Metastable superplumes and mantle compressibility

Abstract

Seismically, the African superplume is known to have a sharp lateral transition in V_S and an interface between seismic anomalies with high relief. Such a structure is usually unstable in conventional thermo-chemical convection models. Using a compressible thermo-chemical convection model in which each material has a distinct equation of state, we find an expanded regime of metastable superplumes. In the preferred model, superplume material has a bulk modulus 6% higher and density 2.25% higher than ambient mantle. The inferred physical properties of the superplume are consistent with subducted oceanic crust, simultaneously satisfying seismological, geodynamical, mineralogical and geochemical constraints.