On Presence of Seismic Anisotropy in the Asthenosphere beneath Continents and its Dependence on Plate Velocity: Significance of Reference Frame Selection

Abstract

—We examine the possibility of seismic anisotropy in the asthenosphere due to present plate motion using SKS splitting results. The fast directions of anisotropy correlate weakly with the directions of the absolute plate motion (APM) for all APM models. Weak correlation indicates the possibility of asthenospheric anisotropy as well as frozen anisotropy in the lithosphere. Detection of strain rate dependence of anisotropy is helpful to further conclusion of the problem. The selection of reference frame is important to describe shear deformation in the asthenosphere beneath continent due to plate motion. The behavior of hot spots to the mesosphere, fixed or drifted by mantle return flow, is a key of the selection of the reference frame. For the NNR-NUVEL1 model, APM correlated anisotropy appears only at plate velocity faster than 1.4 cm/yr. It suggests the new possibility of the formation of asthenospheric anisotropy in addition to frozen anisotropy in the lithosphere. A critical plate velocity for the formation of anisotropy can be caused by the dislocation-diffusion transition as a function of strain rate on a deformation mechanism map of the upper mantle olivine.