Age-Independent Oceanic Plate Thickness and Asthenosphere Melting from
SS Precursor Imaging
Abstract
The Earth’s asthenosphere is a mechanically weak layer characterized by
low seismic velocity and high attenuation. The nature of this layer has
been strongly debated. In this study, we process twelve years of seismic
data recorded at the global seismological network (GSN) stations to
investigate SS waves reflected at the upper and lower boundaries of this
layer in global oceanic regions. We observe strong reflections from both
the top and the bottom of the asthenosphere, dispersive across all major
oceans. The average depths of the two discontinuities are 120 km and 255
km, respectively. The SS waves reflected at the lithosphere and
asthenosphere boundary are characterized by anomalously large
amplitudes, which require ∼12.5% reduction in seismic velocity across
the interface. This large velocity drop can not be explained by a
thermal cooling model but indicates 1.5%-2% localized melt in the
oceanic asthenosphere. The depths of the two discontinuities show large
variations, indicating that the asthenosphere is far from a homogeneous
layer but likely associated with strong and heterogeneous small-scale
convections in the oceanic mantle. The average depths of the two
boundaries are largely constant across different age bands. In contrast
to the half space cooling model, this observation supports the existence
of a constant-thickness plate in oceanic regions with a complex and
heterogeneous origin.