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IUGG XXIV General Assembly July 2-13, 2007 Perugia, Italy<br />

(S) - <strong>IASPEI</strong> - International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's<br />

Interior<br />

JSS017 Oral Presentation 2375<br />

Surface elevation and stress regime derived from the thermal and<br />

compositional structure of continental lithosphere<br />

Dr. Claire Perry<br />

<strong>IASPEI</strong><br />

Jean-Claude Mareschal<br />

The elevation of the continents is governed in part by the thermal and compositional structure ofthe<br />

lithosphere and in part by mantle dynamics. Heat flow and seismic data sets constrain the lithospheric<br />

temperature and compositional anomalies. In active tectonic regions, non-steady state geotherms are<br />

used to include the effect of extension, and possibly recent delamination events. We calculate the<br />

surface elevation of North America from the thermal buoyancy of the mantle lid and from crustal<br />

thickness and density. We also include variations in the composition of the mantle lid. Relative mantle<br />

lid density anomalies between the Archean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic terranes of North America are<br />

presented and the residual topography is used to estimate the effect of compositional differences or<br />

dynamic mantle flow. The gravitational potential energy is calculated to determine how the distribution<br />

of lithospheric stresses in the continent affects the extensional regime.<br />

Keywords: heat flow, upper mantle density, lithospheric stress

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