1. Lithosphere Structure and upper mantle characteristics below the Bay of Bengal.
- Author
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Rao, G. Srinivasa, Radhakrishna, M., Sreejith, K. M., Krishna, K. S., and Bull, J. M.
- Subjects
LITHOSPHERE ,EARTH'S mantle ,ASEISMIC ridges ,MARINE sediments ,GONDWANA (Continent) - Abstract
The oceanic lithosphere in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) formed 80-120 Ma following the breakup of eastern Gondwanaland. Since its formation, it has been affected by the emplacement of two long N-S trending linear aseismic ridges (85oE and Ninetyeast) and by the loading of ca. 20-km of sediments of the Bengal Fan. Here, we present the results of a combined spatial and spectral domain analysis of residual geoid, bathymetry and gravity data constrained by seismic reflection and refraction data. Self-consistent geoid and gravity modeling defined by temperature-dependent mantle densities along a N-S transect in the BOB region revealed that the depth to the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere boundary (LAB) deepens steeply from 77 km in the south to 127 km in north, with the greater thickness being anomalously thick compared to the lithosphere of similar-age beneath the Pacific Ocean. The Geoid-Topography Ratio (GTR) analysis of the 85°E and Ninetyeast ridges indicate that they are compensated at shallow depths. Effective elastic thickness (T
e ) estimates obtained through admittance/ coherence analysis as well as the flexural modeling along these ridges led to the conclusions: i) 85°E Ridge was emplaced in off-ridge environment (Te = 10-15 km); ii) the higher Te values of ~25 km over the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount (ANS) reflect the secondary emplacement of the seamount peaks in off-ridge environment, iii) that the emplacement of the Ninetyeast Ridge north of 2°N occurred in an off-ridge environment as indicated by higher Te values (25-30 km). Furthermore, the admittance analysis of geoid and bathymetry revealed that the admittance signatures at wavelengths >800 km are compensated by processes related to upper mantle convection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2016
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