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Three-Dimensional Mantle Flow and Temperature Structure Beneath the Shatsky Rise Ridge-Ridge-Ridge Triple Junction

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Abstract

The Shatsky Rise ridge-ridge-ridge triple junction is an ancient triple junction in the Western Pacific Ocean whose initial geodynamic process is poorly understood and can only be inferred based on indirect geological and geophysical constraints. In this paper, we present three-dimensional numerical models that simulate the Shatsky Rise triple junction and calculate its coupled mantle flow and temperature structure. The mantle flow velocity field shows several distinctive features: 1) stronger mantle upwelling closer to the ridge axis and triple junction; 2) greater upwelling velocity at the faster-spreading ridges; and 3) the most significant increase in upwelling velocity for the slowest-spreading ridge toward the triple junction. The calculated mantle temperature field also reveals distinctive characteristics: 1) sharp increases in the mantle temperature with depth and increases toward the spreading ridges and triple junction; 2) the faster-spreading ridges are associated with higher temperatures at depth and identical distances from the triple junction; and 3) the slowest-spreading ridge shows the greatest increase in the along-ridge-axis temperature toward the triple junction. Compared to many present-day triple junctions with slower spreading rates, the along-ridge-axis velocity and thermal fields of the Shatsky Rise are more altered due to the presence of the triple junction.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC0309800), the China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association (No. DY135-S2-1-04), the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (No. GML2019ZD 0205), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (Nos. 2021B1515020098 and 2021A1515012 227), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41776058, 41890813, 41976066, 91858207 and 41806067), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nos. ISEE20 19ZR01, QYZDY-SSW-DQC005, 133244KYSB20180029, 131551KYSB20200021, Y4SL021001, and XDB4100000 0), and the China National Space Administration (No. D020303).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ocean and Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    **chang Zhang, Zhiyuan Zhou & Jian Lin

  2. Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China

    **chang Zhang & Zhiyuan Zhou

  3. China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences, CAS-HEC, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    **chang Zhang, Zhiyuan Zhou & Jian Lin

  4. State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China

    Min Ding

  5. Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Jian Lin

  6. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA

    Jian Lin

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  1. **chang Zhang
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  2. Zhiyuan Zhou
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  3. Min Ding
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  4. Jian Lin
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Correspondence to Zhiyuan Zhou.

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Zhang, J., Zhou, Z., Ding, M. et al. Three-Dimensional Mantle Flow and Temperature Structure Beneath the Shatsky Rise Ridge-Ridge-Ridge Triple Junction. J. Ocean Univ. China 20, 857–865 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-021-4578-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-021-4578-6

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