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Magnetotelluric Imaging of Lower Crustal Melt and Lithospheric Hydration in the Rocky Mountain Front Transition Zone, Colorado, USA
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2017
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Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122(12), 9489-9510
[PDF-1.39 MB]
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Journal Title:Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
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Description:We present an electrical resistivity model of the crust and upper mantle from two-dimensional (2-D) anisotropic inversion of magnetotelluric data collected along a 450 km transect of the Rio Grande rift, southern Rocky Mountains, and High Plains in Colorado, USA. Our model provides a window into themodern-day lithosphere beneath the Rocky Mountain Front to depths in excess of 150 km. Two key features of the 2-D resistivity model are (1) a broad zone (~200 km wide) of enhanced electrical conductivity ( <20Ωm) in the midcrust to lower crust that is centered beneath the highest elevations of the southern RockyMountains and (2) hydrated lithospheric mantle beneath the Great Plains with water content in excess of 100 ppm. We interpret the high conductivity region of the lower crust as a zone of partially molten basalt and associated deep-crustal fluids that is the result of recent (less than 10 Ma) tectonic activity in the region.
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Source:Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 122(12), 9489-9510
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ISSN:2169-9313
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