HR: 13:45h
AN: V42F-01 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Heat production distributions and the geochemical self-organization of the crust
AU: * Sandiford, M
EM: mikes@unimelb.edu.au
AB: The distribution of the heat producing elements within the lithosphere provides an important control on continental thermal regimes and the mechanical strength of the lithosphere. Moreover, the strong temperature-dependence of lithospheric rheology suggests the possibility of an important feedback between tectonic processes, such as metamorphism, deformation and magmatism, and the distribution of heat producing elements. Simple models for lithospheric rheology are used to illustrate how such feedback might serve as an important control on both the characteristic abundance of, and spatial variation in, the heat production elements in the crust. These models also imply that the organization of heat producing elements is essential for the long-term tectonic stabilisation of the continental crust. This is particularly relevant to evolution of cratons in early Earth history, wherein lies the most dramatic evidence for the role played by tectonic processes in achieving a stable ordering of the heat producing elements, consistent with the crust as a self-organizing geochemical system.
DE: 1749 Volcanology, geochemistry, and petrology
SC: Volcanology, Geochemistry, Petrology [V]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting