: A comparison of the locations of tomographic velocity anomalies and the expected palaeolocations of the Siberian active margins.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Richards and M. Gurnis for constructive comments. H.B. was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109-1063, Michigan, USA

    Rob Van der Voo

  2. Vening Meinesz School of Geodynamics, Institute of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Budapestlaan, 3584 CD 4, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rob Van der Voo, Wim Spakman & Harmen Bijwaard

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  1. Rob Van der Voo
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Correspondence to Rob Van der Voo.

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Van der Voo, R., Spakman, W. & Bijwaard, H. Mesozoic subducted slabs under Siberia. Nature 397, 246–249 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/16686

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