Lithospheric Structure and Strength Variations in Antarctica From Joint Modeling of Elevation, Geoid and Seismic Data

Abstract

Antarctica is renowned for its ancient cratons, difficult-to-observe sutures and active continental rifts. Detailed lithospheric structure and strength estimates are crucial for understanding the potential distribution, long-term geological evolution, and deformation patterns of this continent. The lithospheric structure of the Antarctic continent is investigated based on joint modeling of elevation and geoid data with the incorporation of seismic data and thermal constraints. Moreover, these results are used to infer the yield strength envelopes across Antarctica. The laterally variable lithospheric strength is finally generated by vertically integrating the above envelopes. Our results show that the variations in the depth of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) are analogous to the variations in the integrated lithospheric strength; these parameters vary from 60 to 220 km and from 0.5 × 10¹³ Pa m to 4.5 × 10¹³ Pa m, respectively. Several regions of East Antarctica exhibit thick and strong lithospheric mantle, suggesting the presence of scattered cratonic blocks. In contrast, a thin and weak lithosphere is observed in the tectonically active West Antarctica and East Antarctic orogenic belts. Generally, our new LAB model correlates well with previous estimates, but there is a significant inconsistency beneath the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains, where a shallow LAB (∼120 km), high Moho temperature, and low strength (<1.0 × 10¹³ Pa m) are estimated. We speculate that this anomaly may be similar to the thinned lithosphere in Dronning Maud Land and reflects the removal of the mantle lithosphere during or after the orogenesis associated with the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent.