Imaging fluid-rich faults and melt-rich asthenosphere with electromagnetic data: Examples from the Hikurangi and Middle America subductio - Livestream

Fluids and partial melts are critical factors in several plate tectonic processes. In this presentation, I will briefly review the utility of electromagnetic (EM) methods and discuss two research applications: (1) what the distribution of fluids tell us about shallow plate coupling and slip behavior at subduction zones, and (2) on the origin of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). The first application will feature results from marine EM surveys at the Central America subduction margin offshore Nicaragua and the Hikurangi subduction margin offshore North Island, New Zealand. For the second application, I will show the synthesis of several geophysical and geochemical data sets from the Cocos plate - including work done in the region by UCSC researchers Brian Dreyer, Andy Fisher, and Eli Silver - to explain the origin of a partial melt channel previously inferred at the LAB.

Speaker: Samer Naif, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University