Lithosphere thickness and thermal state in Asia

Thermal structure of the lithosphere reflects its long-term evolution and controls its rheology, expressed in crustal and mantle anisotropic layering as observed in many seismic tomographic models globally and for Asia. Estimates of lithosphere thermal thickness, which defines lithospheric geotherms, show significant differences depending on the method and the employed lithosphere definition (Artemieva, 2011). While lithosphere thermal structure is often constrained by borehole heat flow values, the approach requires, among other critical things, exclusion of tectonic provinces with non-steady-state thermal state and areas with active tectonics (young magmatism and hots springs) (Artemieva & Mooney, 2001). These requirements are not satisfied for ca. 75% of the Asian continent. Due to data limitations and intrinsic complexity of lithosphere structure and composition, the existing models for lithosphere thermal structure are either of low resolution, or poorly constrained, or unreliable.

This study fills this knowledge gap by presenting lithosphere thermal model for the entire Asia continent (15-50 N/70-135 E) based on an alternative approach (Artemieva, 2019a,b, 2022; Artemieva & Shulgin, 2019; Xia et al., 2023). The results are discussed in relation to regional geological ages (Artemieva, 2006) and geodynamic processes that shaped the region from Archean to present.

 

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Artemieva, I.M., 2011. The lithosphere: An interdisciplinary approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., 794 pp.

Artemieva, I.M., 2019a. Lithosphere structure in Europe from thermal isostasy. Earth-Science Reviews, 188: 454-468.

Artemieva, I.M., 2019b. Lithosphere thermal thickness and geothermal heat flux in Greenland from a new thermal isostasy method. Earth-Science Reviews, 188: 469-481.

Artemieva, I.M., 2022. Antarctica ice sheet basal melting enhanced by high mantle heat. Earth-Science Reviews, 226: 103954.

Artemieva, I.M. and Shulgin, A., 2019. Geodynamics of Anatolia: Lithosphere Thermal Structure and Thickness. Tectonics, 38(12): 4465-4487.

Xia, B., Artemieva, I.M., Thybo, H. and Klemperer, S.L., 2023. Strong Variability in the Thermal Structure of Tibetan Lithosphere. JGR, 128(B): e2022jb026213.