In this study, we use data from the SEISConn seismic experiment to calculate Sp receiver functions in order to characterize the geometry of upper-mantle structure beneath southern New England (northeastern United States). We image robust negative-velocity-gradient discontinuities beneath southern New England that we interpret as corresponding to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) and identify a well-defined step of 15 km in LAB depth at a longitude of 73°W, which we interpret to be the boundary between Laurentian and Appalachian lithosphere, although the offset may be larger if the putative LAB phase is reinterpreted to be a mid-lithospheric discontinuity. We infer that the lithosphere throughout the region is substantially thinner than elsewhere in the continental interior, consistent with regional tomographic studies and previously published Sp receiver function results. The presence of thinned lithosphere suggests that the low-velocity Northern Appalachian Anomaly (NAA) in the upper mantle may extend as far south as coastal Connecticut. The presence of regionally thinned lithosphere and a step in lithospheric thickness suggests that inherited structure may be preserved in present-day lithosphere, even in the presence of more recent dynamic processes associated with the NAA.
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Research Article|
June 21, 2022
Evidence for a lithospheric step and pervasive lithospheric thinning beneath southern New England, northeastern USA
Gillian B. Goldhagen;
Gillian B. Goldhagen
1
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California–Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, USA
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Heather A. Ford;
Heather A. Ford
1
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California–Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, USA
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Maureen D. Long
Maureen D. Long
2
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
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Geology (2022)
Article history
received:
11 Feb 2022
rev-recd:
19 Apr 2022
accepted:
27 Apr 2022
first online:
21 Jun 2022
Citation
Gillian B. Goldhagen, Heather A. Ford, Maureen D. Long; Evidence for a lithospheric step and pervasive lithospheric thinning beneath southern New England, northeastern USA. Geology 2022; doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G50133.1
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