Continental Rifting Advances Using 3D Computational Modeling of Lithospheric Deformation, Asthenospheric Flow, and Deep Melt Generation with ASPECT

Continental rifting processes are influenced by viscous coupling of the deforming lithosphere to asthenospheric flow, as well as magma that migrates upward from the upper asthenosphere. Over the past few decades, significant advances have been made in finite element numerical methods that enable modeling of lithospheric deformation, viscous coupling to asthenospheric flow, and melt generation in the upper asthenosphere. In this work, we present new developments based in the NSF Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics finite element code ASPECT (Advanced Solver for Problems in Earth’s Convection) that allow users to investigate lithospheric deformation, asthenospheric flow, and melt generation in the upper asthenosphere. Users have the options to constrain their initial temperature and density conditions with laterally varying lithospheric thickness, layers of crustal thickness, and shear wave seismic velocity models in the sublithospheric mantle. We present case studies from regions along the East African Rift System that demonstrate these capabilities.