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Excitation of small-scale convection in the continental lithosphere by disturbances in the topography of the Earth’s surface

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Abstract

After the buildup of a steady convective motion in a layer, the topography of its surface is determined only by the displacements of the material particles lying on its surface.

The results suggest that the small-scale convection in the lithosphere, which forms small irregularities in the topography of the Earth’s surface far from the boundaries of the lithospheric plates, is excited by the significant topographical disturbances caused by thrusts occurring at the boundaries of the lithospheric plates due to the large-scale convection in the mantle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Bol’shaya Gruzinskaya ul. 10, Moscow, 123995, Russia

    B. I. Birger

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  1. B. I. Birger
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Original Russian Text © B.I. Birger, 2010, published in Fizika Zemli, 2010, No. 7, pp. 78–86.

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Birger, B.I. Excitation of small-scale convection in the continental lithosphere by disturbances in the topography of the Earth’s surface. Izv., Phys. Solid Earth 46, 627–635 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351310070074

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1069351310070074

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