• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.1-15
• /
• 2024

The Melanesian region in the western Pacific is dominated by complex plate tectonics, with the largest oceanic plateau, the OntongJava plateau, and a hotspot, the Caroline Islands. To better understand the complex geodynamics of the region, we estimate P- and S-velocity models and 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) model by using relative teleseismic travel times measured at seismometers on land and the seafloor. Our results show high-velocity anomalies in the subduction zones of the Melanesian region to a depth of about 400 km, which is thought to be subducting Solomon Sea, Bismarck, and Australian plates along plate boundaries. Along subduction zones, positive 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomalies are found, which may be caused by partial melting due to dehydration. A broad high-velocity anomaly is observed at 600 km depth below the Ontong-Java plateau, with a negative 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomaly. This is thought to be a viscous and dry remnant of the Pacific plate that subducted at 45-25 Ma, with a low volume of fluids due to dehydration for a long period in the mantle transition zone. Beneath the Caroline Islands, a strong low-velocity anomaly is obseved to a depth of 800 km and appears to be connected to the underside of the remnant Pacific plate in the mantle transition zone. This suggests that the mantle plume originating in the lower mantle has been redirected due to the interaction with the remnant Pacific plate and has reached its current location. The mantle plume also has a positive 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomaly, which is thought to be due to the influence of embedded fluids or partial melting. A high-velocity anomaly, interpreted as an effect of the thick lithosphere beneath the Ontong-Java plateau, is observed down to 300 km depth with a negative 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomaly, which likely indicate that little fluid remains in the melt residue accumulated in the lithosphere.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.201-208
• /
• 2004

$CaSiO_3$-garnet phase was observed in the phase transformation sequences on a natural hedenbergite, (Ca, Fe)$ SiO_3$ between 14 and 24 GPa when quenched from $～1200^{\circ}C$. Bulk modulus K = 155 GPa, $V_{\Phi}$ = 6.58 km/sec and other elastic properties of the $CaSiO_3$-garnet were obtaiend on the basis of the systematics of structural analogs in varius garnet phases and relationship of $KV_{m}$ = constant and $V_{\Phi}$$M^{$\frac{1}{2}$}$ = constant. The quenchable garnet phase apears to be stabilized by the considerable amount of Mn and other cations, and shows a wide stability range. As one of the host minerals of Ca composition, $CaSiO_3$-garnet would be one of the important mineral phases in the mantle transition region.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.9-26
• /
• 1999

The Ulleung Basin (Tsushima Basin) in the southwestern East Sea (Japan Sea) is floored by a crust whose affinity is not known whether oceanic or thinned continental. This ambiguity resulted in unconstrained mechanisms of basin evolution. The present work attempts to define the nature of the crust of the Ulleung Basin and its tectonic evolution using seismic wide-angle reflection and refraction data recorded on ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs). Although the thickness of (10 km) of the crust is greater than typical oceanic crust, tau-p analysis of OBS data and forward modeling by 2-D ray tracing suggest that it is oceanic in character: (1) the crust consists of laterally consistent upper and lower layers that are typical of oceanic layers 2 and 3 in seismic velocity and gradient distribution and (2) layer 2C, the transition between layer 2 and layer 3 in oceanic crust, is manifested by a continuous velocity increase from 5.7 to 6.3 km/s over the thickness interval of about 1 km between the upper and lower layers. Therefore it is not likely that the Ulleung Basin was formed by the crustal extension of the southwestern Japan Arc where crustal structure is typically continental. Instead, the thickness of the crust and its velocity structure suggest that the Ulleung Basin was formed by seafloor spreading in a region of hotter than normal mantle surrounding a distant mantle plume, not directly above the core of the plume. It seems that the mantle plume was located in northeast China. This suggestion is consistent with geochemical data that indicate the influence of a mantle plume on the production of volcanic rocks in and around the Ulleung Basin. Thus we propose that the opening models of the southwestern East Sea should incorporate seafloor spreading and the influence of a mantle plume rather than the extension of the crust of the Japan Arc.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.161-169
• /
• 2003

A phase transformation study on a synthetic amorphous diopside, $(Ca,Mg)SiO_3$has been carried out up to ∼30 GPa, and ∼$1000^{\circ}C$ using a diamond anvil cell and YAG laser heating system, respectively. A starting amorphous material shows a direct transition to cubic $(Ca,Mg)SiO_3$perovskite at high pressure, which contradicts to the crystalline diopside phase transformation sequence disproportionating into mixtures of the orthorhombic$ MgSiO_3$perovskite and the cubic $CaSiO_3$perovskite phases. This discrepancy might be due to the different starting materials as well as the temperature variations at each specific experiment performed. The present phase transfor mation sequence would modify the mineralogical assemblage in the Earth transition region and the lower mantle depending upon the pressure, temperature and the oxygen partial pressure.