Joint local and teleseismic tomography in the central United States:
exploring the mantle below the upper Mississippi Embayment and the
Illinois Basin
Abstract
Three-dimensional, high resolution crustal and upper mantle P- and
S-wave velocity (Vp and Vs) models are presented for the central United
States. The study utilizes local and teleseismic data recorded by the
Northern Embayment Lithospheric Experiment stations, the New Madrid
Seismic Network, the Earthscope Transportable Array, and the Ozark
Illinois INdiana Kentucky Flexible Array. The Vp and Vs solutions are
very similar and are well resolved in the depth range 40 to 400 km. Two
anomalously slow regions are present below the Illinois Basin forming a
northwest dipping low velocity zone (LVZ) extending from
~200 to 400 km. Maximum anomaly magnitude in the LVZ
reaches about -4 % and -5% for Vp and Vs, respectively. The LVZ
appears to connect to a well-documented LVZ located below the northern
Mississippi Embayment. As is the case for the northern Mississippi
Embayment, the Illinois Basin velocity anomalies cannot be explained by
elevated temperature alone and require elevated orthopyroxene content in
addition to an increase in iron and water content. The need for
additional orthopyroxene suggests that the LVZ is being produced by
metasomatism of mantle rocks by hydrous, silica-rich fluids ascending
from a slab fragment trapped in or near the transition zone. This
supports previous interpretations for the existence of the LVZ below the
Embayment. We suggest that the LVZs below the Mississippi Embayment and
the Illinois Basin are linked to the presence of the large igneous
province Hess plateau currently located below the central United States
by inverse convection models.